I love working with kids. I have been doing it ever since I aged over the threshold of being a kid myself. In the past, however, I’ve always thought of children’s church and Vacation Bible School as lots of fun but not super important. That’s why they let the volunteers and teenagers work it, right? Somewhere in my church life, I got the idea that children’s ministry is on the back burner, and all the focus should be on adults and youth.

I have been terribly wrong.

Since I have been in Colorado, I have spent a lot of time at children’s church, sports camps and block parties. While entertaining games and activities are important, it is the people called to children’s ministry who are vital in sharing God’s word with these kids. I know the words “called to” are intimidating, but that’s actually how it is. Whether it is your full-time job or you volunteer once a month, God has called you to play a significant role in influencing his children to follow him.

One thing I have learned this year is how important it is that kids see familiar faces and have a routine ministry experience, just like the adults.

“Wait, are you teaching this week? Yay! Miss Gracie is teaching this week!” Those words made me so happy multiple times this summer. Children want to see you today, and they want to see you again next time.

Sunday school is probably the most chaotic time of the week. Kids are not using their inside voices, we can’t find the glue, and someone needs to go potty. It’s easy to get lost in the busyness, but those few minutes of learning about God’s word and praying together go a long way. I like asking kids after church what they learned about, and I’ve found that they actually listen.

Most of the time, we get told exactly what to do in children’s ministry—read this story, sing this song, etc. But as a leader, you still have the responsibility to let the Holy Spirit guide that time. One of my favorite moments this summer was when the Sunday school teacher decided to do an interactive gospel presentation before doing whatever the curriculum guided us to do. Do you think the kids remember the video that they usually see, or the new fun activity? The classroom was absolutely chaotic, but they definitely learned something new about Jesus and his saving grace.

Through talking with our supervisors and pastors, my partner and I have learned about the church and the demographics of the population here. They told us families with young children are the most likely to reconnect with the church. This means the kids get to come, but their parents who have disconnected are coming back, too.

At some time or another, parents are faced with questions they do not know how to answer. This curiosity—along with their child’s need to share experiences with their parents—has led many families back to church. If we make children’s ministry as crucial to the church as it is to the kids, we extend that importance to the rest of the family as well.

I think that puts it into perspective. Children’s ministry is an integral part of the church as well as the gateway to family ministry.

Gracie Humphrey, a student at the University of Texas in Austin, is serving this summer in Loveland, Colo., with Go Now Missions.

Being surrounded by thousands of college students, I thought I was going to spend 100 percent of my time with them when I arrived in Eastern Europe. The pamphlet describing the position always talked about grabbing coffee with college students and investing time building relationships through sports and entertainment around the city. While this is the main focus of this trip, God continues to demonstrate just how powerful he is and how his love tears through spiritual barriers.

One of the ways we serve and share is through English classes offered every Tuesday and Thursday. The people who attend? Far from college students. Most who attend the English class are over the age of 40 and have pretty much settled down their lives while having years rooted in their Orthodox religion.

During one of the first weeks we got here, we held an English Intensive week, which means offering English class Monday through Thursday. During these four days a certain older gentleman was put into my group. Before this, he had had a bad reputation in groups and actually was asked to leave, but for some reason, he attended these four days of English Intensive. Once that week was over, he wanted to continue with the classes that we held twice a week and for some reason, God put him in my group again.

Once I thought about the fact that God was doing this on purpose, I tried to discern the best course of action to continue sharing the gospel with him effectively. During the English Intensive week, we would read Bible stories and talk about them, but it was difficult to get personal because there were so many people. Fortunately, this wasn’t the case after the English Intensive week ended.

In the first lesson, we focused on Genesis 1-2. He and I talked about different moral concepts, but for the most part he was closed off to talking about anything relating to spirituality. The second lesson focused on the fall of humanity, based on Genesis 3.We talked again about moral concepts and understanding of sin.

As we continued to talk and complete different lessons, his heart slowly started to open up. Around the sixth lesson, I felt the Spirit put it in my heart to ask him a question about Jesus. I really didn’t know what to say. So, when it was time for English class, I began by asking him: “What do you think about Jesus? Who is he to you?”

