Adventures in Missions | Spring 2011
LOCATIONS SERVED | YOUR IMPACT
Since AIM’s inception more than 20 years ago, 89,389 missionaries have prayed for the sick, loved the unloved, and given hope to the hopeless in 50 countries all over the world. While we celebrate the growth we’ve seen, we know there’s more to be done. Will you be a part of this story?
MADE-FOR-ME MISSIONS | YOUR CALLING
You were made for more – more than the daily grind, paying bills and living paycheck to paycheck.
You were made to see the world changed. You were made to change the world yourself. And the good news is that you don’t have to be a long term missionary, rich, or even travel very far to do it.
At Adventures in Missions, we understand that life is better when there’s adventure, and is at its best when it’s a life of service. With made-for-me missions, your group can use its unique calling and experience to serve in a location and ministry that best suits you.
Whether you take a trip to the inner city, a Native American reservation or Haiti, you’ll find the same thing – people who are hurting and need to feel the love of Christ through you.
So
take a look at the places that need your help, ask for time off, and get ready for God to use you like you never thought possible. The poor and the hurting are waiting for your arms to hug them, your words to encourage them, and your love to sustain them. You were made for missions and these missions are made for you.
Gayle Reese’s team spent a week ministering in
Matamoros, Mexico and during their time, they met a woman named Maria. “We thought we were going to Mexico to build a family a house, but we were
actually there to build a strong relationship with Maria,” Gayle said.
Maria was a single mother living with her four children in a house made of abandoned materials. Through discipling and through the years, Gayle and her team have been able to witness the transformation of a timid Christian woman to a strong woman who is now a leader in her community.
There are many other people like Maria out there. And they’re waiting for you.
UPCOMING TRIPS | YOUR MINISTRY
HAITI
Here’s your opportunity to bring the love of God to this devastated nation. Partner with AIM to restore hope alongside local pastors and churches working diligently to meet the needs of their communities. Your life will change as you’re hosted by locals in close proximity to your ministry sites. Possible ministry opportunities include orphanage visits, prayer walks, relational evangelism, home visits, tent city visits, sports outreach, rubble removal, medical clinics, vacation Bible school, Bible studies, church services, and food distribution.
Serve multiple communities struggling with poverty and meet the various needs of these friendly yet hurting people. Connect with locals by encouraging them and giving them hope in their impoverished circumstances. Share God’s love through children’s ministry, door-to-door evangelism, connecting with the residents of local nursing homes, prayer walks, or basic home repair projects and anything else the Lord may lead you to do.
This city struggles with more than housing and real estate issues and economic troubles; it also faces spiritual problems. Give yourself to the locals and the community by tackling some minor cleanup and repair projects, ministering through prayer walks, serving in local homeless shelters or food pantries and taking part in children’s ministry outreaches.
TOP 10 LIST | THE FACTS
10 Causes Of Homelessness
- Poverty
- Financial Crisis
- Divorce
- Mental Illness
- Drug Addiction
- Veterans
- Youth
- Tragedy
- Disaster
- Domestic Violence
FEATURED LOCATIONS | YOUTH IMPACT
NEW YORK CITY
The cost of living in New York City is the highest in the nation. For people who are just getting by, the difference between getting a paycheck and not getting one can equal homelessness. Poverty easily leads to hopelessness and despair.
The needs of the people in this city far surpass the resources that are available. Homelessness doesn’t just mean someone is sleeping on the streets, although that’s enough to get involved. It means they also are going without meals and dying of illnesses and disease that easily can be prevented. The youth in your church can help change this.
During this trip, you and your youth group will build relationships and provide the hope that is so desperately needed in this colorful city. You’ll meet people of all backgrounds, get to know other cultures, but share the one thing that is the same wherever you go – the love of Christ.
While Puerto Rico is technically part of the United States, its poverty has reached levels that mirror those of the developing world. The teens of your church will be able to meet these needs on a relational level.
Because when there’s poverty, sadness and heartache typically follow. These are cycles that must be broken. God has given your group the gifts, passion and love to stop these cycles, even if it’s by touching the lives of one family at a time.
On the streets of Puerto Rico, you’ll get to know people who have given up hope and love them like they’ve never felt love before. You’ll call them into a life of stability, peace and love that’s found only in Christ.
According to the Barna Group, YouthPoll, 71% of teens see themselves traveling to other countries in their future while 48% want to regularly serve the poor. Today’s teens have big dreams. Some want to become famous. Some want to have a great paying job. But a great deal of them want to not only see the world, but change it. You can help them realize their dreams. Will you?
WORD FROM SETH | YOUR PURPOSE
Most of life can be described as a struggle to understand God’s great love for us and to understand his purpose for us. He designed us to bask in His love and partner with Him in reclaiming the earth for Himself.
The sad thing, for so many of us, is that we spend the majority of our lives working to earn his love, and we settle for some compromised version of His highest and best for our lives. Life throws a lot of pain our way and what we feel seems at odds with the notion that “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.”
It certainly has been a long, uphill struggle for me. Maybe you can relate to the struggle. You may wonder where it is that you really excel. You may feel as though there are too many options or that the options available don’t really fit.
Or you may feel hemmed in by life, overwhelmed by obligations and debts. There are so many things that fight for your time and attention. There are so many people telling you, “You should do this,” when whatever they’re recommending seems at odds with the cry of your heart.
We don’t just fall into our highest and best in life. We often have to meander a bit first and we may well have to fight and take mad risks along the way. But God gave you your heart and your passions for a reason. He expects you to listen to your heart and to not dismiss your passions. You are worth it.
Knowing what I know now, I wouldn’t compromise; I’d put all my chips on finding my highest, best in life.
Blessings on you,
Seth
Director of Adventures in Missions
PRAYER REQUESTS
TOTAL TRIP PARTICIPANTS TO DATE : 89,389
- Pray for the leaders of the trips, that more will hear the call and rise up and that the ones in place will be strengthened.
- Pray for the people we will be serving, that they will be open to receive God’s love through the participant.
- Pray that the Holy Spirit uses this newsletter, to encourage people into action, whether by taking a trip, praying for those who are, or giving financial and prayer support.
- Pray for the participants of our upcoming trips, that they will be open to the Holy Spirit moving in them however He sees fit.
- Pray for us, that our organization will seek God’s guidance in every step we take in reaching the world.