I often have doubted my ability to articulate the gospel properly and make disciples. No matter how many times I step out to evangelize, I am fearful I may fail to share the gospel fully. In 1 Corinthians 3, Paul directly addresses these doubts by reminding the reader it is God who gives the growth. We are not to worry about being the most convincing or articulate when sharing the gospel, knowing God is the one who brings forth saving faith.

On our trip to Utah, these same doubts troubled me. I was worried about what I was to say, especially when starting the conversation. I prayed that the Lord would present me with opportunities to preach the true gospel of Jesus Christ found in the Scriptures, regardless of my doubts and fears. The Lord was merciful and allowed me to have several challenging conversations about faith.

The most impactful one was with a guy I approached in a park. We talked about faith, grace and works, [along with Mormon beliefs about] eternal marriage and priesthood authority. I got his number and was able to have a follow-up conversation over lunch. Through my conversations with him, my heart became more and more burdened. There were so many things that he would agree with me on, yet I knew that he didn’t see the full picture. It was honestly really discouraging. I wanted so badly for him to know the true and living Christ.

Since meeting with him, the Holy Spirit often has groaned within me, causing me to pray fervently for his salvation. This is the encouraging truth that I believe the Lord is revealing to me from my experiences in Utah. God places people upon our hearts so that we can pray fervently for his saving grace to be granted to them.

What joy it is to realize that salvation is solely from the Lord and that we can go to him asking for it. I take great encouragement from this knowing that if God can grant me saving faith, then surely, he could for anyone, even my friend I met in Utah.

Tim Laughbaum, a student at Texas A&M University Corpus Christi, served on a Go Now Missions Special Impact outreach team in Utah. 

Wow! That seems like the only appropriate response to these last two weeks, serving with Go Now Missions as part of a Brazil Amazon medical team.

Just to give you some idea how far to the ends of the earth we went, our trip consisted of three plane rides, a car taxi ride, a water taxi ride, another car taxi—and all that was just to the hotel where we stayed. We also went to an indigenous village for three days, where we took a car ride until the road stopped, walked almost a mile on basically a sidewalk that motorcyclists loved to use from both directions, crossed over—or waded through—the Amazon River, then walked a little further to reached the local church where we set up a medical clinic.

I wouldn’t trade a moment of it, though. God did so many amazing things while we were there. Medically, we treated more than 300 patients, helping some find irregular heartbeats and abdominal aortic aneurysms. We also provided basic medical education that would seem almost commonplace here in the States, but was so desperately needed there.

Spiritually, we lead multiple people to Christ. I was able to lead two of them personally. We shared the gospel with several more, and prayed over even more. We also got to watch as God used each member of our team to accomplish his amazing work in each person who went through our clinic.

Anna Clark, a student at East Texas Baptist University, participated with Go Now Missions on a Brazil Amazon medical team. 

I see God working through the questions, discipling and conversations that he has allowed me a part recently.

Two students came to me and asked me to disciple them this semester. For me, this is answered prayer. I had been asking my cohort—a group of other campus ministry interns who meet and share what is happening on their campus—to pray that God would show me who to disciple.

Since I have been meeting with them, I have seen the desire to know God the Father on a much more personal and devoted level. One of them recently talked about something the Holy Spirit was teaching him about the power prayer has on doubts and hesitation. God allowed me to share with him that when we pray in times where we are feeling that way, we are stepping into that chaos and laying it at the feet of God for him to see our hearts. We are opening a direct line to God on what is hard to understand about him. God wants any and every thought, concern, question and doubt to be shared with him. There is no such thing as a hard or wrong question when we bring it to God and want him to show us the truth—which is really just God and who he is.

God brought a student to the men’s group in just an incredible way recently. He told me how he usually takes the same way to his class each week, but a friend told him to take a different path for a reason I can’t remember. When he was on that new path, he stepped on a piece of paper. When he looked down, he saw that it was a flyer for the men’s group—a porn addiction support group. He read it and reached out to me, because he saw the value of the men’s group. Later, he signed up to be a part of it. It was truly amazing to see God bring this student to the group.