We proceeded to talk about Jesus for the next hour and a half, and it was something he wanted in his life. God has been hard at work in him previously and was pursuing him relentlessly.

Since then, he has gotten plugged into the local home church and is growing in his faith. Please pray for his spiritual growth.

Manuel, a student at the University of Texas at El Paso, is serving in Eastern Europe with Go Now Missions. His last name is withheld due to security concerns.

Who am I? What is my purpose? Where do I come from? When will I feel satisfied? How can I know truth? These were the kind of questions I asked myself the year before my first year of college, not knowing that all these questions were about to be answered by someone greater than I—one whose existence I dedicated myself to disproof.

Now, I know who I am and who he is—the purpose of my being since the beginning of it all. My satisfaction is fed by the Truth. That is my story.

On my first week here in Central Asia, I met a good friend. Since then, we have done fun things together. We walked around town, visited coffee houses, shared meals and watched the World Cup, always sharing deep conversations and lots of laughter.

The time when I shared my story, he sat there staring in my eyes as I stared back. I could feel we both were thinking the same thing about each other, “He knows my story.”

My friend told me about a dream, in which he saw a man carrying wood on his back. Before I could tell him about the man, he told me that it was Jesus, who was telling him about the way he should follow. I had a big smile on my face followed by some chuckles. I had never heard about something like this from a person I knew. That night concluded with him telling me he knew what had to be done, but he wasn’t ready and did not know when he would be ready.

A couple of weeks later, we were hanging out for his birthday—just the two of us watching a football match. That night, he shared with me that he had been thinking about being reborn. I asked if he knew what that meant and then got to explain it in the following way: “If a football team wins the World Cup, they get to celebrate and lift up that cup at the ceremony. However, the match must first be won before they get to proclaim the victory in view of the whole world.”

I proceeded to share about the victory Christ won that ended the match already. Before I could finish, I saw a man breaking down at the sound of the news, saying the time for him to pick up that victory given to him was now.

My story seems to have been translated to a different language in order to speak answers to my friend. Both our stories speak of one who is greater than us, who holds the answers to our deepest questions and desires.

Franky, a graduate of the University of Texas at El Paso is serving in Central Asia with Go Now Missions. Franky’s last name is withheld due to security concerns.

I’ve wanted to do mission work in the Middle East since my freshman year of college. I went on a Go Now trip that summer in Phoenix, Ariz., doing refugee work, and I fell in love with Arabs and their culture. So, this summer I was the most stoked to be here in the Middle East for an extended amount of time.

But when I got here, it didn’t look like the fairy tale I had created in my mind with bright colors and camels everywhere. It’s hot—far worse than it was in Arizona. And it makes me angry that I’m not allowed to look men in the eyes; that makes me feel weak, inferior and defenseless.

So, I hunkered down for the first couple weeks until one night I gave in and admitted I was not happy here. I realized my desire for the Middle East was not pure. When I left for college, I was running away from my broken family. Subconsciously, it was easy to turn my back on them, and the idea of moving across the ocean meant I wouldn’t have to see them often. I simultaneously truly felt the Father giving me a passion for unreached people, and mission work fit really well into that description.

But being in this culture has shown me the gift and the beauty that family can be. The idea of moving from family to an unknown, foreign place sounds horrendous to me now. God used this culture to show me my desire to do good here was also partially motivated by my desire to run away, but our God is one of full redemption and wants to make us whole, even if it’s a painful process. It’s painful, because my mother left when I was little, and I’ve recently learned that running away doesn’t fix anything; it just allows time to pass and scars to form.

In having to dig up suppressed emotions and scabbed wounds, God has shown me it’s best to not leave them that way. He’s had to take me on a journey in order to bring those emotions to the surface and teach me to fully trust, to live fully redeemed and complete in him. This has also allowed me to understand my mother a little, because I almost did what she did to me.

So I’m not for or against long-term life in the Middle East now. All that matters is that I’m near to the Father and doing what he has for me.

Sami, a student at Texas A&M University, is serving in the Middle East with Go Now Missions. Her last name is withheld for security reasons.

I was born with a clubfoot. My left leg is shorter than my right leg, my left foot is two sizes smaller than my right foot, and my left calf is half the size of my right calf.

