Mission team

My friends Lynn and Nona Thomas (former missionaries in Colombia) are leading a youth mission team to Guatemala for a couple of weeks. The group will be working out of a church medical clinic we sponsor. They will provide supplies for an associated orphanage, teach English as a Second Language, conduct Bible studies and Vacation Bible School type activities, meet with local leaders, and get in a bit of sight-seeing. The purpose of the trip is to share the gospel of Christ in tangible ways and to facilitate a life-transforming experience for these American young people as they live and serve in another culture.

People today want to make a difference, and that's especially true of younger generations in the US and around the world. For them, Christianity isn't so much about sitting in church and learning stuff as it is about getting into the world, into the communities, and showing God's love in practical ways. This is a short-term opportunity to make a difference. Youth and adults on these mission efforts return with an invigorated faith and a renewed commitment to lifestyle evangelism. In a very short time they are immersed deeply into the lives of people who, they find out, aren't so different after all. The people on this Guatemala mission trip are already highly committed believers. But this experience will widen their horizons and open up possibilities for living out their faith that were unknown or unclear before. Their orientation from here on will be as world Christians, citizens of the Kingdom of God while being citizens of the USA.