Welcome Home, Real Life

After four months on the field, our Real Life missionaries made it home. Since January, they’ve been in India, Thailand, Kenya, Uganda, Nicaragua, where they’ve encountered God in ways they hadn’t imagined and experienced his love more deeply than before.

They’ve been transformed by what they’ve seen and who they’ve met. The churches, ministries, people and villages they’ve serve have impacted our missionaries just as much as the missionaries made an impact.

• Gabe is a precious little boy who lives at Sarah’s Covenant Home (SCH) in India. He has spinal bifida, and among the 82 special needs children at SCH, Gabe stole the hearts of the Real Life team. Thanks to you, the team was able to raise the funds necessary for the corrective surgery. Read Lindsey’s blog for more details, and here’s what she posted on Facebook on Monday, May 9:

Drum roll please……..Gabe’s Ministry Fund total is $6,202 which puts us over our goal by $1,733 that can be used for additional surgeries, hospital bills….WAY TO GO PEOPLE!! Please rejoice with us!!

• The community that grows among the team is just as remarkable as the ministry they do together. The women of the Nicaragua team left an indelible impression not only in Jinotepe, but on each other, here’s Hope’s reflections on the team, who’ve become her family:

I’m happy to say we’ve reached the Promised Land – so many times I didn’t think we would make it. So many times I was scared to trust God, to even ask him for this Land. But we made it and he made that clear to me this week. Things I thought were impossible are currently being proven possible. I should be in awe, but I don’t think it’s really hit me yet.

These are just a smattering of the amazing things God has done in and through these college-aged missionaries. Please pray for these young men and women as they navigate back to life in North America. Returning to a familiar place, family and friends as a different person will be just as challenging for our missionaries as being on the field.

Congratulations to our Spring 2011 class of Real Life missionaries. You are God’s beloved sons and daughters with whom he’s well pleased.

…”Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!” – Matthew 25:21,23

Think that God might be asking you to invest your time and talents like this? Join the ranks of your fellow collegiate brothers and sisters in Christ and consider applying for Real Life Fall 2011.