However, in my lifetime, I can only remember three times when someone even noticed something was different about my leg. When I was born, the doctor said that I wouldn’t even be able to walk correctly. I was one of the faster students in my grade, played multiple sports, and really never seemed to miss a step. Up until this point of my life, this is how I saw God gifting me through the two surgeries I had on my leg. I had gone farther than the doctors had ever thought I would go.

Two truths and a lie

This summer, I am serving in Kaohsiung, a big coastal city in southern Taiwan. I am assisting with English clubs at local universities and helping lead English camps for elementary and junior high students. One of the activities we use to introduce ourselves in two truths and a lie. For one of my true statements, I tend to say, “I have two different sized legs and feet.” I have done this activity multiple times in our team introductions, but one time, I felt the nudge of the Holy Spirit to share a little more.

I said I was born with a clubfoot and demonstrated how it was bent inwards to the class. I told about my two corrective surgeries and how I really could walk just fine. Finally, I described how my Mom started calling my left leg my “lucky fin” after the movie Finding Nemo came out.

There didn’t appear to be any big reaction and honestly I asked God: “Did I hear that correctly? You wanted me to share that?” We went on with our presentation like normal, and later in the class, I told some students about how my parents encouraged me to find truth and that led to me to following Jesus. It led to some good conversation about truth and choosing to follow Jesus. I thought, “All right God, thank you for letting me talk about my parents and their value for truth in our family.”

Model of unconditional love

The professor who leads that class attends the congregation, Hope Bilingual Church, where we are assisting this summer. Her name is Jennice, and she hugged me and exclaimed, “I am so thankful that you shared about your leg.”

She proceeded to tell me she and several of her students were touched by the way my parents loved me despite my physical imperfection. Jennice continued to explain that in Taiwan’s honor-and-shame culture, my clubfoot would have been seen as shameful for the family. Conventional wisdom here would say more than likely, someone had done something to earn my clubfoot. However, upon hearing that my family went on to make sure that I felt special because of it by calling it my “lucky fin,” they were amazed at the love my parents displayed for me. Jennice even shared that as a believer, she knew we should love everyone just as God does, but her mind has a tendency to follow the leanings of the culture. I could completely relate to her about that.

I was completely taken aback and just humbled at the way my parents have modeled the unconditional love of Christ for me. They would have gone to so many more lengths for me to walk properly, just as God went to the greatest length so we could walk with him again.

‘God knits our stories together’

I was taken aback and in awe of the way God knits our stories together and uses them for his glory. Honestly, if someone were to ask me about my clubfoot, I have my next few sentences in the conversation memorized with a couple of jokes here and there and my story is tied up in a cute, little bow. I did not expect God to pull something from my story that I thought I understood as fully as I could and use it to show his glory and his love. My imperfect leg is nothing compared to the imperfection my sin brings to my relationship with God. He is the one who has loved me in my imperfection and sent Jesus to earth so I could have a restored relationship with him.

The healing we have access to in God is greater than we ever could imagine. I am reminded of the story of Jesus in the crowd and the very sick woman who had spent lots of time and money to be healed. She thought to herself, “If I touch even his garments, I could be made well” (Mark 5:24-34).  If we were just to reach out and touch the clothes of Jesus, what healing we would experience. Christ came and brought spiritual healing and unconditional love. Through the gospel, we have full access to our Father, who has done everything so that his children can be with him. The spiritual healing we have access to through the gospel is relentless. God is seeking to restore people to himself and to love them deeply and abundantly.

Right now in Taiwan, God is teaching me to point others back to the unconditional love he already has for them. He is teaching me he loves in abundance and he loves in greater ways than we could ever imagine. God is teaching me he has brought me to tell my new friends how when I reached out and believed, I experienced a spiritual healing that I never could achieve on my own. So here I am in Taiwan with my lucky fin and a heart that is asking my friends to reach out and to touch the clothes of Jesus through prayer and his word so they can know the one true God.

Katie Burkhead, campus ministry intern at the University of Texas in Austin, is serving as coordinator of a Go Now Missions team in Taiwan this summer.

