Open Hands - College-Aged People on Mission! (Conversation with Avery Parsons & Brooklyn Gonzalez)

This episode features an interview with Avery Parsons and Brooklyn Gonzalez! Joey chats with both Avery and Brooklyn about a short-term mission trip they took in the summer of 2023 to Cambodia, a country in Southeast Asia. They share about their experiences, what their expectations were for the trip, how the trip changed their life, and how staying tethered to Jesus prepared them for this trip. They also share how this trip will help them continue to stay tethered to Jesus in order to continue living on mission at home. This episode is for anyone, especially college students, who desires to go on overseas mission trips. This episode will give you insight into what short-term overseas mission trips may look like for you!

College students: If you are interested in going on an overseas mission trip, please speak to your local church first if they have any opportunities! Alternatively, here are agencies that send students on overseas mission trips that Joey spoke about:

-OneLink International
-Pioneers
-The Navigators
-E3 Partners

Episode cover photo by Paul Szewczyk on Unsplash. Cover photo used under the Unsplash License.

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For Season 1 and 2 episodes: Intro/outro beats produced by Martin Maharas; Music: "This Sundays" by raspberrysounds. Intro to season 1 and 2 episode topics produced by: Joey Moralez; Music: “Fresh Morning” by RM Sounds. Distributed by Melody Loops LP. License # 25553593652. Used with permission.

For Season 3 and 4 episodes: Intro/outro music - "Eternal" by _91nova. Distributed by Epidemic Sound. Used with permission.

Midroll music: "Doozy" by _91nova. Distributed by Epidemic Sound. Used with permission.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:13

Alrighty, I have my friends Avery in Brooklyn here live on the podcast today. Thank you both for coming to what I'm calling, dear listener, Gemstone Studios here at my house. And so this is the new, newly revealed name of the podcast studio. So these are the first kids I've ever had over at Gemstone Studios. And so but thank you, Avery in Brooklyn, for coming onto the podcast to share about your trip to Cambodia and how staying tethered to Jesus helped you two go on this mission trip. And so yeah, why don't you go ahead and introduce yourselves? What do you do? I have a fun question on here for you, and then just three fun facts about both of you.

SPEAKER_03 0:54

Alrighty, thank you for having both of us. Um I'm Bricklyn. Um this is my first time ever filming a podcast before, so I'm a little nervous, but um it's just a couple things about me. Um I'm the middle child of five kids, so that's kind of fun. And then I just love to read, and I'm really known for like starting multiple books and never finishing them. Nice. And then um something I guess interesting about me is I've been to five countries before, and each one has been like on mission.

SPEAKER_00 1:28

So that's awesome.

SPEAKER_03 1:29

Definitely having the heart for the nations. Um and my favorite animal is like either a dog or I know this doesn't count, but I really love bees. It's not really an animal, it's more like a bug, but I just love bees.

SPEAKER_00 1:43

I mean, in the way that God created animals, I mean, it would fit into a kind.

SPEAKER_03 1:48

Yeah, it's a living thing, and we need them, and they provide our nectar.

SPEAKER_00 1:53

I mean, if you watch a bee movie, I mean that kind of gives an example of that.

SPEAKER_03 1:56

Yeah, yes, we need bees.

SPEAKER_00 1:59

What's your favorite book to read?

SPEAKER_03 2:00

Um, I really like a lot of fiction, but I'm trying to think of like that's a hard question of like my favorite book.

SPEAKER_00 2:09

Maybe a theological book?

SPEAKER_03 2:11

Um I don't know. I'm trying to get more into like theology books, but I do like I don't know if this I don't think this is theology, but I like screw tapes letters from C.S. Listen.

SPEAKER_00 2:22

That's somewhat theology. Somewhat, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 2:24

It's one of his classics, so that one's a good one.

SPEAKER_00 2:27

That's awesome. Yes. Thank you.

SPEAKER_05 2:29

Hey, I'm Avery. Um I also went with Brooklyn to Cambodia. Um I my fun facts would be I love to play pickleball. Um, my favorite food is Vietnamese and Thai food, which Brooklyn and I are we went to Thai spice before this, so we definitely indulged, but um, and then I own a horse named Pocahontas.

SPEAKER_02 2:53

Nice.

SPEAKER_05 2:53

Um, and I think that just leads me to the next question of what's my favorite animal? I'm obviously biased, so a horse is my favorite animal. I've had her for it's like seven or eight years, and so um yeah, she's definitely in my fave.

SPEAKER_00 3:07

That's awesome. That's awesome. How often do you get to ride your horse?

