Post-Mission Trip Adjustment
Happy, lonely, hopeful, excited, worried, awed, disoriented, weak, distracted, joyful. These are some of the different feelings students expressed experiencing post mission trip this year.
We know that returning from a mission trip where community is strong, and students are experiencing God in new and deep ways can be a bit of an adjustment. For this reason my team started hosting online Post-Mission Trip Sessions where students can gather to reflect on their trip, connect with other participants, and be encouraged to continue living on mission. Below are what some of the students shared last month when we asked - How are you feeling post trip?
At the first session, I shared with students from the Parable of the Sower in Mark. I shared that as we are sowing the word of God we get glimpses of what God is doing, but we don’t always see the full picture. We don’t always know on to what type of soil the seeds of faith we are planting fall.
This year however, God blessed our Desert Rain (DR) mission trip with seeing the continuation of a story that started last year.
Last year on the DR mission trip a student named Faith came to one of the cultural exchange events that our team hosted. After the event a few of our Canadian students hung out with Faith multiple times, but she didn’t express much interest in spiritual things. Before leaving the country, these students gifted her a New Testament as a goodbye present.
Fast forward to this year. One of those Canadian students returned to DR, and she reached out to Faith to meet up. When they met, Faith shared that she had read through the New Testament twice in the last year.
Our students had a great spiritual conversation with Faith and introduced her to our long term staff in DR. During that meeting they clarified Faith’s understanding of the gospel and to their joy, Faith shared that she was “blind before, and it’s like her vision was restored.” She spoke about “living in darkness, and now her world is bright”! What a privilege when we get to see the fruit of seeds of faith that were planted.
Faith desires to tell her mother about deciding to follow Jesus, but she fears she will be disowned. Pray that God will protect her from the evil one, and that our staff in DR would be able to walk with her as she experiences newness of life in Christ.
Friends at, thank you for your partnership in this work! What a blessing you are to me.
Help Send Charlotte to Lausanne 4
Back in May I received word that there was a spot for me to attend the Lausanne Movement’s Seoul 2024 Congress in Seoul, South Korea in September (until then I was planning to attend virtually). Out of 10,000 representatives from all parts of the world, I will be one of 80 Canadians joining this once-in-a-decade experience.
For 50 years theLausanne Movementhas been gathering leaders from every corner of the world to coordinate and collaborate in order to increase effectiveness in advancing the gospel worldwide. Historically, it is at these congress meetings that the current state of world evangelization is reviewed and gaps and opportunities to mobilize the global church to action are identified. Attending this congress will be a once in a lifetime opportunity for me to learn from missional leaders around the world.
So far, I have received a donation to cover my registration and hotel costs. I am trusting God to provide another $2800 to cover my flight costs. Would you consider a special financial gift to send me to be part of shaping the future of global missions? Donations can be made online atp2c.sh/charlotteor by calling 1.885.722.4483. Thank you so much for your prayerful consideration.