Race Alum Zach Murphy is currently on a Kingdom Journeys Pioneer Team, traveling overland for six months from Beijing to Instabul. One night, their team decided to visit a small village in Northern China, not knowing where they would sleep or if anyone would even speak to them. What they found were 100 villagers welcoming them with open arms. One night we went of to the middle of nowhere in rural Inner Mongolia, Northern China. We arrived at the Ulanqab train station at 2 in the afternoon, grabbed a taxi, and handed the driver a piece of paper that had a random village our friend from...

While at a baptism service on a public beach in Cuba, Adventures staff Connie Rock picked up a heart-shaped rock, intending to take it home as a souvenir. But it turns out the rock was for someone else. The waves crashed over us as we attempted to keep our frail friend from being swept away into the Caribbean Sea. She was dressed in white and all smiles. Her eyes lit up as one brother talked about the meaning of baptism and the other translated into Spanish. “I baptize you in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” “Yo te bautizo en el nombre del Padre,...

At a Beauty for Ashes Retreat in the Dominican Republic, Kingdom Journeys participant, Erika Michael, taught on what it means to be a daughter of God.  Our first retreat was for the women in the mountain town of Lajas, Dominican Republic where we are living this month. We had about 20 women there. We spent the day talking about our worth. We use an illustration with a crisp and clean dollar bill.  I ask the women if they want it. Of course everyone says “Yes, I want it!” Then I crumple it up and ask if they still want it. They all still say, “Yes!” I...

Shannon Cornuke went on a mission trip to Guatemala thinking she had life figured out. She knew Jesus died for her, but she didn’t really know Jesus and didn’t have a reason to need to know Him. Through the people she met, Shannon fully realized God’s love for the first time—and got to share it with everyone around her. All my life I thought I was on the right track. I thought I could control my life. I knew Jesus died for me, but I didn’t strive to know anything else—like knowing Him. I thought I could go along with my life and look to God...

While on a mission trip in Chicago, Hanna Miecznikowski paused to give a man a few coins. But it turned out he wanted something else. The traffic whirled around me as I headed downtown that afternoon. I grew up in Chicago, but five or six years had passed since I’d driven in the Chicago rush hour traffic. To call it an adventure is an understatement. As I approached Pastor Robert’s house for a late afternoon ministry planning session, I noticed a homeless man standing in the middle of the road holding a sign and asking for help. I scrambled to get ahold of the few coins in my...

While leading a missions trip to the Dominican Republic, Neil Bruinsma saw a man healed in a surprising way. One of my favorite things is helping people realize they can hear God speak. At the center of Adventures trips is listening prayer. It’s a part of everything we do, from nightly debriefs to setting aside entire blocks of time for God to lead us into ministry we wouldn’t have found ourselves. There’s not anything mystical about it, but every time God does something amazing, something that only He can do, I get excited. That’s what happened in the Dominican...