There’s a scene in the animated movie Shrek in which the title character is about to set out on a quest to confront the evil Lord Farquaad. When he asks the assortment of fairy tale creatures gathered outside his home for assistance, only one responds: the donkey. Voiced by Eddie Murphy, Donkey begins leaping high into the air, enthusiastically shouting, “Me! Me! Pick me!!” Donkey had no idea what he was getting himself into, but the result was a great adventure.
One of the wonderful things about God is that he has invited all of us to go on his great adventure to make disciples of all nations–an adventure that is more exciting, difficult, rewarding, dangerous, and transformative than we could ever imagine.
Doug Hiebert is well acquainted with this adventure. As Multiply’s Regional Team Leader for Sub-Saharan Africa, his journey to join God on his mission began with the simple act of making himself available.
Doug has been part of the MB family his entire life. After high school, he got involved with Youth Mission International and was soon leading teams on short-term mission trips. Before long, he felt called to a longer-term mission.
“As I went into university, I had a real interest in Africa,” Doug says. “So I began focusing my studies on Africa, particularly on the Great Lakes region [the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Rwanda, and Uganda]. This was just after the genocide in Rwanda and it felt like the least I could do was to try and understand the situation.” As Doug continued to investigate, God moved in his heart. “I broke down weeping over all that had been happening in Rwanda and I said a prayer: ‘If I can be part of something in that region, I am available’.”
And that was the start of his great adventure.
“I ended up going to Congo with a buddy,” Doug explains. “We were going for nine months, but war broke out almost as soon as we got there and we only stayed six months. I got married after that and in 2003 we first went to Africa. We ended up going to Burundi and spent five years there.”
Doug and his wife later returned to Canada where he pastored a church. But they knew their time in Africa wasn’t over. By 2014, they were back in the field, serving another six years in Burundi. During that time, he assumed the role of team leader for Sub-Saharan Africa.
By simply making himself available, Doug has had the opportunity to see God do incredible things in Africa. On a recent trip to Malawi, for instance, he traveled with his team to three locations, discipling church leaders in the kingdom way of living.
“It was so encouraging,” he says, “to hear person after person, at the end of our time together expressing how they’d had no hope, thinking life would never change. But now their eyes were opened and they saw that they do have abilities and can have closeness with God.”
One man shared how he had given up his business as a carpenter in order to pastor a church. During Doug’s teaching, the man realized God had gifted and skilled him in carpentry, and it was something he could use to help others, while still pastoring. Another realized that he had been living with a poverty mentality–thinking, acting, even dressing like he was poor. He saw that he was a child of the King and could invest what he had to help others.
During the trip, Doug also got to preach at a church in a refugee camp where the Malawi church planting movement had been birthed. “It was such a joy to speak Kirundi with them,” he says, “see their faces light up, and encourage them that, in spite of where they are, they are blessed. There were many other stories too that reveal the King at work in people’s lives.”
What might God do in and through you if you make yourself available? There’s only one way to find out. Respond to his call with a reckless and joyful, “Pick me! Pick me!” and join God on his great adventure.
