College Student or Missionary??

Bekah Gulledge first sensed a call to missions as an 18-year-old. She believed that meant she would get the training she needed then head overseas to start her missionary work. Little did she know that her involvement in international missions would start right on her college campus in Little Rock. Read more...

Thinking back

After a month back, there still isn't a day I don't think back to those islands. The people I had the incredible privilege and blessing to meet. And the indescribable way Jesus showed Himself throughout this summer. I might not miss eating rice every meal, but the Philippines will always be in my heart. So thankful the God I serve here is the same God on the other side of the world.

-Joey
Cebu, Philippines

Bug Lessons in the Wilderness

Evergreen trees, the Rocky mountains, starry nights – these are just a few of my favorite things. I’m a wilderness gal, through and through. At least that’s what I’ve always thought… This summer I stepped into a vastly different wilderness than the one I’m used to. The wilderness awaiting in Asia was unlike any I had ever experienced.

In prep for my Asian adventure, I filled my hiking pack with cliff bars, bug repellent and dry fit clothes. I also asked the the Lord for a ‘summer verse.’ I was hoping for an encouraging piece of scripture to lean on. Something along the lines of “I can do all things through Christ” or “You will soar on wings like eagles.” However, the scripture I felt whispered across my heart was Deuteronomy 8:2.

Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. (Deut. 8:2)

This verse is less of an encouragement and more of a forewarning. The wilderness referenced isn’t the Rocky Mountains that I love to wander, but rather the land the Israelites hated to wander. After reading this verse, I had a knowing in my heart. A knowing that my summer in SEAsia was going to be incredible. Incredibly hard and incredibly difficult.

Read more about Leah Beth's summer on her blog.

Worth It

Worth it.

This was the very first thought that popped into my head as the wheels of flight 1588 touched the ground in Philadelphia, PA. Exactly 141 days before, I was sitting in a hotel room in New York City, reluctantly putting in an application for summer missions overseas. This came as a response to a small group I attended where we walked through Psalm 90 and focused in on verse 12 which says, "Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom." With a heavy heart, I wrote myself a note in my Bible that said, "Don't waste your life, kid."

I can say very confidently, this summer was not a waste. At debrief, I was asked to summarize my whole summer in one sentence. To me, this seemed impossible. 8 weeks in one sentence? No way. But as I thought back over each and every person I met, only one sentence came to mind.

There is so much I could tell you about people God chose to use this summer and the way He revealed Himself to me and strengthened my faith. We could talk about perspective, about growth, about all the amazing things BlueSky has to offer, about how many kids we saw come to faith in Christ this summer, and so much more. But here is the gist of everything I could tell you... do not be afraid to follow the Lord and pursue the callings He places over your life. 

He can literally use anybody, even you. 
He can use your brokenness.
He can use your doubt.
He can use your mess-ups, your discouragements, your highs, and your lows. 
And I can promise you this... it will be worth it. Every. Single. Time. He is so so faithful, and He will never stop pursuing us.

Thank you so much to each and every one of you that supported me both financially and in prayer. Your encouragement and support meant the world, and I could not have made it through the summer without you all. I cannot wait to share the next adventure the Lord takes me on, and as I said last year when I returned home from NYC,

Until everyone sees.
Until everyone hears.
Until everyone knows.
Send me.

-Amy

Read more about Amy's summer in Kenya on her blog.

My Heart & Soul

Still reminiscing over the past couple months, and still not over it. What a sweet time with the sweetest people! All I can say is that God is so sovereign, so good, and so faithful to make this selfish heart of mine a little bit more like His.  I wish so badly that I could share pictures of all the sweet kiddos I spent most of my time with because they are my heart and soul. You guys would love them!💛:)) @ Philippines

-Madie
Philippines

I'll never be the same

If you ask me about my summer, I'll tell you it was the hardest 2 months of my life and just maybe the best 2 months. The Lord broke my heart and filled it up all at the same time. I'm still processing it all, still journaling, still trying to understand everything He spoke into my heart. I already know one thing, though - I'll never be the same. I look forward to sharing more about my summer through blogs!

-Leah
Southeast Asia

Cheers to a summer to remember!

With an opportunity to serve with a branch of the same organization that brought my family to church 12 years ago, I got to see the Church meet His people. Overwhelmed with the power of the Holy Spirit & the passion the Church has for His Kingdom! Cheers to a summer to remember!

