Reflecting on Past July Missions Trips

Three of the 5 short-term missions trips I’ve been on took place in the month of July. My missions trips have taken me to the Amazon Jungle in Brazil, the Andes Mountains in Ecuador (left pic) and the streets of Ethiopia, Honduras (right pic) and Peru (bottom pic). Missions trips weren’t on my radar when I was growing up, but when God calls, it’s best to listen. He knows what’s on the other side of our YES!

I share many miraculous and lovely testimonies from these trips and more in my book, By Faith: Adventures and Reflections on Walking With God Here and Abroad. By Faith will stir your heart to follow God’s plan for your life. It includes a chapter on how to live your God-given dreams and a discussion guide you can use with your small group or book club. By Faith is available in print and on Kindle on Amazon.

Here’s a short excerpt from By Faith:

“I must say I am an accidental short-term missionary. At least in my eyes. I never grew up wanting to go on missions trips. I certainly didn’t know any missionaries. Over the years, I did discover that I enjoyed traveling. My goal years ago was to travel to the cities that hosted a certain major sporting event. And God allowed me to go to stadiums in Athens, Greece, Sydney, Australia, Salt Lake City, Utah, and Los Angeles, California. Not bad! I am so grateful for all the wonderful places I’ve gotten to travel to over the years.

But God had different plans for me. After years of traveling for vacation and for work and after my amazing time in Israel, I knew it was time to give back.

All this talk about traveling can sound kind of glamorous to some, but it’s not always easy to get on a plane, leave all your loved ones behind, and go to some foreign country. There are shots to take beforehand (and sometimes gigantic malaria pills to swallow during the trip!), money to raise, vacation time to be used. There’s also lots of prayer and fasting to get ready for the spiritual battles that will take place.

Surprisingly enough, sometimes the toughest battles are fought long before even setting foot on the plane!”

May you be encouraged, empowered and inspired by reading By Faith. Blessings!

P.S. – All these pics were taken at such pivotal moments in those trips. That stadium experience in Honduras (top right pic) was incredible! I felt like an Olympian for Jesus. God is Good!

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