It was a normal Thursday in Papua New Guinea. We woke up sweating and didn’t stop until the sun was below the horizon. There were island-wide power cuts from 6am to 6pm, which meant no refrigeration, no fresh foods, and no fans (a.k.a. no relief from the heat). Regardless, our Discipleship Training School (DTS) team was in high spirits as we prepared to go on the streets to share the love of Jesus.…
This story starts before we even arrived in Papua New Guinea. During preparation for our Discipleship Training School (DTS) outreach, our team prayed together in New Zealand. Different people received words about prison ministry, working with criminals, and speaking in front of prisoners in Papua New Guinea. My husband Thomas envisioned a big river flowing through a prison, not fully knowing what it meant.…
We reached our destination around noon. The snow started to fall and was covering the whole Himalayan village. We dropped our trekking bags, ate a steaming meal and had some hot tea. We huddled up to pray and ask God what He had in store for that afternoon of ministry.…
You’re about to hop on a plane to fly across the world. You’ve heard countless missionary stories, decided to take the plunge—and now you’re ready for your own stories. But what on earth do you pack for a missions trip? …
When I was a kid, I loved bike riding. My mom would take us to the other side of the city, and we would go everywhere. We would ride around in the parks, along the river, spend three hours or more, just riding. When I look back on my childhood it’s something that stands out, but as…
What do I do with my life? It’s a question we all ask at one point, but now more than ever, we have an overwhelming amount of options. Not only do you need to decide what city to live in, but also what country. Not only do you need to figure out what school you…
Have you ever been in a position where nothing seems to be going your way? For most of my life, it seemed that nothing would ever go my way. Growing up my biggest dream was to be an Olympic athlete. I wanted to take my volleyball career as far as I could, defy the odds…
I've packed a few suitcases in my lifetime. I started with family vacations, moved on to weekend soccer trips, then came the high school missions trips, and now in recent years, leading missions teams myself. As a kid, my mom would look at my packing and exclaim, "Are you really bringing that? And that?" to now, when I can get by traveling internationally with a carry-on size bag (or less!). But the ability to pack light isn't for bragging rights (though it's definitely fist-bump-worthy), it's actually just plain helpful. Here's a few things we often think we need on missions trips—and why we can do withou t them.…
My Transformational Development School (or Community Development School) was one of the most practical, hands-on courses I’ve heard of and experienced. During our three months of lecture phase, we spent lots of time in the classroom learning from some incredible speakers, and the time flew by because every week was another brand new…
You got your packing list. You studied it in detail, or maybe you skimmed it. Or maybe you didn't check your email at all and you have no idea what you're supposed to bring. Whichever way, you're wondering what is actually important to take on your missions trip. Please, get your packing list out if you have one! This list has mainly hot climates and rural areas in mind, but they apply for other outreaches as well. So, here are five things to pack—that I discovered to be essential—on mission trips across the world.…