-Carlee
P52, Canada

Jesus is worth it all

Kristen

-Kenya

Prayers for continued growth

I can’t believe this was a week ago today...
I’m thankful for each of you & our summer together. I’m praying for God to continue growing you on your daily mission field. ♥️
Philippians 1:3

Virginia Justus
-Romania

2018 Orientation video

Take a look back with us at some highlights of 2018 NTP52 Orientation....

This summer changed my life!

Hundreds of people heard the Gospel, many bible studies were held, homes visited, and life-long friendships were made. It was extremely hard at times, but the Lord was with us through it all. All glory to God!

-Kirstin Carlton
Philippines

Continue to pray

I can’t say enough about the work the Lord did through these guys this summer. These guys didn’t just come to play with kids and have a neat cultural experience. Presence doesn’t equal proclamation. These guys came to help fulfill the Great Commission by sharing the good news. They shared the good news in places we had never been with people who had never heard. 

Two of the guys they played soccer with professed faith in Jesus, and we have begun to disciple them. 

Continue to pray for this place. 
Pray that the seeds sown would not be sucked out by the world.
Pray God raises up national leaders in this area. 
Finally, pray for these young men as they go back to the states.

-Field Supervisor

Enjoying the country

This week has been SO amazing, but it has also been exhausting! The heat is different here than in the city! We have decided we love the “country” side of Thailand a lot better than the “big city” of Bangkok! We are thankful that the Lord has allowed us to see so much more of Thailand than we thought we were going to. We have been able to meet so many students and teachers. We miss our students back in Bangkok but are incredibly thankful for the connections the center here is making with the schools and the relationships we have formed here this week!!

Please continue to pray for us as we finish this summer strong.

-Kerstin

City Talk English, Thailand

Look What God Can Do.... through Alex too!

3 summers ago, I embarked on a journey to Bulawayo, Zimbabwe for my first summer missions trip where I was given this little book to read for the first time. Who knew something so small could make such a difference in my life?! 

It is crazy to think how vastly different my life is now. I have gone through a lot these past 3 years: moving states twice, transferring universities, 2 summer missions terms, a summer youth internship, losing my grandmother, moving countries for a season, meeting so many new and beautiful people, making amazing friends, losing some friends along the way, traveling to my 6th continent, and following Jesus to the best of my ability. Each of these hold both good and bad memories. Through all the change, the loss, the gain, the failures, and the triumphs, I did not always know how to handle it all, nor did I always execute it all gracefully. But through reading this book and the constant scripture referenced throughout it, I was able to read about God’s Word coming to life in the lives of past and present warriors of my faith. 

I read about ordinary people like William Carey, a shoe cobbler, being unsettled about the reality of lostness and dedicated to his part in doing something about it. 

I read about Lottie Moon, a very small, seemingly insignificant woman, creating a new definition for the word “servanthood” and who Southern Baptist name our annual Lottie Moon Christmas Offering after. 

I read about Jim Elliot, a young man with a young family, who’s bravery and faith let to martyrdom and influenced hundreds, maybe even thousands, to follow Jesus’ command to complete the great commission. 

I’ve read this tiny book too many times to count. Each time I read it, it becomes more and more evident that this book was written about people who were ordinary, simply human, and sinful- much like myself! And yet, look what God can do! They had complete faith to trust God and follow Him to wherever He may lead. They had weaknesses just like the rest of us. As the Bible says, His power is made perfect in weakness. To me, this is life-changing! This is such good news! 

He knows we are going to fail sometimes. He knows our deepest hurts, thoughts, desires, sorrows, joys, and failures and He uses all of it for His glory and for the nations to be drawn to Himself. Right now for me, as much as I want to succeed at everything, I’m sure I will fail many, many more times. But, His power is made perfect in my weaknesses. The craziest thing is, more change is coming! I literally have no clue what the next chapter of my life will hold, and that’s okay. God knows. And if there’s anything I learned from reading about all those amazing Missionaries, it’s that when we follow Christ, life will be worth while. God used a William, a Lottie, and a Jim. He can use an Alex too.


Look What God Can Do is available through Amazon. 

Taytay sa kaayohan (Bridge to Healing)

After our early morning boat ride from the island to the mainland we arrived at the port city where we would board the large ship that would take us to our next island destination. The city looked different from before even though we had been in this same spot just a week earlier. The sun was starting to light the sky and neither of us had a clear idea of what day it was. 