What is success in God’s eyes?

God has been reminding me what success looks like, because I was losing sight of God’s work and the kingdom. This semester, we did more outreach for the men’s group than we had done in the past. We put posters in many of the buildings on campus, and we put digital signage in the buildings where it was available. We got a lot of response. When I saw all the replies, I got really excited and thought that I was doing the right work and that we were a success.

But as we reached out to the students, we started seeing that most either would not respond or signed up their friends as a joke. This was heartbreaking for me. I really felt like I had failed and was not doing the right thing. I prayed to God asking the Lord to help me see what is going on and why would this produce no fruit.

As I prayed about it, I was reminded of a story that I read about in J.I. Packer’s Knowing God. In one part of the book, Packer talked about knowing what God is doing. He tells the story of a woman that goes deep into the Amazon rain forest to translate the Bible into a tribe’s language. During this mission, the woman faces many different obstacles. At one point, her main translator got in an argument with one of the people in the tribe, and he ended up getting killed. She was able to find another translator and continued to push forward. After many months, the organization that sent her told her to head out to go to another project, and they would send a team to finish her work. Only a couple of days after she left, someone in the tribe burned down the hut they were in and all of her work was destroyed. After hearing that, she did not understand why God would send her there for her work to just be destroyed. After many years of prayer, she learned God is working in everything, and when we think we know why God has us doing what we are doing, then we probably are farther from really seeing God’s plan.

I came to the realization that we are doing good work, and I have to trust that God is using our work for his kingdom, and that it is not being wasted. After I gave up control of the “why”s, the ministry started to bear some fruit. God is with me and taking the work that we are doing at BSM and using it for his kingdom.

Jason Perkins is a campus ministry intern serving at the Texas Tech University Baptist Student Ministry. 

This month, I am working with Christ Church in Windsor, Colo. Christ Church hosted a Kids Camp for the kids in the community. This camp was set up like a Vacation Bible School, but they called it Kids Camp to appeal to the community.

I had the opportunity to lead the K5-2nd grade group at the Kids Camp. Every day, the kids went to the Bible station, where they heard Bible stories and got to hear the gospel.

On the first day, during Bible station, the kids were asked if they had ever seen a Bible. About half of the kids in my group said they had never seen the Bible before. Then, on the last day of camp, the kids heard the gospel presented. For some of the kids in my group, this was also their first time hearing the gospel. Also, on the last day of camp, the kids had the opportunity to pray to receive Christ.

Now, I don’t know if any of the kids in my group accepted Christ into their hearts that day, but I do know they left knowing the gospel and getting to see a Bible. That is a big win! Now every kid in my group has at least seen the Bible and heard the good news of Jesus Christ. Praise God!

Paige Harris, a student at the University of Texas-Arlington, is serving in Loveland, Colo., with Go Now Missions.

The León mission team consists of nine people divided evenly into three subgroups. The subgroup I belong to works with a group of homeschooled students Monday through Thursday each week.

We ended this particular week by going to some hot water springs near León. The only issue was figuring out our transportation to get back home in time to leave for our ministry in Brisas, an impoverished area in León.

Toward the end of our time at the hot springs, a thunderstorm had formed. It was pouring. My subgroup and I decided to call an Uber to take us home a bit earlier than previously planned. After waiting for some time, an Uber had agreed to pick us up. Our hope was short-lived because the driver soon cancelled. However, another Uber, Juan, was on his way to pick us up. He had called us to see if we could pay in cash, but we could not change that setting in the app. We ended up agreeing to pay in cash but were slightly frustrated because we thought that he was trying to double-charge us. We had no idea what was about to happen.

The first 10 minutes passed with minimal conversation. I had clarified that we would be willing to pay in cash but wanted to make sure we weren’t paying twice the amount. Juan was super understanding of our concern and explained why some drivers prefer cash. He asked us if we spoke Spanish to which I replied “Un poquito.” We asked questions back and forth about various topics. I told him that we were in León to help with a local church. The conversation kept going, but it wasn’t spiritual in any regard. It turned out that his favorite thing was to meet new people—which was great because we were new people!

