Personal Narrative: Breaking Out Of My Comfort Zone

This summer I have an amazing opportunity to continue to grow in my relationship with Him. I have been accepted to a summer mission sponsored by Cru called Echo. Echo is a two-week mission located in Boston that’s goal is to help college students to own their faith and lead ministry on their campus. From May 27th to June 10th, I, along with several other college students will receive training for evangelism, ministry, and spiritual leadership. Through Echo, I hope to develop the tools to own my faith and be an unashamed ambassador for Christ not only at Wellesley but also wherever the Lord leads me.

The emotions, memories, and people that these trips have brought me are indescribable, and seeing that I only have two years left, I want to make sure that I not only let the love of God pour into my heart and mind, but also I want to make sure that as an FCA group, we continue to spread his messages and hope in places of despair around the world by working as his hands and feet. This year, I want to be all in for the all in all, and being able to attend this mission trip is going to help in my expedition for Jesus. Without the help of my family and friends, I would not have gotten to this point in my life, and I want to continue to thank you all for

My first mission trip was five years ago when I was in eighth grade. Both my sisters and brother had gone on various mission trips and the one to Detroit was my first opportunity. On that trip we worked on fixing up a couple churches that held youth group events. My team and I weeded, painted, planted flowers, organized and cleaned the churches different offices and activity rooms during the first couple days of the week long trip, the second half of the week, my team and I consisting of middle schoolers, put on a day camp for the kids around the area to play games, do crafts, eat lunch, listen to worship music and a message. It was a great experience because the adults gave the responsibility of leading the camp to us kids. As far as cultural differences, they were mild as Detroit is only a few hours away. The housing many families were living in was not to the standard

Last Sunday at church Father Ron said something that hit home for me. He said that a mission begins with an invitation. I grew up in a rural area in the highlands of Nairobi, Kenya. Life was not easy and I always made a point of maximizing the opportunities I got. I grew up knowing that I wanted to be in a profession that really helped people improve their wellbeing. When I got the opportunity to go to university I choose to do Biomedical Science because I was very good at science and I thought that being a scientist was my calling. However, becoming an adult and having varying experiences like volunteering in a children’s home, working in the field doing research, working in a laboratory and currently working as a nurse aide has taught me

For 17 years God has blessed me to serve alongside my husband as directors of Chi Alpha at the University of Texas at Arlington. During my time here, I have served and mentored hundreds of young women and internationals who now fulfill the mission of Chi Alpha in the marketplace and the world as pastors, missionaries, police officers, nurses, teachers, and social workers. I am especially thankful to walk with those students who came to faith, experienced discipleship, and the Holy Spirit empowered their lives through the ministry.

I am writing to you today to tell you about an exciting opportunity I have through my school, Liberty Christian. My senior class will be going on a mission trip to COSTA RICA from Saturday, May 6, 2017 to Friday, May 12th. During this time, we will be working with the mission agency SCORE International in order to serve God by serving the Costa Rican people. We will have opportunities to serve and minister to the people we meet through various service opportunities, such as: children’s ministry, preaching, drama, and humanitarian aid distribution.

Blessed beyond compare, God has initiated me into a community of faith! Surrounded by believers of Christ, I’ve become a well-rounded individual, and a contributing member of society. First Baptist Church of Merrifield has instilled patients, love, compassion, and most importantly the foundation of faith that leads me to do great things. Just as the Lord has blessed me with education, life, and health, I plan on giving back to other as he continues to do for me. In the capacity of the next 20 years, I will mentor youth, start a non profit organization to compel bulling, and advocate for economic change to work toward closing the income gap between minorities and there Caucasian counterparts.