Back when I was going to school at my previous university, I met a guy outside at the pavilion—a common area on campus. He came to our club and had free lunch with us on Wednesdays. He became my friend last year, but he was leaving to go back to his home country, and I was transferring to a different university. What we didn’t know was that we were going to meet again in the near future.

We stayed connected as pen pals, and I informed him about my coming to his home country. We found the time to meet and were able to reunite. This time, however, it was different. He planned on bringing a friend who was a native of the city where I’m staying. What I wasn’t expecting, though, was his friend to be the one interested in the one true Father of all nations. It was amazing how he was asking all the right questions, as if this had been something that was on his mind for a while.

The next day, I planned and prayed that I would be able to share the Good News with them, and so we sat down. I asked them if they knew what they needed to do in order to restore their relationship with God. I let them know that he created them in his own image and deeply loves them. I also ended with leaving a time to respond and make a decision.

My prayer is that whatever shame or fear they have in either their society or families would be washed away—that God would find his way into their hearts and give them a willingness to run to him and not look back. I ask that they wouldn’t just hear the good news, but understand it, so that one day they will be the ones bearing a hundredfold and sixtyfold.

Lucas, a student at Texas A&M University, is serving with Go Now Missions in East Asia. His last name is withheld for security reasons.

We didn’t know what to expect when we first landed in this country. Our trip had been very vague from the beginning: Embrace the Beyond.

“What would we be doing? How would we be doing it? Where? With whom?”

These questions flooded my mind as our plane headed to the base city from which we would serve. Even when we landed, things didn’t get much clearer. We were given no specific instructions and no specific needs or tasks. We were told to just go and do, however we felt the Spirit leading—which was, in itself, both incredibly exciting and equally intimidating.

We began with a local church group. They had been in the city for more than 15 years. They had to flee from their home island when they started following Jesus Christ. Their homes were burned, and they lost some people in their attempt to flee. They have all faced many hardships since settling in a small village just outside the city, but they were now, for the most part, safe to follow Jesus. At least, they’re safer than they were.

Hearing their story was incredible, but what was even more incredible was that God was at work in the some of the hearts of the very same people who chased them out of their home. My partners face grew bright.

To the island

“I feel the Spirit leading us to their island!”

I was unsure. I hadn’t felt the Spirit lead much of anywhere to that point, so I decided to trust the Spirit in him. We were warned of the dangers of going to the island, we were told that the travel was rough, and we’d only be able to stay one night. I felt our time could be better used elsewhere, but in submission to my partner, I got on board a small ship headed to the island.

The small vessel comfortably can fit maybe 30 to 40 passengers and all of their belongings. Uncomfortably, maybe 50. We made our way to the back of the ship squeezing passed the 75-plus passengers all headed to the island. We found ourselves tightly packed in a small room with about 30 other people right outside the engine room. It was 9 p.m., and I took my place on a small board that hung above the engines. It was uncomfortable and incredibly hot, especially sitting above the engine, but the journey was only 4 hours and these people travel in this condition constantly. I could survive four hours. An hour passed by and we the only movement we made came from the waves crashing against our boat that lay dormant at the dock. I was able to fall asleep for half an hour, but awoke to the roar of engines and a strong smell of exhaust emanating from below. Finally, we had started our journey.

Long, long journey

Sitting right above the engines probably wasn’t the smartest choice, but it was literally the only one I had. I wasn’t going to make my partner or our translator switch to make them suffer for me. Besides, it was only four hours. “I’ll be fine,” I thought. The heat became overwhelming, and the exhaust had filled my lungs. The boat swayed back and forth, and I was overcome with sickness. I couldn’t breathe. Sweat covered my body, and my head was spinning. I looked all around me. People were asleep peacefully all across the floor, there was no space for me to make it to a window let alone join them and free myself from the heat and exhaust.

One hour stretched to two, two slowly made its way to three, and three finally became four. Conditions had gotten worse, but at least we were close. I had started to sing praises to God around the second hour. No one could hear me over the roar of the engine, and it was helping me not throw up. I’ve learned that there is not a single moment of our lives that God isn’t worthy of our praise. Even when your sitting on a small board. Above roaring engines. In 100 degree circumstances. And when you’ve been breathing exhaust polluted air for several hours straight.

