Recognizing her Calling to Indonesia
Graduating early from high school in Indiana during the second week of December 2022, current senior, Natalie Sexauer just turned 18 and didn’t skip a beat when she started Jessup’s spring semester in 2023. At the time, volleyball was everything to her. As a defensive specialist or libero, Sexauer specialized in back-row defense and thrived on the rhythm of practice, thrill of competition and the discipline she developed as a player. Her love for the sport started when she was just seven years old, and through the years, she was often the one rallying her teammates with contagious energy and unshakable optimism. Whether they won or lost, Sexauer’s love for the game never wavered; it was the heartbeat of her college experience and a source of constant joy.
But when a torn labrum benched her during her sophomore year, she underwent surgery and during her recovery, suffered a concussion. On her long road to recovery, she found herself aching not just from the injury and concussion, but from the loss of what she thought defined her.
It was during this unexpected pause that she remained on campus while her volleyball team traveled for an away game. Sexauer decided to attend an Encounter Chapel event, more out of curiosity than conviction. “I love learning about other cultures, so when I went to chapel and talked to some of the missionaries there, it was really impactful for me,” she said. “That’s when I started to consider becoming a missionary.”
What she heard that night stirred something deeper than any victory she ever had. Sexauer also recalled being moved by what became one of her favorite classes, Leading With A Mission. “I remember being absorbed in the material I was reading for that course,” she said. “It was about unreached and unengaged people groups and learning about hard places to live due to reasons like weather, social, economic or justice issues. These areas are even less likely to have someone come and evangelize because they are so undesirable. This really touched my heart. I kept thinking, ‘If I don’t go, then who will?”’
The next summer, she joined one of Jessup’s global missions teams that took her to Indonesia. During that trip, she was baptized along with one of the students from the program where she served. One summer missions trip later, Sexauer found herself serving back in Indonesia and felt God’s call upon her life. “Despite the lack of electricity and hardships during that whole trip, I just kept thinking, I could live here,” she said.
Graduating this December, she’s preparing to trade in her jersey for a passport. The leadership major plans to head to Sumba, Indonesia and serve the ministry she came to know through Jessup’s Global Outreach program. House of Hope’s mission is to provide education to kids in poverty, offering a different outcome for their lives. “Many of these kids don’t have education beyond sixth grade,” Sexauer said. “I want to provide resources they can use to help future generations come to know Jesus and provide a model of economic sustainability they can teach their families.”
Her first assignment as a MAPS (Mission Abroad Placement Service) worker will last for one year, then Sexauer plans to become a missionary associate and later, a fully appointed missionary through Assemblies of God World Missions.
This semester, as Sexauer finishes up her education at Jessup, she’s playing her final season representing the Warriors on the volleyball team and fundraising for her move to Indonesia, a not so unfamiliar place she will call home in 2026, all thanks to her transformational experience at Jessup.