Juan had worked as a bus driver 27 years and said that he loved it. I am so grateful for what one of my team members said next. Anna Morgan asked him if he went to church somewhere in León. I thought he didn’t want to talk about spiritual matters, because he seemed uninterested when I mentioned that we were in León to help with a church. The Lord used Anna Morgan’s faithfulness to turn the conversation quickly. He responded he was Catholic but that he didn’t agree with everything the church taught.

At that point, the Lord opened a door for the gospel to be shared. And that is what we did. I told Juan that though we were there to help the church, we were there foremost to share the gospel. I asked him what he thought the gospel meant. His reply was the word of God. From there, I affirmed that the word of God has everything to do with the gospel, but that it is more specifically the Good News that Jesus’ death on the cross is sufficient to pay for our sins. We talked about how it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that we must check off a to-do list to gain salvation. Going to church and praying are good things, but they do not contain the power to save. That belongs to God alone.

He was listening intently to everything we said. I am not fluent in Spanish, but I assure you that the Lord was helping me recall every ounce of Spanish that I knew to convey who he is. Juan asked us a question that also helped us gauge his eagerness to listen to us. He asked us, “Why is the gospel good news?” We then were able to share the gospel again and explain how we are all broken individuals in desperate need of a savior. After explaining that, he seemed to understand and said, “I want to live with Jesus in heaven.” So I followed up by asking him if he had ever had a moment where he acknowledged his sinfulness and his inability to do anything to save himself—a moment where he realized that Jesus was who he said he was and that his death on the cross is sufficient to cover our sins.

Juan thought for a second and said, “No.” I then asked him if he would like to make that decision. He replied, “Yes.” We were moments away from our apartment, so once we stopped, we prayed with him. In a matter of 40 minutes, we went from hot waters to living waters. De aguas termales a aguas vivas.

I have yet to meet with Juan again and am actively trying to set up a time to do that, but this story is powerful because the plan was not for an Uber to take us home. It was God’s plan without a doubt. Juan texted me later and said, “I hesitated to make the trip, and it was good that I did … .”

Join me in praying that Juan would understand the depth of the decision that he made. Pray that he would be able to meet soon, and that he would both grasp and grow in the transforming power of the gospel.

Morgun Mason is a student at Midwestern State University serving in Leon, Mexico, as part of a nine-person missions team. Four of the nine are Go Now Missions workers from Texas, and the others are students from other states.

Have you ever stopped to ask yourself why you are doing what you’re doing? Why you continue to pursue something? What makes this so worth your while that you give up your time, your energy—sometimes even money? I have asked myself this question quite a bit.

Going into ministry because that’s where I feel called, I have lots of people ask me, “Why ministry?” It doesn’t pay well. It’s often hard to support a family in ministry. There’s so little opportunity at times. Let me share a story of why this makes it all worth it.

I’m currently serving at a church in Oregon with Go Now Missions. I’ve had different opportunities to lead worship and to invest in students. But most recently, I had the opportunity to teach some students. We just recently had our Vacation Bible School. We had spent so much time in prayer, preparation and decorating. We wrote the lessons and music. We put in late nights and early mornings. In the midst of that, we did not cease to pray about this event we planned.

We were planning for about 90 kids. We ended up with an average of 130 kids. So, God already is doing amazing things. But the story does not end there. As I mentioned, I had the opportunity to teach these kids. I’ve never taught before, and my biggest worry was whether I going to be able to teach these kids in a way so they would understand. But God made sure to give me the right words. So, I gave a gospel presentation to these 130 kids. And while on stage, I asked, “Who wants to be a part of God’s family?” What seemed like half the room raised their hands without hesitation. I was speechless and overwhelmed with joy.

We sat down with the kids and made sure they understood the gospel and asked them if they really wanted to commit their lives to Christ. In one day, we had a total of 43 kids come to salvation. As we talked about how we were going to follow up with 43 kids, my mind was still processing that God just saved 43 souls. All that could go through my head was that the best problem possible is how we make sure these kids get discipled.