Our Journeyman term has been filled with different seasons of mobilizing Filipinos to be World Christians and to lead this generation to finish the Great Commission, but this summer we have served as traveling supervisors for several American Nehemiah Teams here in the Philippines. As Traveling Supervisors, our main purpose is to visit the teams and make sure that they are doing their discipleship materials as well as functioning well as a team; however as we travel around to teams our favorite part is joining them in ministry for the few days we are there. We have been exposed to the deep darkness and lostness that penetrates this country from the muddy mountains to the small island fishing communities that the teams are serving in. This last week, our traveling took us to an island that is known to be the birthplace of the Catholic stronghold that so deeply entangles people and leads them away from the true gospel of grace. 

After our overnight boat ride, we then had a three hour bus ride, and an hour motorcycle ride through the mountains ahead of us before reaching the team. Once we finally arrived we were excited to see that they were in an area that no team has ever been to before and we learned that the people were eager to hear the gospel. We did a film showing in a neighboring village that was a modern day “5 loaves and 2 fish” scenario. The waiting shed we planned to show the movie in was not big enough to support the crowd that had gathered so someone suggested that we could move to the local catholic chapel and then suddenly a man offered to bring his TV so we could play the movie on it instead of the projector. Our group quickly set out and as the men and women walked up the hill, umbrellas lined the road and we grew excited to see how eager the people were to watch the film about Jesus. The showing went well and the guys on the team followed up with a very clear presentation of the gospel and an invitation to learn more about how we can receive the gift of salvation. 

Later that evening, we visited a house in the area to do Bible Study. The father had asked that we come after dinner so that he could invite the rest of his family and friends. When we arrived we were shocked to see how many men and women had gathered to study the word of God. We began with the story of Lazarus and the rich man and talked about the urgency of eternity and how all people will spend eternity in either heaven or hell and cannot switch back and forth. 

We continued with the passage from Ephesians 2 and talked about being spiritually dead or spiritually alive in Christ. All of the men and women there were very attentive and asked lots of questions about how someone who was dead could be made alive! Throughout the study we took turns reading the passages and quite unexpectedly one of the daughters said that that was the first time anyone had come to read the Bible with them. Before we left, the guys asked if we could pray for the family and Tatay (the father of the family) mentioned the family’s health and work. But then he simply added not knowing the truth in his statement, “tingali taytay sa kaayohan kamo” which translates to “maybe you all are the bridge to healing”. Although he was referring to physical healing our prayer was that the team would truly be a bridge to spiritual healing for this community. 

For some reason the Lord has sovereignly chosen to use us to be the messengers of the gospel. We must be the bridge for people to hear the only message that can bring true healing. If not us, who will?

-Sarah
Philippines

Encouraging the family

Had a great time in F-town! We had the opportunity to do

street evangelism, prayer walking and trained some of the church members in Two Paths, the evangelism method we use here. It was great to get to visit with pastor Chris again and work alongside him to spread the gospel!

-Bush Boys

Team of the Day: Southeast Asia Tourist

Location: Southeast Asia
Team size: 3

Job description: Visit the Spice Islands via small planes & old boats. Seeing places many have not, off the beaten path, rustic, sharing your faith with those you meet. Camping & roughing it is part of the task of reaching the uttermost. Survey multiple islands in the central & southern provinces of the Maluku Islands, sharing the Gospel while exploring multiple islands. 

Team of the Day: Hide & Seek

Location: Southeast Asia
Team size: 1

Job description: You will "hide" in this closed country as a tourist. Daily you will explore your target city, going to where people hang out, "seeking" those who are looking for God. Boldly but wisely share the Gospel to see who is ready to follow.

Team of the Day: Kids Lovin' & Learnin'

Location: Philippines
Team size: 4

Job description:Come, impact orphaned children for eternity. Love them, play with them, teach them, & model Christian life to them. A local ministry is in need of volunteers who are willing & equipped physically, emotionally & spiritually to work with children who are in need of special protection, particularly those who have been abandoned, neglected, orphaned or surrendered.

Team of the Day: Edge Explorer

Location: Southeast Asia
Team size: 2

Job description: Help survey & sow seed among the unreached peoples of Southeast Asia. The people are scattered among remote islands, deep jungles & breakthtaking mountain ranges. These are the places you'll be traveling to take the Gospel where the Truth has yet to be shared. You will partner with a young national believer who will serve as your translator & co-laborer in the work. Push to the edge this summer!