REBECCA Crouch openly admits she’s an introvert.
So much so, “Bec” declared “a week of introversion” recently where she did “nothing but go to work and then the gym”.
“It was bliss,” the powerhouse of the emmanuelworship band said.
Bec has taken on what is likely the greatest challenge set before her yet – a move out of her comfort zone.
She leaves for Ireland next month having accepted a new role with NET (National Evangelisation Teams).
Bec’s “Yes” to the move follows decades of association with the peer-to-peer youth ministry and has been met with support from her “spiritual home” – Emmanuel Community.
She first was on NET on a travelling team in 1994 and was then based in Redcliffe City parish in 1995.
Bec was a NET staffer from 2004 to 2010.
Soon she’ll be based in Ballybofey, in the north-west of Donegal County, Ireland.
“The role is to help the new director Tony Foy,” she said, just weeks from departure.
“Tony has been involved with NET as a member of the board for a number of years but has only been in the role of director since January.
“He needs someone who knows the ministry to help him ‘learn the ropes’.”
Bec’s “Yes” – like everything she does – was based on God’s promptings.
“I was at a conference at the end of last year and had an experience in prayer where I felt God was challenging me to be open to something new,” she said.
“I realised that much that I do in ministry and life in general is pretty easy and comfortable and that there’s really nothing much to challenge me.
“(And) I know from past experience of stepping out that I am at my best when I am out of my comfort zone – I tend to get lazy spiritually when I am too comfortable.”
Bec said she prayed “for a willingness to be open to whatever God” had in store.
It was at NET training last January that the question about Ireland was put to her and she “immediately had a sense of ‘Ah, there it is’.”
“It’s so nice when the Lord prepares you before He uproots your life,” Bec said with great joy.
“So all in all, it was an easy decision as it was clearly the Lord’s leading.”
The 42-year-old hasn’t been to Ireland before and says she will miss her family, friends and the Emmanuel Community.
“I think giving up my family and friends and community here will be a challenge – to go somewhere that I don’t know,” she said.
“I said I’m best when I am out of my comfort zone but that doesn’t mean I don’t love my comfort zone.”
Bec said she was leaving the Church in Brisbane “in the midst of a really exciting time”.
“With our new Archbishop taking the reigns, I can sense that the Spirit is moving and I do feel a little sad that I will miss being part of that,” she said.
“I love what our new Archbishop said about now not being the time to ‘circle the wagons’ and his call to find new ways to go out in mission.
“I love that – that’s my heart.
“I’m never more alive than when I am on the frontline talking about Jesus and His love for us.
“I’m excited to see how the Spirit stirs, and look forward to finding a Church even more alive in the Spirit when I come home.”
So while she is “nervous and excited” Bec will still be relying on God at every step.
“There’s still so much to do to get ready practically and that is stressful,” she said.
“(And) sometimes I have doubts about my gifts and abilities.
“But under it all is an absolute certainty that what I am about to embark on is a great adventure designed by the hand of God and so underneath the stress is a deep sense of peace.
“A couple of years ago I climbed a hill in Santa Teresa in the Northern Territory.
“I was nervous about climbing it because I wasn’t fit and was worried I’d not make it.
“But when I got to the top I remember thinking, ‘Well, there you go, I made it’ and I experienced God say to me, ‘Rebecca, you are capable of a lot more than you think you are’.
“So as I set off on this adventure, I hold that moment in my heart.
“If I couldn’t do it, He wouldn’t have called me.”