This is what makes it worth it. Just one soul makes it worth it. But Jesus likes to do the unthinkable. Instead of one or 20, we had 43 saved. And now we are trying to disciple these kids, so that they understand what being a follower of Christ truly looks like. God is so good to produce fruit when we are faithful. He promises to use us. We are not the ones who save anybody; it’s God. However, I feel so blessed that he chose to use me as a tool to reach those kids.

Hugh Ells, a student at Trinity County College, is serving with Go Now Missions in Klamath Falls, Ore. 

When my mother was 15 years old, she came from South Mexico to Texas to get a better education. Over the summers, she would stay at a camp in the Rio Grande Valley.

One summer, Go Now missionaries worked there and changed her life. They taught her English when she knew none and helped her grow spiritually. This ignited her passion for missions and inspired me, as well, when she had me.

Now I—her daughter—am pursuing missions with Go Now. This is an amazing testament of how God works in our lives and in the generations that come behind us.

I want people to hear about how saying “yes” to the call of missions impacts not only us, but the generations that follow us.

Aly Finner, a student at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, is serving with Go Now Misiosns on a creative outreach and discipleship team this summer in Beaverton, Ore.

Something I have been realizing the past few weeks is that God speaks back. I don’t just speak hoping the Lord will work, but I am talking to my Lord who cares, hears and answers. My team and I have been taking intentional time to listen and hear what the Holy Spirit has to say and who he wants us to engage with.

Recently, my team and I sat in silence for five minutes listening. The Lord brought blue speckles to my mind. I thought, “What? God, how are you going to use that?” As we went about our day—all the while searching for blue speckles—we began to engage in coffee evangelism in the afternoon. As we sat at the table about to leave, my friend looked out the window and exclaimed: “Blue speckles! Her scarf has blue speckles!” We saw a Muslim woman with a blue speckled hijab (headscarf) walking into the grocery store below.

We raced down to the grocery store, but Satan clearly wanted to hinder us. The police officer at the door of the grocery store stopped my friends and me, saying that the three of us could not enter with our backpacks. Just the day before, about eight of us had entered with our backpacks with no opposition. So, one of us stayed with the backpacks while the other two rushed in. We speed-walked as we seemed to search the entire store. We did not find the woman in the headscarf until we were headed back to the entrance. She was buying fish. My friend and I stood near pretending to compare the prices of the fish—even though neither of us really like fish! Eventually, we asked her which kind of fish she liked the best, and that began our conversation with the woman from Iraq. She was so kind and gracious towards us, she even extended an invitation for us to come into her home. We left the grocery store with a plan to call her the next morning to set up a time.

The next morning, I called. No answer. I ended up leaving a voice message. I called again a few hours later. No answer. By this time, I started to get nervous that this meeting would not happen. I called for a third time later in the afternoon while at the same time my entire team was praying that she would answer and be open to meeting. She answered. It was hard to understand, since she is not fluent in English and I don’t really know any Arabic, but I got the idea that she might be too busy. All at once, the conversation shifted, and she said that she wanted us to come at 6:30 p.m. that day. What a miracle!

I have met few people as hospitable at our hosts were that day. We talked with our new friend from Iraq and her husband for almost two hours, but it seemed that the time flew by. It was such a wonderful time. During the whole time that we were talking, I was praying God would open a bridge in the conversation for me to bring up the gospel, because I did not want to force it. I prayed that the couple would ask questions.

Randomly, the husband asked us, “Are you happy?” This was a perfect bridge. I went on to ask if I could share what changed my life and brought me the greatest joy. They wanted to hear, so I shared the gospel with them. That was probably the first time that they had ever heard the gospel message. They responded with interest and respect. We can celebrate that they heard the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Because my partner and I were leaving town, we wanted to connect our new friend with someone who lived there long term. Although nobody was available to come and meet the Iraqi couple before we left, my friend and I decided to go and see them one last time. We called the number, but a recording said that it was out of service. On faith, we ended up going to the apartment complex, hoping they would be there so we could say goodbye. They were overjoyed to see us and welcomed us with open arms and lots of food. The whole time, I was praying for God to open a door for them to get connected with Christians who lived in that city. Toward the end of the conversation, we learned our new friend from Iraqw wanted to learn and improve her English. There are Christians in the city who teach English as a way to share the gospel. So, we were able to exchange numbers and connect them with people whou could continue to show them the love of Jesus. It is evident that God sees, loves and wants connection with this couple from Iraq.