“God, you’re so good. God you’re so good. God you’re so good. You’re so good to me.”

Four hours became five, and five hours became six. I could not handle it anymore. I made my way to the window trying my best not to step on anyone. I sat on the ledge, found somewhere to hold on to, and leaned over. I took a big breath. Still exhaust. I should’ve known, the air had to leave the room from somewhere. I stood up and leaned out as far as I could. The only breaths of fresh air I could catch came from the sea breeze that would occasionally hit my face.

“God, why is this journey so hard?”

I felt like I was an Israelite wandering the desert, like I was being punished. My heart hardened. I didn’t even want to come to this island. It wasn’t my idea. In fact, I thought it was a bad idea, and I was right. We should’ve never have made this trip. I’ll let the others do the work tomorrow. I need time to recover from this night. These thoughts raged on in my mind, but a still small voice in my head pierced through it all.

‘God, you’re so good’

“God, you are so good,” it said.

“God, you are so good. You are always good and always worthy of my praise. Why am I growing cold? Why are you allowing this to happen? What is going to happen on this island? Whatever it is God, I trust you. Forgive me for dwelling in thoughts that were not honoring to you. Please give me the strength to serve. Your will be done.”

I could see the island. I had been able to see it for the past hour, time dragged on. We never seemed to get any closer. I felt I was being mocked. I sat back down inside the boat and continued to praise God because I knew something amazing was going to happen.

Nine hours. Almost nine hours we were in that boat. Nine hours my head spun, my stomach churned, and my lungs burned for fresh air … but we finally made it. As people began to wake up, they would lean over the side of the boat and throw up all that they had breathed in that night. They all had a rough journey too, it seemed. At least I knew I wasn’t just being dramatic.

We ventured up the mountain to the village where we would be staying. We saw the most beautiful sunrise any of us had ever seen. I would try to describe it to you now, but words would fall short of the beauty God allowed us to experience that morning. We got to the village, but there was no time to rest. We only had a day here, and we knew we must begin work immediately!

God at work

We found that God has indeed been at work on the island. There were several strong brothers and sisters who took us in and loved on us so well. They even got us a meeting with the chief of the village. I was really worried at first. I had never met a village chief before. I didn’t want to do or say anything that might offend their tribe. But as the chief came our way, all my nerves were put to rest when he shot us a wink and pointed some finger guns at us. I just knew he was going to be a pretty cool cat, and he was! He had become a Christ follower and had been baptized with some of the others in the village! There was a small pocket of them in the village who were brothers and sisters in Christ but in speaking with them, we learned they lacked direction, were heavily outnumbered, and still face persecution. We talked for several long hours about so many different things. It was amazing. We learned that we were the first Americans ever to set foot on the island. We were almost the first foreigners ever, but Steve from Switzerland beat us to it six years ago. We learned so many different things about the people and the culture. We met many influential people and got to see much of the island. But the most amazing thing we saw was God make a house church with the chief of the village.

In talking with the chief, he told us he would love to start a church but they didn’t have the money for one. We asked him if he knew what a house church was. He talked with the other brothers, and they said no. We talked about the concept and asked if they would like us to host one that night. They said that they would love that! We sang praises, we read God’s word together, and as a church, we prayed for the people of the island. We were only there for a day, but God had gone out before us and had been working there for years. It was truly beautiful to see God on that island.

Please be praying for the island. Lift up the Christians on that island and their house church.  Pray that God will raise up strong leaders.  Pray for the non-believers, that they are softened to the truth. Also please help fight against persecution through your prayers.

H.T., a student at the University of Texas-El Paso, is serving with Go Now Missions in Southeast Asia. His full name is withheld for security reasons.

Why Arlington? This is a question that goes through the head of many a summer missionary after receiving an appointment emails. I will not lie and say I was ecstatic when I read the email with my assignment. Instead, I felt disappointed and a bit frustrated. I found myself asking: “Why Arlington, God? Don’t you know that I live an hour away from there?”

Wow, our own selfish ambitions really do change the way we see God’s plans. Yet, doesn’t God always show up and show off when we let him work? I am so glad I chose to follow God’s path for my life and not my feelings of disappointment.

