Adventures in Missions

Asking God Questions Doesn’t Change Who He Is

Kristy Odom didn’t think she had any expectations of her Passport trip to India. Then she got there, and asked God questions about personal pain and why He sent her to India in the first place. Then God reminded her of something she can always count on: His unconditional love for her and His continual presence wherever she goes in the world. Everyone says to leave behind all of your expectations when you go on a mission trip because they only lead to being disappointed and discouraged. That shouldn’t be too hard, I thought. I don’t know much about...

This Team Prayed, and God Healed a Man of Cancer

One of Adventures Core Values is Listening Prayer—the belief that God does speak to us and we can hear what He is saying. Many of our trips have set-aside times of listening prayer ministry, called “Ask the Lord,” or ATL. While listening for God’s leading on a family trip to Appalachia, Vici saw different images: a pastor, an ugly boil, and the words “extravagant healing”. She knew God was going to do something awesome; but she had no idea He would use her in the miraculous way He healed Pastor Bo’s cancer. During our trip to Appalachia, our...

God Asked Me to be Brave

High school student Liz Willson went on a two week mission trip to Guatemala last summer, and when people ask her how it was, she says it was amazing. But the truth is, when it came time to board the plane she didn’t want to. When people ask me how Guatemala was, I tell them it was really amazing. I share the funny and touching stories and show them my favorite pictures. But what I don’t mention is how hard it was and all the doubts I had before and even during the trip. Coming into this mission trip, I just assumed everything would be perfect. I...

What If It’s Not About Changing the World?

Adventures staff and Race Alum Reid Mason spent 3 months in Greece in early 2016, serving at Refugee Camps. In the face of hard situations and suffering, he asked God a lot of questions. Now, as the Adventures Disaster Relief Manager, he has a new perspective on what it means to change the world. What if it’s not about changing the world? When I think about changing the world, and the magnitude of the work we do at Adventures, sometimes I tend to freeze. That kind of challenge is thrilling or inspiring to some, but to me it can be overwhelming. The problems of the world are so...

God Didn’t Call Me to Go On a Mission Trip; He Called Me to a Mission-Filled Life

Passporter Holly Martin went on a 3 month mission trip to South Africa with every intention of serving God with everything she is. But then she realized that God didn’t call her to a mission trip; He’s called her to a life of missions—anywhere and everywhere she goes, whether that is in the States or on the other side of the world. Over the last couple of days it has become so obvious to me that God has called me to way higher places then just being on a short term mission trip for three months. Most of all, He has shown me how He wants me to live not just here...

Share the Gospel in Cuba after 50 Years of Closed Doors

For 21 years, we have waited for Cuba to open, and for the last four years, we have been carefully laying the groundwork to take you and your group to Cuba. The door may have been closed for a long time, but today it is open. The time to share the hope of Jesus in Cuba is NOW. Cuba has been in the news a lot lately. After a recent opening in its relationship with the US, the incoming administration is suggesting new agreements will have to be re-negotiated. With the uncertainty this creates, what we know is that in the short term (we are guessing through summer of 2017), we have a window...

My Leg Grew Before My Very Eyes

While in Guatemala, Ambassador student Alyssa Guzman experienced the healing power of God in a way she never had before. On my team’s last night in Guatemala we were visited by a couple we’d met earlier on our trip during ministry in Antigua. We all expected it to be a good talk and a good time based on our previous experience with Gabe and Marielle, but I don’t think anyone expected what was in store for us. We were told right before worship that Gabe was going to be talking about healing. We all were expecting God to move in a cool way, and that made the time...

The Life Changing Lesson I Learned in Haiti

Elizabeth Wood went to Haiti hoping to make an impact, but she didn’t expect the powerful lesson she would learn from the very people she went to serve. When you come home from a mission trip, you might get asked, “What did you do for the people? Did you feel like you made an impact? Did God speak to you?” Honestly, during the trip I asked myself these questions every day, and I struggled to find the answers. I eventually reached out to my team members and leader about my concerns and they had encouraging responses, but in the end God gave the last word. During the week...

Why I Know God Is at Work in the Red Light District

November 15, 2016
Adventures
Human Trafficking

Walk down any Red Light District and you will sense the spiritual darkness permeating the area. But when Passporter Kristie Watkins and her team did this in Thailand, she left feeling hope—not because the pain she witnessed was any less, but because walking beside her was a young woman who just four months earlier had left the bars and gave her life to Christ. Words can’t really describe what it’s like to walk through the Red Light District, but I’m going to try. Tonight was a night my team all felt specifically called to do. Together we walked on a road...

She Shared the Gospel Hundreds of Times Before She Believed It Herself

Sometimes it’s really surprising who is impacted most by a missions team. Adventures staff Nicole Ricketts saw this firsthand while leading a youth group trip to Nicaragua. Their translator was a young woman, Fresia, who wasn’t a Christian, and though she didn’t realize it, she was hungry for God’s love. By the end of the week, Fresia had shared the Gospel hundreds of times. She’d translated testimonies and she’d shared her own story with the team. And then something amazing happened! I could tell our youth team was a little uneasy when...

A Witch Doctor Paralyzed This Man, Then God Healed Him

While on an Ambassador trip to Uganda, Tori Bueno and her teammates spent a lot of time praying in hospitals. One day, they met a man named Israel. Serving God in Bugiri, Uganda, has been an experience I could have never imagined. It’s beautiful, mysterious, broken yet healing, and most of all, in need of what we, the healing power of the love of Jesus. When we are exhausted, and sticky and smelly and hungry, we remember that love, and push on. Our hope is this: in running the race with diligence we will see the light through the cracks, we will dance upon...

She Heard about Jesus and Wanted to Know More

For first time in over 50 years, it is safe to openly share the Gospel on the streets of Cuba. When Neila Betancourt and her team went prayer walking in Santi Spiritus, she met a woman named Maria and told her about the local church. Maria wanted to know more. Then Neila told her about Jesus, and Maria heard the Gospel—perhaps for the first time. Being from New York City, I don’t see horses very often. So when my team started walking down the country road in Cuba and I saw horses in the next field, I squealed and pretty much made a fool of myself. Thankfully, my...

Author: Adventures