by Tori Hook, Contributing Writer
Editors note: The name of the missions organization could not be given for privacy reasons
“Most people have more than one testimony because [your testimony is] what God does in your life,” said junior Dominic D’Ettorre, “but God’s timing has been a very common theme in mine.”
While most Christians might say that learning to trust God’s timing is a large part of their growth in faith, few have had to trust that timing as much as D’Ettorre. D’Ettorre has lived in three countries within the last eleven years. He moved with his parents, who taught in international schools as a way to do mission, each time they felt called to a new country.
“We originally wanted to go to Morroco,” said D’Ettorre, “but the doors just kept shutting.”
D’Ettorre’s father had done missions work in Africa and was eager to return, though D’Ettorre insisted that the call to Africa was something that his whole family wanted. D’Ettorre said he was excited even at ages nine and ten when his family was preparing to move overseas, though they still were unsure where. He always wanted to travel.
Though the family prayed and decided on serving in Morocco, opportunities to serve in Morocco kept disappearing. The organization that D’Ettorre’s family was working with was unable to find any teaching placements for his parents in Morocco.
Finally, “the doors [to Morocco] shut for good,” said D’Ettorre. “The organization asked us if we would consider a placement in Slovakia.” They initially refused, but after prayer and time, they decided that God was calling them to Slovakia and moved there in 2005.
Though D’Ettorre enjoyed his time in Slovakia and made many friends, it was still a difficult change. He didn’t return to the United States for two years and didn’t see his grandparents or his two oldest siblings until then. “All your family is gone,” D’Ettore said about living overseas. “That was the hardest part.”
Four years later, they had a similar situation.
An opportunity for his parents to teach at an international school opened up in Kazakhstan, and the organization his parents were currently with encouraged his family to take it. They prayed about it and were prepared to accept, but once again, their plans changed when their application for the position was rejected.
“We just didn’t understand,” said D’Ettorre.
A few months later, though, the perfect opportunity opened in the Ukraine. D’Ettore’s parents could teach at a new school and D’Ettore could attend the public high school, rather than commuting to Vienna as he had to do in Slovakia.
The family made the move, and D’Ettorre spent his freshman through junior year of high school there. He embraced his life in the Ukraine, making many friends and lifelong memories. However, his parents then decided to move to Louisville to be close to family.
It was difficult for D’Ettorre to say goodbye to friends in the Ukraine.
“I would have liked to finish high school there,” D’Ettorre said.
But, once again his family obeyed God’s call.
Though the transition was difficult, D’Ettore said that this move to Kentucky is what ultimately led him to Asbury. “God’s been so faithful in that,” he said.
D’Ettorre is open to going wherever God leads him in the future, saying that he would like to do some “tentmaking,” or using a career as a tool for missions, with his business major. He loved the Georgian culture and said he “wouldn’t be too opposed if [he] ended up there,” but insisted he was waiting on God’s timing and leading.
Though we can often feel stuck in that time of waiting, D’Ettorre encourages those who feel impatient to open their hearts to God’s timing.
“Make time to listen to God,” he said. “You can talk to God all you want, but if you don’t make time to listen then you’re not going to hear anything.”