What God is doing through Mission Arlington is incredible. Lives constantly are being filled with Christ’s love through this ministry. God has humbled me through this place and these people, and it has been life changing.

While I have been here, God has been answering my initial question with an even stronger message: “Why not Arlington?” Should missions stop at our neighbor’s door? How can we fly across seas, ready to share the gospel and meet needs in other nations, but leave our communities in Texas to fend for themselves. Believe it or not, there are people in Texas who have never heard the true gospel. These people are our next-door neighbors. Who will tell them? We pass people everyday in the streets who hunger for food, but also for hope. That hope that they yearn for can only be found in Christ, but who will tell them?

I know I am placing a lot of questions out there, but God has been teaching me by placing these questions in my mind as I serve the people of Dallas/Fort Worth. Therefore, I will end with more questions. My challenge to you is to humble yourselves and look around you. What needs can you meet this week? What child needs some extra attention and love? What mother of four needs diapers, wipes and formula? What former inmate needs direction and help getting back on his feet?

We take these lives for granted and tend to leave needy people in our communities to fend for themselves. But we will go across seas to share the gospel and meet needs. So, why not in your hometown? Why not your schools? Why not the state of Texas?

“How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’”(Romans 10:14-15).

 Shannon Peterson is a student from Texas A&M University-Commerce, serving with Go Now Missions at Mission Arlington.

When I first arrived in Vancouver, I saw quite a few similarities to back home in Austin. There’s a hustle and bustle, a time-only-for-me-myself-and-I mentality. There are people everywhere, studying hard and partying harder. But as my eyes opened to the world around me, the similarities began to chip away. True, there’s a sense of pride and accomplishment for being at this university, but there’s also a loneliness that comes with that. It’s not loneliness like I see back at the University of Texas. No, it’s loneliness without a purpose.

As our supervisor put it, people are lonely but not completely shut out to the thought of letting people in. It’s as if they are longing for water but refuse to drink from the springs that surround them. This has been an immense obstacle in our way. It’s been a challenge just to begin a conversation, let alone hold one. We’ve been asked multiple times what our motives are, even in simple things like getting lunch. Despite the discouragement, we continue to be faithful in what God is asking us to do, including the use of Soularium Cards—a set of picture cards used to initiate conversations.

In the midst of figuring out how to make our way through this obstacle, we met a student named Jon. When he first approached our table, he was hostile and instantly put walls up. He began to question us, asking us why we were here and what our motives were. We told him we were just trying to meet people and listen to their stories. He told us he didn’t believe in God so we could do nothing for him. We were taken aback by the aggression within him, not knowing what was behind that pain. We continued to have conversation with him, though, asking him about his life. He gave us one-word answers, not giving us too much detail into who he was. It was a strange situation, but by this time, he had taken a seat at the table, pulled up his laptop, and began to work.

We were able to see that even though he was extremely skeptical of us, his desire to not be lonely had taken over. One of our teammates then invited him to movie night. He said he’d try to make it but wasn’t sure. We were also skeptical about his commitment to come, especially with the way he seemed to respond to the survey. Later that night, though, we got a knock on the door. To our surprise, it was Jon. He came in, said hello, sat on the couch, and began to work on his laptop again.

I remember sitting beside him and praying that even though he wouldn’t talk to us, that he would feel loved by our presence. After the movie ended, he headed straight out the door without a word. Katelyn, our teammate, ran after him and began to talk to him. Through that conversation, Jon expressed how stressed he was and how lonely he was because all his friends were gone. He had immense weight on his shoulders and felt overwhelmed. He asked if someone could go with him to the library, and Chase, another of our teammates, agreed to go. They spent a couple of hours there with minimal conversation and then went home.

We all were perplexed at this young man who seemed lonely but rejected friendship. We didn’t know what to do nor how to help. This was the epitome of the cultural difference that we were facing. But through situations like this and tough relationships like this, we know God is working. God knows Jon, and God is developing our relationship and trust with him. Jon has agreed to meet with Chase and Katelyn soon for some coffee and is interested in hanging out with us for game night again. It’s small, a simple thing, but it’s given me hope that God is breaking through the culture of loneliness here, one person at a time.

