Adventures in Missions

I Felt Like a Failure. Then God Spoke to Me

High school student Rachel Holdeman didn’t think she had expectations for her mission trip to the Dominican Republic. Then she got a stomach bug at Training Camp. She expected it to go away quickly, but she ended up spending the beginning of her trip in the DR resting, unable to join in ministry. Rachel felt like a failure, like she’d let herself, her friends and family at home, her team, and God down. Then, in her weakness and disappointment, she heard God speak. I thought I had no expectations for my three week Ambassador trip to the Dominican Republic. All I wanted was to...

World Race 2017 Gap Year Routes are LIVE!

September 1, 2016
Adventures
World Race Gap Year

We know you’ve been waiting… and the moment is FINALLY here. Our September 2017 Gap Year Routes are LIVE! World Race: Gap Year isn’t for the faint of heart. It’s for those who are set apart. It’s for the wanderer and the adventurer, the dreamer, and the advocate for justice. It’s unlike any other gap year out there. This journey combines 9 months of mission work and experiential discipleship, all while journeying with other college-aged Christians. World Race Gap Year journeys into 3 different continents, and 5 different countries, working...

He was Desperate and Asked for Money. But He Really Wanted Something Else.

While leading a short term trip to Haiti, Adventures staff Colby Gardner met a man who aggressively asked him for money or a job. His name was Jean Pierre, and he was desperate for hope. While in Haiti, my team went out to share the Gospel out in the countryside. So we left our lodging and not long after, shared with two people under the tree not even fifty feet from our starting point. While sharing with the second person, a man rolled up on his motorcycle and sat, listening with great intent to what we were saying. When I turned and asked this curious motorcycle man how he was...

I’m Not Satisfied with Apathetic Christianity Anymore

Karson Wilkins just returned from a Passport trip to Albania, where she spent two months living life to the fullest while serving God with all of her heart. Now she’s back and life isn’t the same anymore—because she isn’t the same either. Now she faces a decision: does she go back to mediocre religion…or does she continue to pursue intimacy with God? “How are you?” seems to be the number one question asked ever since I came home from my time in Albania. I usually answer with the proper phrase that Albanians who spoke English were taught to say:...

She’s 13 and works 10 hours a Day, But That Day She Got to Just Be a Kid

August 16, 2016
Adventures
Long Term Missions

While visiting our Guatemala Base, Adventures Staff Amie Beth Beadling met a little girl who she will never forget. My heart is overwhelmed upon meeting 13-year-old Francesca, a little girl staying with Kellie and the crew at the Adventures Base in Antigua, Guatemala. Kellie met Francesca almost four years ago when her World Race team helped tear down Francesca’s family home to rebuild one with a better foundation. Francesca’s mother recently had to have surgery forcing Francesca and her 10-year-old brother to drop out of school and become the breadwinners for...

I Didn’t Think I Was Good Enough to be a Missionary

High school student Caroline Smith always loved hearing stories about mission trips. But she didn’t think she was good enough to be a missionary herself. She thought she was too young, too afraid, and even too insignificant to do something so amazing. Then God called her to GO on an Ambassador trip to Swaziland, and she discovered life beyond her wildest dreams. When I was in elementary school, I never would have imagined God would choose me for the mission field. I was always intrigued by the missionaries who visited my church. Their lives seemed so exotic and so adventurous, but...

A Typhoon Destroyed Her Family’s Farm; Now She Has to Dance for Men

August 3, 2016
Adventures
Human Trafficking

While on a short term trip in the Philippines, Adventures Staff Meghan Tschanz met a girl who used to dream of getting an education to support her family. But thanks to a typhoon destroying her family’s farm, she had to do something she never would have chosen in a million years: dance in the Red Light District. I felt like I had been punched in the stomach. Cigarette smoke clogged the air, and the dim lights barely concealed the filth of the bar. Some pop song pounded in the background, making it hard to have a clear thought. I’ve been to the bars on Walking Street in...

The August 2017 World Race Routes are Here!

August 2, 2016
Adventures
World Race

The moment you have all been waiting for is finally here: our August 2017 routes are live! Next August you could live out the Great Commission by reaching the unreached, preaching the gospel, and making disciples in some pretty incredible places found in the video below! That’s just a small sampling of the dozens of nations we’re headed to! Check out all August 2017 Routes here!

The Word “Leader” Terrified Me. Then God Called Me to Be One.

World Race Alum Sarah Baker didn’t see herself as a leader. In fact, she avoided leading in the past. And then she was asked to co-lead an Ambassador team of 18 high schoolers to Puerto Rico. It was two weeks of living by faith, listening for God and speaking His truth into students hungry for His hope and love, of praying for His Kingdom come, and leading by example. And by doing so, Sarah discovered two of the most powerful truths of leadership: 1) That the best way to lead is by being real, and 2) that by impacting one life, anyone can change the...

You’ll Never Guess What Happened to this Passport Team in Mongolia

While on a Passport trip to Mongolia, Morgan Blair and her team spent a day without a plan for ministry. Instead, they made it a treasure hunt, by asking God to show them attributes and pictures of people to meet. But when they headed out on the streets of Ulaanbaatar, they found so much more than they expected. I have never been so excited for something I don’t understand, was the only thought swimming through my mind as my team ran into an overly enthusiastic Mongolian couple yesterday. They spoke no English and yet were overjoyed to see a bunch of Americans on their...

God Spoke to a Voodoo Priestess in a Dream, and Then He Set Her Free

While leading an Adventures short term trip to Haiti, Dayna Bickham saw God set a priestess free from the bondage of voodoo. Haiti has been steeped in darkness and voodoo for centuries. It is also a nation ripe for harvest. On a prayer walk through the country side of Haiti, climbing hills and rocky trails, a group of short term missionaries made their way through the small village of Merger. At the top of a hill, waiting as if she expected them, stood a woman named Fabiola*. Dressed as a voodoo priestess, she wore rings that denoted her “marriage” to the spirit...

He Went to Asia Looking to Buy Women. Instead, He Found God

While on a Passport trip to Thailand, Meredith Jamail met Vernon, an American man in his 50s who went to Asia for sex tourism. Feeling empty and alone, he randomly met a World Race team on the beach. They told him about a local church, and he decided to check it out. Turns out, Vernon found what he was looking for in Asia after all: God’s unconditional love for him. It’s crazy our first month in Thailand draws to an end and our trip is halfway done. ‘Flown by’ is an understatement. But what blows me away most is how much I’ve seen God move; very little has...

Author: Adventures