Author: Adventures

Arrival in Guatemala

The Guatemala team arrived in Honduras and has since crossed the border into Guatemala and is currently with their host and getting settled into their housing for the summer.    The team will spend the coming days getting introduced to their ministry, coming to know the culture, and finding a routine for the summer ahead.  They will be finding internet in the next couple of days so that they can communicate home and share more about what their days and weeks will look like.  Until then, we wanted to let you know that all is well.  Hope that you’re as excited...

Continue reading

Summer Mission Trips Kick Off This Weekend!

Summer is here, which means at Adventures we are gearing up for a full three months of short-term mission trips for adults, families, and youth groups. The first trips launch this weekend, serving everywhere from Washington DC and Atlanta to Cambodia and Swaziland until the end of August. It’s sure to be an eventful summer and we’re excited to see all the Lord is going to do through the families, youth groups, and individuals stepping out of their comfort zone to follow God and love his people around the world. Please keep all the participants in prayer as they finish support...

Continue reading

6 Tips for Taking Your First Mission Trip

  Preparing for your first (or your fortieth) mission trip can be a little overwhelming. So whether you’re a first-timer or a veteran, here are six tips to help your mission trip be a great experience:   1) Be open to God’s Spirit. Step out, take risks. Pray, listen, and obey.   2) Show obvious respect for other cultures. Ask questions, show interest, and be observant. Many a cultural faux pas can be avoided by simply being aware of your surroundings.   3) Attempt to speak the language. A common American misconception is that any attempt to speak another...

Continue reading

How to Choose a Mission Trip

When it comes to preparing for a mission trip, deciding where to go can be the hardest part.   You’ve felt the call to missions. A sermon, youth retreat, or an inspirational article has you ready to jump on the next flight to a country with mud huts and a different language. This enthusiasm is great, but all too often it clouds judgment when deciding where to go on a mission trip. To be a good steward of your call, there are several questions you must answer: 1. Where is God calling you? First and foremost, mission trips should be dictated by where God leads you. Ask for...

Continue reading

Five Ways You Can Help Vilonia, Arkansas Recover: Relief Trips Now Available

It’s been just two weeks since a second devastating tornado hit Vilonia, Arkansas, and we know many of you are ready to act.  After identifying areas where we can best serve our Arkansas neighbors, we are sending relief teams out beginning soon. We are working alongside local authorities, agencies, and churches to determine the most strategic use of your time in the affected areas throughout the summer. You can sign up for a week-long trip where you will respond to both physical and emotional needs. Be a helping hand and a listening ear to those experiencing...

Continue reading

How God Made a Miracle out of My Divorce

Helena Jordao, a January 2012 E Squad alumna, has been through a divorce and felt the weight of that choice. In the face of heartbreak she chose Jesus. She chose to seek God and his grace. What she discovered was her heart for his people. I got married at 21 and divorced at 23. I went through heartache and identity crisis. I received comfort and healing from Jesus and the Church and was activated to full-time ministry. I am often referred to as a success story for divorce, but I disagree. I was statistically and spiritually destined for dysfunction, as many of us are. I agreed with my...

Continue reading

God Makes Me New

World Racer Bekah Spurgeon of September 2012 J Squad suffered a severe injury that threatened her World Race Training Camp experience. Here’s her story:   I arrived at training camp completely broken. My heart was still tender from leaving Los Angeles, the city where I spent every day living my dream for the past three years. Images replayed in my head like a movie screen; tear-filled goodbyes with some of the best friends I’ve ever had, giving my precious cat Doodle to a new family, and bringing closure to a lifelong love affair with my favorite art form. Since the...

Continue reading

The Gift of Pain

Today, Seth Barnes, Executive Director for Adventures in Missions shares his own experience with how God teaches and stretches us through times of difficulty.   If you have proven yourself trustworthy to God, watch out! He may trust you with one of his most precious and misinterpreted of gifts: the gift of pain. The prosperity gospel people have it wrong. God is probably more interested in our response to testing than he is in showering us with material blessings. How will you do in tough times? This is the age-old bet that Satan makes with God, the best example of which we see in the...

Continue reading

How One Girl Healed A Village

Sometimes our missionaries get to be a part of amazing movements of the Holy Spirit. Their obedience to God’s calling brings them into situations where miracles happen. Austin Carroll found himself in one of these moments during his time on the World Race.   Can one child make a difference? When one 12-year-old Indian girl followed three missionaries to a house in her village, she had no idea how her life was about to change. Vashanti had learned life was hard. Beaten by her father and small for her age, she was accustomed to invisibility. Not expecting the visitors to notice...

Continue reading

The Day I Became the Student

in February we celebrated women in missions, and now we’re giving it up for our guys. We’ve poured over blogs from men on the field along with those of the thankful ladies serving beside them. They’re stories of fun and freedom, challenge and compassion, honor and humility. And the lasting impression we’re left with is a man who looks like Jesus.   Darragh King of World Race Gap Year expected to give his year serving and teaching others. When Darragh is encouraged by women in The Philippines, he starts to realize that he can still be taught, in any...

Continue reading

Adventures Announces its Newest Ministry

At Adventures, we’re all about empowering our participants to serve the Lord in unique ways. So we’re excited to announce our newest ministry. Catevangelism in Katmandu, Nepal Cats in Nepal are lonely. But when we love on them, they can turn to Jesus, and then spread the love. APRIL FOOLS Kinda. First, we’re all about loving on some animals. We’re not trying to make fun of that. Second, when you love things others overlook, people notice something different about you. Third, we really do have some amazing ministries in Nepal. Click on this image to check...

Continue reading