Sarah Wilson, campus missionary intern at the University of Texas at Austin, is leading the Go Now Missions team serving at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver this summer.

Nelson came into the mobile medical clinic at a village in Haiti. He and his grandmother waited most of the day to see us. Nelson is 4 years old and weighs 20 pounds. His grandma said he wasn’t able to eat anything for eight days, because he kept throwing up.

Our supervisor, Jenny, determined that Nelson he needed an IV. Nelson started squirming while a practitioner tried to place it. It became infiltrated, and we had to take it out. Jenny immediately scooped up Nelson and carried him around the clinic while calming him down. We were able to pray with his grandma and surround her as the body of Christ while all this was going on. It was such a sweet time to encourage and love on her and Nelson. Eventually, we determined he had a parasite, and Nelson was referred to a doctor in town.

Praise God for how he was able to give us the time and abilities to see this boy. Praise the Lord for starting this clinic so that Nelson was able to get medical care while waiting on a doctor. He was so seriously ill when we saw him. Praise the Lord we were able to surround his grandma and him with the love of Christ and serve them.

Kimberlie is a 14-year-old girl we saw at the clinic. She came in by herself and had nothing wrong with her, medically speaking. We were honestly kind of confused as to why she was there, but then God revealed why.

She just needed someone to listen, talk with her and validate her. She needed to make sure she was OK and was told that by another human. We got to talk with her a while (with the help of our translator, of course) and made her feel loved. It blew my mind that she would wait in line to be seen when she had nothing wrong with her physically, but it occurred to me how the body of Christ needed to be more present to her, and that we were able to do that at the clinic.

She has been on my heart since we saw her. I’ve been wondering how she is doing. God did not place her there by accident. He allowed her to come to the clinic, where shecould be heard and listened to and loved by her sisters in Christ. It was such a sweet tim e. It made me wonder how much she really gets that from people around her. It made me realize how blessed I was that God knew she was coming and set us there for a divine encounter. I loved every second of it.

We served a week in Haiti with Go Now Missions. It was a fantastic time to learn the culture quickly and pray for the people here. Haiti is another level of poverty. It’s almost 10 years post-earthquake and it looks almost the same as if it had just occurred. Families of eight to 10 people are living in tiny shacks. There’s trash everywhere and people everywhere and animals everywhere.

But as I looked closer, as the Lord opened my heart to what he wanted me to see, I saw something so beautiful. There was the joy of the Lord present. The people were smiling and laughing and loving life. Throughout the week, we asked people about all that we saw. They told us, “Life is hard, but God is good.”

These people need the body of Christ to come serve them. These are our brothers and sisters. I am blessed to have spent a week providing them with medical care that they can’t get anywhere else. God taught me the importance of the body of Christ. God allowed my team to show the people we met the face of Jesus through the medical clinics. God taught me—just as much as he taught the Haitians—that all we need is him, and we should be totally content in the Lord.

Gabby Stokes, a student at Midwestern State University, served in Haiti with Go Now Missions.

“This is very hard, because we’ve never thought about God before.” The words echo in my mind as I think about my time in Vancouver so far.

My teammate and I have become pretty close friends with three sweet girls from Japan. Recently, we invited them to an event called Alpha, sponsored by our partner church here in Vancouver. The church hosts a five-week series that answers the big questions in the Christian worldview.

Two of the girls attended the event and heard about Jesus for the first time in their lives. One of them had heard about God banishing a man and woman from a garden because they ate an apple, but I was able to tell the full story of the Garden of Eden. The man and woman ate the fruit in disobedience, but God had a plan to rescue them from the beginning. God promised to send someone who would save them and would come to make all things new.

Her eyes lit up as we explained the sacrifice of Jesus. What a surreal moment to be used by the Holy Spirit to tell the story of Jesus to friends who’d never heard it before. Can you imagine never having heard about Jesus? It’s such a privilege to share stories of the King with friends from all around the world.

This moment of sharing with our friends was incredibly humbling. I had a hard day leading up to this night, but in spite of me, God used the Holy Spirit in me to share the good news with people who had never heard it. What a beautiful reminder that God is the one working in people’s hearts and minds.

