In just over 2 weeks our 2023 mission trips will be starting. We have about 33 students and 21 staff going on four different trips. Although we didn't hit our goal of sending 50 students, we know that God has a different perspective on numbers and that he can do mighty things through small numbers.

In a season where it feels like we are getting small results or little return for our efforts to mobilize students on mission trips, the following story is especially meaningful to me.

In 2020 Sarah was excited to go on our Desert Rain (DR) mission trip. She had almost finished raising her funds to go and then the pandemic hit and all our trips were cancelled. For two years we couldn't send in person mission trips. We hosted digital mission trips that allowed students to learn about the countries and cultures we work in internationally and engage online with students from those places. Sarah participated in our digital mission trip two years in a row and God continued to grow her heart for DR. In that time Sarah graduated from her undergrad and started a teaching degree. This summer Sarah is finally getting to go to DR. Here is her journey in her own words:

"During undergrad, I prayed and longed for an opportunity to serve and partner with God in global missions. Three years ago, God answered that prayer by opening an opportunity to go to Desert Rain. While an opportunity to go in person was canceled due to the pandemic, God still provided me with an opportunity to reach his people virtually in 2020 and 2021. Little did I know that God would also break my heart for a nation and for people that I had never even met. During that time God has helped me to understand that being on missions is not weighed by trips or ministry but is a kingdom centered lifestyle. As I continued to pray for the nation, learn about the people and their faith, I felt a growing burden and the leading to go in person."

Thank you for your partnership in the work of mobilizing students to care about God's global work and to go. Praise God that it is not in our own strength that we mobilize students but God is always at work and what a pleasure to be a part of what he is doing.

The last 8 weeks have held a lot of travel for me. Here are some of the different groups I got to spend time with.