Each year I have the incredible opportunity to sit down and talk with your students. I hear about their experiences overseas. The exotic foods they tasted. The varied things they saw and heard. But we always spend the most time talking about the people they met.
If you’ve traveled overseas, you understand the feeling. You do everything you can to prepare for the trip, but at the end of the day, you fear the language barrier. Time after time, I’ve listened as students explained how the language didn’t matter because these kinds of relationships transcend language.
To gain a better understanding of this, we asked Anthony Edgmon what hosting ETEAM and CMPs in his area has done for his team’s ministry after the students leave.
For several years, we have had Alpedrete church youth who coincide with the ages of the ETEAMers and CMPers. It is an encouragement for our young people to see other Christian young people and learn from them. Often, the testimonies of the American youth and their relationships with each other challenge and inspire our young people. Usually, several of our church youth and the ETEAMers and CMPers connect on social media and maintain a relationship through the years.
Many of the teams to Alpedrete have heard testimony from Pedro and Sole, an older couple in the church. They share how God drew them unto Himself out of Catholicism. Their insight and sweet spirit are always inspiring. We want the teams to be challenged in their relationship with the Lord and discover what their role in missions may look like.
Another moment that tends to be a moving time for the teams is when we take them to a hilltop from where they can see several towns in our area, many of which have no evangelical church. We challenge the students to pray and collaborate with us to help take the gospel to these towns so people in these communities can develop a relationship with Christ.
You see, although it may not be spoken about much, I believe on many levels the ETEAM and CMP experience must be about relationships.
These relationships matter for the gospel. Josephina’s narrative (pages 22-23) and Anthony’s perspective above make it clear our actions matter in the Great Commission. Equally, what we don’t do also matters.
So, take the trip. Be bold for the gospel. Step out in faith.
Say “yes” to what the Lord is calling you to do.
About the Writer: Leslie Nichols serves as director of mobilization for IM, Inc. Anthony Edgmon and his wife Lea serve as missionaries in Spain.