My team is hoping and praying that as we share with people from around the world in Vancouver, they will take the story of Jesus back with them to their home countries. We pray that the gospel may continue to reach the nations—that fewer and fewer people would say, “This is very hard, because we’ve never thought about God before.”

M, a student at the University of Texas in Austin, is serving in Vancouver with Go Now Missions.

As followers of Christ, we have been trained through an abundance of outlets how to share the gospel. We learn what tough questions are sure to be asked, the importance of relationships and the importance of presenting the gospel early in a friendship. I’ve had at least two years of evangelism training, but I still struggle. What we are do not experience sitting in the comfort of a Christian home or church is how adamant the enemy is in preventing God’s lost children from experiences his love, grace, joy and hope. While we follow along in a study guide written by a missionary in the depths of the 10/40 window, we do not actually experience the real-world war waged during evangelism.

In training, we learn different ways to approach a potential non-believer. We have checklists we can mentally check off as we have a conversation. These approaches all lead smoothly into the gospel. Then, we learn how to tackle the potential questions a person might have or how to gauge if they are interested or not. Finally, we easily ask for the person’s contact information so we can follow up and discuss questions and concerns more in depth. Within five to12 months, we have a new brother or sister in Christ. Woohoo! But scratch all of that, because that’s not necessarily what actually happens.

First, as I am prayer-walking through a mall asking the Lord to open my eyes to those around me and to guide my steps, there’s another voice in my head. This unwelcomed voice is telling me I have no idea what to say to people. Its says I am awkward and they will look at me like I am crazy—granted, this has happened. What can I even say to them? I do not know how to initiate this. Who am I to talk to these people? I should just sit in the food court and pray that someone else will talk to them. I have to remind myself this is the enemy trying to stop me, and if I listen, he will win. But this is not a battle for him to win, because my God is greater than any negative or unworthy feeling, and God will win this. That’s assuring, but it’s hard to get initial hesitancy. It takes a mustard seed amount of courage to walk up to someone and say hello. Then, you are required to continue.

When you work up the courage to talk, you spew words, and the person’s eyes get really big as you rush through your line without taking a breath. There is what feels like an extremely long pause as the person tries to process what just happened. The person decides whether to respond or run as fast as they can. During that pause, you start to ask God for the power of invisibility so you can just dissolve into the air and disappear. Fortunately, the other person probably will decide not to run away and to actually say something back to you.

Now that you are breathing normally, you have to conquer the next phase. At this point you either dive into the gospel or ask for contact information so you can meet again. In training, it seems so smooth: “Hey, I’m new in town and trying to meet people. Can I have your number?” But when you actually say this, you feel like an axe murder or a creepy old guy asking a teenage girl for a date. Ultimately, some people will be eager to give you their number, because they too are interested in a friendship. Others will hesitantly give you a number, but they may or may not actually respond to your messages. Then there will be people who look at you ask if you asked them to get into a black van that has “free candy” written of the side in a red paint that looks like the blood of your previous victim. This is where they quickly say no and walk away just as fast.

There will be many who do not actually respond to your messages at all or do not come to the appointed meet up. Before asking for someone’s number you may dive into this gospel. Some people will listen politely, some will interrupt you somewhere between beginning and brokenness, others will say “no” and leave. Then there will be some who listen intently and grasp onto every word you say because they are longing to know.

Those people, the ones who grasp onto the word of God and whose eyes brighten at the description of this incredible love makes the waging war between God and the enemy with you in the middle absolutely worth it. Those who are eager to meet up because they know there is something different and good about you make enduring the awkwardness and runaways worth it. Being able to share the gospel with just five people when you have met a thousand make all the rejection worth it. The reminder that it is a privilege given by God to experience his goodness and holiness through assisting in a job he does not actually need help with is live-giving.

We are children walking along side our dad carrying a large object and placing our hands on the bottom of the object as if we are actually helping carry the weight of the object. But instead of complaining that we are in his way or that we are not actually helping, our Father smiles down joyously saying, “That’s my child.”

McKenzie, a student at Texas A&M University, is serving this summer in Canada with Go Now Missions. Here last name is withheld because of her past service in places where it can create a security risk and her desire to serve in similar settings in the future.