Volunteerism and willingness to serve others are magnificent character traits to discover while growing up. If one is involved with such activities, they will be able to contribute to society as a whole and “leave a mark” on the world for the better. However, such activities would not be available without the assistance of an outreach coordinator. Such people prepare service projects for the community, non-profit organization, or church in hopes of spreading good will among those affected by these actions. They also must be available to offer support to individuals who walk in and require the outreach coordinator’s services. Jeanna-Mar Simmons, a family friend, generously allowed me to shadow her on April 24, 2014. This wonderful lady is the outreach coordinator for Christ United Methodist Church. During my shadow, I was able to discover the intricacies of the organization behind all the service projects I participate in on a regular basis as well as learn about her relationship with God and how it intertwines with her work and the environment at the church.

Starting over. Those two simple words pretty much sum up where I am at in my life at the moment. I am a 34 year old mother of three. I have never been to college. My husband just recently left me. It has been a whirlwind summer to say the least, but before I get into what brought me back to school, I'll start at the beginning. I was born in FL., and quite literally spent all my time either at the beach or running bare foot on my grandparents farm. I loved every second. Shortly after I turned 8 my mom met my step-dad, and we were quickly headed on our first big adventure, moving to Texas! While I missed my family in FL., I can not tell you enough how happy I was that my mom married my dad. He has been a rock and solid foundation for me my whole

This summer, I got to see firsthand the way my liberal arts education impacts the way I share Christ. Along with ten other OBU students, I was given the privilege of serving through the North American Mission Board in Portland, Oregon. My job as a church-planting intern was to build relationships with unbelievers, share Christ with unbelievers, learn what it would be like to actually plant a church, and ultimately, learn to live life on mission.

Three years ago I went to the Cumberland mountains of Tennessee. June came more quickly than I had planned. Before I knew it, it was time to go on my mission trip. Twelve hours of driving seemed like it took forever. During that twelve hour drive, I thought a lot about what I had imagined the week would be like. I knew it would take hard work and an open mind. Those twelve hours finally came to an end, we were in the mountains of Tennessee. I had mixed emotions that was going through as we settled into our cabins and looked around the camp site. It was definitely overwhelming when more church groups arrived, but I had to keep in mind that I needed to have an open mind about the week. Monday morning came in a flash. We fueled up with breakfast before we

We have spent some unbelievable time in Brazil, Nicaragua (X 5), Honduras (X 5), Africa, and Hungary. We are rolling to Mexico this June, and I am looking forward to serving in Haiti in the very near future. During these trips, my ministry focused on women and children. I have been called to be a carpenter, painter, roofer, journalist, photographer, teacher, evangelist, pharmacist, concrete mixer, story teller, clown, softball/soccer coach, and singer to name a few. God called me to be an ambassador for Christ, and He has never failed to be my provision. Any menial task that was my responsibility, He smiled as I enthusiastically performed my calling. From dodging scorpions and poisonous toads to running from a brood of chickens, I never had a dull moment on mission with God. My travels began in 1999, and the following pages are stories

When I went to South Dakota the group I was with consisted of many differences which led to several challenges, but the reward at the end of the trip made all of the struggles worth it. We all loved interacting with the people of Pine Ridge which led to many residents committing their lives to God and putting their trust in Him for a better life. During this mission trip not only were the residents’ lives changed, but mine was as well. Even though we each had our own differences, we learned from each other and brought it back home to live by every day from then

Who knew that things could change so abruptly, it almost felt that my whole world was flipped within a blink of an eye. Things were going to be different from now on, the people, the weather, even the fresh summer breeze from the coast will soon become a cold bitter winter breeze. This all came to my mind when my mom announced to my family that we’re moving, to New Jersey, once my school goes on summer break. At first, I began to panic, why do we have to move? Why can’t we just live here? We don’t even know anyone there, except for my aunt. We just moved here three years ago from New Jersey, and we didn’t like it, that’s why we only lived there for a month. Then why would we would we like it now? I question my mom, and I demanded explanations

In spring of 2016, my youth group and I began planning a trip to a neighboring city. This wasn’t just any trip however, we were going on a mission. Each of us there were bound and determined to