Article from IPHC Magazine written By Dan Bausum and Charity Bausum Martin

            “I want to be a world changer, Mom.” Joy Bausum was fourteen years old when she said those words. She didn’t really seem like the type who would change the world in her lifetime. She was a thin little girl, shy and unassuming, quiet and kind. She liked to be at home, she liked order in her life, she dreaded change. How could such a sweet, innocent little girl become the “world changer” she wanted to be? While some may have questioned the possibility then, no one who sat at her memorial service twelve years later would doubt that she had accomplished her heart’s desire.

On August 5^th, 2010, at the age of 26, Joy left the United Sates for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. She was going to work in a refugee home for several months, and then travel to Bangladesh to serve in a school for two years. She had been in Malaysia for a little over a week when she collapsed and was taken to the hospital. She had a blood clot in her brain. Two days later, on August 18^th, she went to be with the Lord.

In her life, Joy visited 20 countries and did missions work on five continents. She served in orphanages every chance she got, touching countless children overseas and in her home state of South Carolina. She sent cards and letters, too numerous to count, encouraging and edifying those she knew. She never missed an opportunity serve, even among her peers. She never backed down from a chance to share the message of Jesus with a stranger. She started out as the most introverted member of her family, but she became the most fearless of all.

Joy sought the Lord wholeheartedly from the time she was a girl. At the age of 14 she began reading her Bible and spending time in prayer daily. The Lord’s presence in her life was evident, her love for Him growing. When she was fifteen, she went to Poland and the Czech Republic with Global Expeditions. She had found her calling. She worked during the year and saved every cent so she could continue to take God’s love to other nations. She loved having a new stamp to show in her passport, and often said her goal was to fill it completely. Slowly, little by little, the shy, reserved girl melted away. One prayer, one scripture, one trip at a time, an evangelist emerged. She asked the Lord daily to use her for His glory, to prepare her to do His work, and the Lord answered her prayers. He gave her boldness, He gave her confidence, and He gave her opportunity to put them into practice.

When Joy was nineteen, she was snowed in at the Chicago airport. Knowing she would be spending the night on the cold, hard, uninviting floor should have made her a little grumpy. But instead of wasting her time wishing she were somewhere else, Joy initiated conversations with pilots, witnessing to every one of them who would listen. A few weeks before her death, she led a man to Jesus in Wal-Mart, and on her last trip to buy supplies before leaving for Malaysia, she asked her cashier if she knew Jesus as her savior. “Don’t blink” she said, “because the days go by so fast. So much love God has given us! Get out there and share it.”

Joy pursued people. She kept in touch with people from every mission trip she ever went on. She refused to lose touch with someone, even if that person wasn’t as excited about maintaining the relationship. She often said “I’m not giving up on them. God’s not giving up, and so neither am I.” She never forgot birthdays, sending homemade cards to people for many years after she had last seen them. She attended every wedding she could squeeze in amidst her travels, using the chance to reconnect and swap stories with old friends, as well as make new ones.

No matter where she was, Joy was serving. She ministered in a nursing home when she was a teenager, giving manicures and pedicures and listening to long stories of days gone by, praying for those who were sick, and smiling ‘joyfully’ at everyone. Whoever’s home she was in, she was always looking for a chance to lend a hand. If there were dishes to be washed or laundry to be folded, she was there. Helping with children gave her pleasure more than anything else, though. She was quick to play a game, go for a walk, or read a book with any child who needed attention. She was the one most likely to wrestle with a rowdy boy, or play babies with a little girl. She gave of herself unreservedly, showering the love of Christ on as many forgotten children as she could get her hands on.

“Unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone, buts its death with produce many new kernels-a plentiful harvest of new lives.” (John 12:24 NLT) Joy’s life touched everyone she knew, but since her death, the story of her life has touched countless people she never met. The way that she pressed into the Lord and allowed Him to change her, the zeal with which she pursued relationships, and the ‘joyful’ way she modeled Christ’s love by serving others have been a common theme when spreading her story. She discovered her true calling, she never wavered from it, and she has become “an example to all believers.” (1 Timothy 4:12) She will be greatly missed here, but her work for the glory of her Savior will continue as the seeds she planted begin to sprout and grow.