Oddly enough, that headscarf that drew our attention actually had a leopard print on it, not blue speckles. It just looked like it had blue speckles from afar. It made me think of Phillip in the Bible. God told him to go to Gaza. He never got to Gaza, but he had to be going that direction to get to the Ethiopian eunuch in the chariot. It was not about the destination but the person God was guiding him to. It was never about the blue speckles but about the woman God was guiding us to meet.

Madison Bundy, a student at Midwestern State University, has been serving in an Oklahoma City ministry to refugees with Mission Lab. Go Now Missions developed Mission Lab for students whose travel options were restricted due to the COVID-19, providing them opportunities to serve locally or regionally.  

The other night, I met with an international student, and we went to a favorite spot of his on the edge of campus. We spoke about his time here in America as we drank Turkish tea in special glasses.

His financial situation would have made going to school here impossible, but he acknowledged that God kept him above water. His story was filled with examples of Christ at work through individual believers. From providing help with assignments to helping him find honest work, everyone who had shown him kindness since he arrived here is a follower of Christ.

But at the end of our conversation, he told me that in his two years here, it was the first time he had just hung out with a friend one-on-one. In two years of living in Huntsville, no one ever reached out and invited him to hang out before.

That shook me. He has been around our Baptist Student Ministry. Sure, we may have shown him kindness, but I don’t know how well we—as a group—loved him. Individuals have loved him well. But imagine if a community had.

I’m not sure how much time he has left here with us, but it’s not too late for some other international students to be loved well by more than just a few of us.

Ronnie Busby is a student at Sam Houston State University, currently serving with Mission Lab in Huntsville. He originally had planned to serve with Go Now Missions this summer in Central Asia. After that door was closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he has been able to connect with international students in Huntsville.

College students from throughout Texas gathered in Midlothian after what was, for some, many hours of travel to discover where God might call them to serve on mission.

After registration, students joined their assigned discussion groups for fellowship over dinner before large group worship. By 10 p.m., each group departed from worship and my car-full headed down the curvy, bumpy country road to our host home. As we wandered deeper and deeper into what I perceived to be the middle of nowhere, I couldn’t help but wonder what I’d gotten myself into.

Our host family greeted us with smiles and snacks—the country farmhouse table splayed with cookies, chips and Dr Pepper in true Southern hospitable glory. Our hosts explained they’d be staying in their camping trailer for the weekend so that we could occupy the bedrooms and proceeded to help us set up spare cots.

Our group gathered for brief introductions, where I discovered I was the only student who wasn’t a  thoroughbred Texan. Our spirited discussion leaders, Grace and John—who currently serve as full-time missionaries in London—led us in the study of the night’s prescribed Scripture before we retired to bed.

Saturday’s schedule began with breakfast generously prepared by our hosts followed by placement interviews and diving into Tradecraft: For the Church on Mission, which would become our official how-to on all things missionary. After watching the cattle pass the breakfast nook window while biting into a sausage gravy-doused biscuit, I felt a bit out of place as a self-proclaimed urbanite.

Following lunch, we headed to the hosting Baptist church for the missions fair where we shopped for God’s calling. We listened intently for God to speak through the mouths of mission leaders who shared passionately about their projects. Dinner and recreation time followed and as the night came to a close, each group member spoke to the spiritual gifts we had observed in one another. Hearing from the lips of a peer how they had seen God calling each of us was as touching as the voices of students, parents, volunteers and leaders joining in praise during worship earlier that evening.

Back at our host home, my group indulged in a lively game of Uno, luring even the participation of our hosts’ children and Grace and John, whom we had surely already exhausted. Alarms went off early Sunday morning. and we wearily stumbled to repack our belongings before the final worship service and goodbyes.

