Created for Good Works: A Story of Calling, Sacrifice, and Following Jesus by Jennifer Ney
What ideas come to mind when you think of good works?
For much of my life, I assumed good works were simply good actions—tangible things we do to help others or to make the world a better place. And those ideas certainly aren’t wrong.
But since becoming a follower of Christ, I’ve come to understand that good works, in the Christian life, mean something far deeper than outward deeds. When I sensed God calling me to join Word Made Flesh Sierra Leone (WMF SL) twelve years ago, the invitation wasn’t merely to do good things. It was a call into a life of dying to myself and embracing suffering—not once, but continually. The concept of self‑denial wasn’t new to me, but knowing something in theory is very different from living it out day after day.
I want to share how living out God’s calling often requires dying to ourselves by telling stories from my colleague Ansu’s life and my own. At Word Made Flesh, one of our core values—what we call our Lifestyle Celebrations—is suffering. This doesn’t mean we seek suffering for its own sake. Rather, we recognize suffering as a willing sacrifice in service to Jesus. We understand that responding to God’s call to participate in His good works involves self‑denial and suffering, and we choose that path willingly.
Romans 8:17 reminds us that as God’s children, we are invited not only into Christ’s glory but also into His suffering: “Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co‑heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.”
Story of Ansu
Ansu has served with WMF SL for the past 14 years. He grew up in a Muslim home and became a Christian in the 90s after witnessing Christians forgive one another, which he had believed was very difficult for Muslims to do.
He is remarkable in many ways. His right arm was amputated during the civil war. But he is one of the most resilient people I know. He overcame many obstacles and consistently models hard work and excellence in his role as WMF SL’s Director of Finance. He is also very passionate. The way he sings and prays passionately during our community worship times continues to inspire everyone around him.
But one of the most remarkable things about Ansu is the way he has lived a life of dying to himself in order to follow Christ. In 2012, after graduating from the Accounting and Finance program at Fourah Bay College, he was offered a position at a well-known bank in Freetown. At the same time, he sensed God calling him to serve with WMF SL as an intern. The bank’s salary was three times higher than the small stipend he would receive at WMF SL. But he courageously turned down the bank job and chose to serve with WMF SL.
In a country like Sierra Leone, where many people face extreme poverty, having a job carries a big responsibility – not only to support your immediate family but also your extended family. This means that everyone with stable employment experiences a lot of pressure from relatives who depend on them financially. For Ansu to decline a well‑paying job in that context was an extraordinary act of faith and self‑denial.
Ansu, with his professional qualifications and a family background that knew the realities of poverty, had every reason to choose a well-paying job. But he chose a path of dying to himself and committed to serving with WMF SL.
In 2017, he again turned down a significant opportunity—a scholarship to pursue a master’s degree in financial management in China. He sensed God calling him to remain present with the WMF SL community, and he obeyed that call, even though it meant sacrificing a chance for career advancement and financial security.
He admits that there are moments when he wonders what it would be like to earn a large salary and drive a nice car, just as many of his fellow accountants do. But out of his love for God, he continually chooses a life of humble service among those struggling with poverty, rather than pursuing a lucrative lifestyle that might pull him away from God’s calling on his life.
My story
Similar to Ansu, I had to give up financial stability when I was called to leave my job as a dental hygienist and serve God in full-time ministry. But for me, the hardest part of following God’s call wasn’t the financial sacrifice. It was repeatedly going against my parents’ wishes.
Our family immigrated to Canada when I was 16, and my parents’ deepest hope was that my sister and I would build secure, comfortable lives here. The idea that I would give up my stable career to pursue ministry was completely foreign to them, especially my dad. He didn’t understand why I would choose to go to Africa – a country far poorer than Korea, the country they had left behind in search for better opportunities for us. At one point, my decision to serve in Sierra Leone upset him so much that he even considered disowning me.
Shortly before I decided to join WMF SL as staff, one of the people who deeply inspired me was Jackie Pullinger, a British missionary who served among those struggling with drug addiction in Hong Kong. She once said, “The principle of the Gospel is this: the Gospel always brings life to the receiver, and death to the giver.”
When my dad told me he would disown me if I went to Sierra Leone, I think I experienced a small part of that “death.” It felt like dying to myself. As a first-born child who had always tried to please my parents, it was painful to disappoint them and choose a path they couldn’t understand.
Mabinty (right) with Jennifer Seo (left) reading with little Belinda
After I moved to Sierra Leone and committed to serving God there long‑term, I began to realize something I hadn’t understood before: God’s invitation to “die to myself” wasn’t a one‑time decision. It was something I would be asked to live out again and again.
After my husband, Steve, and I married in 2015, we chose to serve together in Sierra Leone. (Steve had previously served in The Gambia.) But within our very first month there as a married couple, I became very ill with Typhoid. That illness triggered several chronic conditions that still affect me today. Looking back on my ten years in Sierra Leone, it feels as though I spent nearly half of that time bedridden, too weak to sit up or walk even the short distance to the bathroom.
I often wondered, “I gave up so much to be in Sierra Leone. But why am I not given the health I need to do the good work God called me to do?” I often felt confused when I thought about God’s calling in my life. But through my sickness, I believe God began reshaping my understanding of calling and vocation.
I started to see that calling is less about a specific role or occupation and more about a relationship. According to Walter Brueggemann, “The dynamic of humanness is in the interaction between the One who calls and the one who is called. And the agenda between them is calling.” If my calling is primarily to a Person – a living God who is understood as the “Caller” – rather than a task, my sickness is not a hindrance in my having a sense of calling. Also, since my calling is ultimately to Jesus who suffered and died for me, I too can expect that following Him will involve dying to myself and embracing suffering along the way.
Though I wanted to continue to serve God in Sierra Leone despite my health challenges, my condition eventually became too poor for our family to remain there. Last year, we transitioned to Canada. Since then, I have found myself asking questions about calling again. “What is God calling me to do now I am in Canada?” I can think of some good works I could do, and I sense that God may be nudging me toward them. Yet I am reminded that the most important question is not, “What kind of good works should to do?” but rather, “Where is my heart at in my relationship with God?” “Am I truly willing to go wherever He calls, even though that path involves dying to myself and embracing suffering?”
The cost of following Christ doesn’t seem to get easier with time. But I am grateful to be surrounded by people like my colleague Ansu, who continues to choose to follow Christ, even when it requires dying to himself again and again. It is a privilege to serve in a community, where, together, we live out the principle of the Gospel – the truth that the Gospel always brings life to the receiver and death to the giver.
I would like to end with a verse that has helped me again and again to choose the path of dying to myself in my journey of following Christ. It is John 12:24:
“Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.”
Jennifer Ney | WMF Sierra Leone Global Advocate
Jennifer was born in Seoul, South Korea, and raised in a Catholic family. At the age of 17, she experienced a personal encounter with Christ, which gave her courage to serve God in unexpected ways and places. After working for about a decade as a dental hygienist, she felt a strong calling to full-time missions and began serving in Vancouver’s inner city, working alongside individuals facing drug addiction, homelessness, and mental illness.
From 2014 to 2017, Jennifer served as Advocacy Coordinator with Word Made Flesh Sierra Leone, and from 2019 to 2024, she held the role of Field Director. Her work centered in Kroo Bay, a slum community in the capital city of Freetown, where she engaged deeply in ministry with vulnerable women and children. Jennifer is married to Stephen Ney, and together they adopted their sons, Ezekiel and Nathaniel, in 2020 while living in Sierra Leone. She has a passion for reading and delights in continually learning new things.