Hey hey! My name is Kelly Wheeler. I am a 30 something who has been living overseas in northeast China for the past 2 and a half years. I'm a teacher who came to know the Lord when I was just 13 years old in rural North Carolina. Since that time I have been doing short and long term service work in the United States of America, Mexico, China, and the Philippines.
How'd I get into this? I keep asking myself the same question! I started out working with chronic and terminally ill kids in camping scenarios practicing Art Therapy with groups like UNC Children's Hospitals and the Paul Newman Serious Fun Camp, in Randleman NC with the Petty Racing family. My kids needed someone that understood how it is to go through life with radiation, chemotherapy, and still try to be a normal kid or teen. Yeah.. so God that was me. I was diagnosed with Leukemia before it was a common childhood cancer in the 80's and He brought me out swinging! 25 years as a survivor this July. Praise God. He used me in this form of ministry for 9 years before I officially gained my teaching license in college.
From there, it was off to work with At-Risk kids. Yep, this one was a doosy. Not expected but such a great gift! I quickly discovered these kids and I were cut from the same cloth. Tough cookies, experienced a lot early on in life and were like onions. ..you got to peel them back one layer at a time... and then you cry when you hear their stories. But in this God placed in the school people that for once they could count on. I am so thankful for these kids because without these experiences there is no way I would have been prepared for what came next.
I moved on to work with elementary kids in grades Pre-K to 5th grades and they were like little balls of energy and I admit I loved it! Thank you God for stretching me and providing this experience. Later the Lord led me back to At-Risk kids with a neighboring high school near my hometown. This school was a tougher nut to crack. The following two years were with violent and aggressive gang kids ranging form 14-19 years of age. It was not that I knew my colors as an art teacher but I knew the colors, symbols, and gang banner that others chose to overlook. I began to see how many kids long for something, someone to belong to because there's no one else. They are taught to rely on themselves and you can't depend on anyone.
From this God pulled me into a higher position as an At-Risk Principal in inner city Minneapolis. The heart of the Somali East African drug ring. Did I say this was not part of the plan?... While working with my kids in Minnesota I was called to join a short term mission team to Puebla Mexico. At this point in my life I felt like I was burning the candle at both ends and was trying to stay true to the ministry of working with my kids in the Mini Apple (Minneapolis). Little did I know this trip would be the culmination of all of these short term trips and completely orbit me in a different direction.....
So the deal was to go down and work with orphans with a partnering ministry and to do craft and game activities with Spanish speaking children from 2-14 years of age. My first out of country mission trip. From the beginning of this trip to the end I felt God tugging my heart and calling me to long term missions. This was exciting and paralyzing at the same time. Really me Lord? I'm not perfect, in fact my Christian walk can use some work...? Each time in prayer I felt He was trying to direct me to long term missions by opening up conversations with missionaries in place there, or by developing relationships with the orphanage planters there, Id find myself putting something in front of it. But Lord I can't because... x y z. I felt Him planting His purpose in me, and I found myself making excuses for why I couldn't do it.
One day before we left we were working in the field and I stood up rather quickly and felt the earth move beneath me and I swayed slightly. Lol for a second I looked around at the others and thought "well maybe I just stood up too fast." But then others said" Hey did you feel that?" Each of us turned in the direction of the active volcano 2 miles from the orphanage as we were experiencing the aftershocks of an earthquake. That afternoon we experienced 2 earthquakes. Unusual for that area.
We later went to a prayer service held by the staff at the orphanage where one man shared with our team these words. "Look, I don't know each of your, or your team that well, but I have to share that God has laid on my heart that just like He shook the earth today, He is going to use some of you when you go back and He is going to shake up your life... He is going to change you." This was inspiring and encouraging but there were 30 of us and I had experienced my share of shakes so I was certain it wasn't me. That evening we went to the local church and shared in a Spanish only service. In the back translation room the main pastor kept coming into the room where we were all sitting listening to the translator. He entered as if he had something to say but was stumbling over his words and wasn't sure if it should have been said. We kind of looked at him and said just spit it out! lol. Then he said "You know I've been debating on whether I should say this, but I asked the Lord 3 times and He said yes. So here goes. I don't know who this is intended for, if it is for one person or several but I feel like I need to say that you are going to home and your life is going to be shaken, shaken up, you are going to be changed. God is going to do something in your life."
At this moment one might hope ..hmm I wonder if thats me? Am I that person? These are all valid thoughts that crossed my mind. But the other thought that crossed my mind was also... please Lord not me. Because I know that our version of "shaking up" is not His version and sometimes His ways we don't understand and they can come in a package of hardship. So my selfish, weak, human self said in that moment... "NOT IT! Tag one of these other people." That Saturday we flew back and I prayed that if it was His will that He would make it overly and abundantly clear for me to change directions.
That Monday I returned to work and my director announced that we would be closing the school. At that moment the only vision that came to mind were dominos I had placed before God and His hand just thumbing them over one by one. The obstacles I put before Him had been cleared. Because just 48 hours before this I had been wrestling in my heart and mind "But Lord, what about my kids at school, this is a ministry? What about this?". And cue the domino flipping over effortlessly. OK God I hear you.
One week later I received a phone call from the International Schools of China asking me to pray about joining their team. 6 months later I made it to my city here in China. Yep this one is unexpected too. "Big shocker God. You keep doing this!"
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