My expectations for the weekend included services of heartfelt worship, time to pray and to listen to our Maker and sermons that left us giddy to go out into the world and serve God. All of these were met. However, I didn’t expect to bond with other students who only days prior had been strangers. I didn’t anticipate confiding in one another about the ways in which we feel convicted, tempted and blessed. “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am among them,” (Matthew 18:20). God was there-—at 1 am in the dining room among scattered Uno cards. He was there that afternoon when we prayed to be called to a people, that evening when we prayed for each of us to mature in our journeys of faith, and when we prayed the next day for safe travels home.

By the time we tossed our duffles into the trunk and bid adieu to our gracious hosts, I’d become somewhat admittedly fond of the grassy fields we’d passed back and forth between our host home and the church. I had been called out of my comfortable metropolitan mindset that weekend, called to be among other believers, called to hear the messages of returned missionaries, and called to go and serve this summer. God calls us in such ways that the urbanites may be pulled to the outskirts and the country-dwellers may be drawn to the cities.

Texans and non-Texans alike, we are one in Christ.

That weekend, campus missionary interns, Baptist Study Ministry directors and local volunteers, among many others, funneled their time, prayer and wisdom into our process of discovery and contemplation. The heart of our hosts showed through in the meals they prepared and the sacrifices they made for our comfort. We were served lovingly, such as God has called us as student missionaries, to scatter and share God’s truth and love.

My appointment to serve on the Impact Amazon medical team this summer in Brazil will surely draw me further from my comfort zone, but with the support and prayers of old and newfound friends and feeling guided by the Holy Spirit, I will be prepared to “Go and do likewise” (Luke 10:37).

Rebecca Egan, a student at Rice University, will serve in Brazil with Go Now Missions. 

“Language is love.”

My student from Nepal spoke the words with a wide grin before our English-as-a-Second Language Class. It was below freezing outside our cluttered and crowded makeshift English classroom. We were located on the third floor of the English Language Institute in New York City. Our lesson centered on the story of the three wise men, a story I was familiar with from years of Sunday school and Wednesday night Bible studies, but my Nepali and Bangladeshi students experienced it for their first time in English.

“Mr. Mohammed, can you read the title for me?” I asked. He smiled and nodded his head up and down quickly.

Mr. Mohammed needed the most help pronouncing words. I typically would read a sentence him and have him repeat it back to me. He was eager to say anything in English, even if he wasn’t saying it right and was thankful for my help with words he did not know. At one point, I was having difficulties explaining the story of the three wise men to him. Each time I moved on to a new sentence, Mr. Mohammed needed help understanding how that new sentence connected to the one before it. He could understand fragments of the story, but he could not put the story together. However, I noticed he was quick to pick up names. One name always made him smile and look up at me. That name was Jesus. Whenever I said a sentence with the name Jesus as the subject, he perked up and repeated “Jesus” back to me.

“Ohhh, Jesus!” Mr. Mohammed said, as his eyes brightened.

Looking back on that day, I doubt that he understood most of the story of the three wise men—maybe less than half. Furthermore, I never got to articulate the gospel with him. He did not understand my English very well, and I was unable to spend time outside of class with him. But I know this for sure; Mr. Mohammed took away a great impression of the name of Jesus. Whenever he heard that name, his face changed. That name was all he needed to hear. It reminded me of what God commanded us to do in 2 Corinthians 4:5: “For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.”

I was reminded that the gospel didn’t depend on my eloquent speech. It didn’t depend on my speech, period. Being an English major, I had hopes of explaining the good news of Jesus as precisely as I could to Mr. Mohammed, but none of that worked. God had unequipped me physically, dis-enabling me to express myself. Yet, through this physical unequipping, this language barrier, God reminded me I was equipped spiritually. I had to depend solely on God to explain who Jesus is, since my words would never be enough. I had to depend solely on the name of Jesus, and his name was more than enough. One word from God spoke to Mohammed more than all my words ever could. This is because the language of Jesus is the language of love. Through the Holy Spirit, all can interpret its meaning.

Chris Williams, a student at the University of Texas at Tyler, served in New York City with Go Now Missions during Christmas break.