SPEAKER_05 3:10

Um, right now it's like once a week. Sometimes, if I'm super busy, it's like once every couple weeks, but um I keep her out of my grandparents, so it's always nice because then I get to go see them whenever I go visit her. So it's a win-win, and so I try to get there as much as I can. Nice.

SPEAKER_00 3:27

Yeah, that's awesome. I don't know if you've noticed this, dear listener, but if you see a theme that's been going on in each of the guests that I've interviewed, I mean, at least with some of them, pickleball seems to be a theme. And so we heard Noah, you heard Emma, you heard Alex. I'll say they love pickleball. I mean, I might as well just do an episode of pickleball.

SPEAKER_04 3:49

Oh, I would live on mission, including pickleball. That's right.

SPEAKER_00 3:52

Live on mission to go tell Jesus while playing pickleball.

SPEAKER_04 3:55

I like that.

SPEAKER_00 3:56

That's awesome. And so, yeah, thank you again for coming onto the podcast to talk about just your recent trip to Cambodia. And so I wanted to start out with this question. What made you desire to travel to Cambodia this past summer?

SPEAKER_05 4:15

Um, I definitely had a desire to just go to Southeast Asia. Um I was uh previously committed to going to Thailand with um crew, and there was a lot of um peace I didn't end up feeling after a while. Um, and so I really dove deep into why I wasn't feeling much peace, and I um just like stumbled upon the opportunity to go to Cambodia with Abundant Life, and I just really started to raise up the question like Lord, like is this something that you want me to commit to this over Thailand? And I took the opportunity not knowing who I was going to be going with. Um I go to school down in Arkansas, and so I don't get to be with um my abundant life community um throughout the school year, and so I was very nervous to commit to Cambodia, but it ended up being um just what I think would have been the better situation overall, and I'm just so glad that I made the decision to go.

SPEAKER_01 5:15

That's awesome.

SPEAKER_03 5:17

Uh for me, I hadn't really been on a short-term missions trip for a while. It'd been like a little over a year, and so um I just I do have like a heart for the nations, and so I really just wanted to be challenged. And one of the leaders of the missions trip um approached me during um the Live Sync class that our church puts on um and was just like, why don't you come to Cambodia? Like, there's an informational meeting, just like come check it out. Um, because he knew like I had gone on missions trips before, and so I just went to the meeting and got to see like the vision for the trip and the school that we would be helping, and I really just like felt um excitement to go. Um, and so I just decided to go. I mean, I just really wanted to be challenged again, and it's sometimes nice to get out of a bubble that we live in and to go. Um, you don't always have to like go to a different nation to be on mission, but I think it's important that um if you have the opportunity to go do that, and so that's kind of why I decided to go.

SPEAKER_00 6:28

Yeah, that's great. I'm glad you got to go, both of you, to Cambodia. Sounds like it changed your life, which we'll get into that here in a little bit. Um, just that desire to travel to another country to see what it's like to reach people for the gospel and just get to see a different culture, how they live their lives. And so that's awesome that you guys had that desire instilled in you. Um really excited that you all got to go. That's awesome. Was this your first time overseas?

SPEAKER_03 6:57

Uh for me it was not. I've gone overseas before. Um this was uh my first time going overseas with my church, um, with abundant life. And so yeah, what about you, Avery?

SPEAKER_05 7:10

This was very new to me. Um it's my first time out of the country, and um yeah, I feel like I went to the farthest place I possibly could. Yeah. Um, but it was it was the best, so yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:23

Nice. I know for me, like I went to a mission trip myself this past summer as we're recording this podcast. It was like a month ago that I got back and I went to the Dominican Republic, and it even then, like, that was an interesting experience, a good experience, but it's like, man, I've never been overseas before. And so it's definitely a different perspective when you go overseas to see how they live. And so, how did you two feel about going overseas?

SPEAKER_03 7:49

Um, I was I was pretty excited. Um it was definitely like looking back in hindsight, I think if I could prepare better, I probably would have. Um I did not know a lot about Cambodia going into it. Um but yeah, I think I was just mostly excited for it.

SPEAKER_05 8:15

Yeah, and I would have to agree. Um I think first like day or two, I was definitely running on a lot of like adrenaline excitement, didn't know what to expect. Um I could only really like imagine what it would be like, but um it, I mean it pretty much matched what I had in mind, and I it was um I mean I think we'll talk more about just how our expectations were like met um in Cambodia a little bit later, but it was just like um I really didn't have like a whole lot of expectations. I could only imagine what it was going to be like, and um I mean yeah, it exceeded my expectations, so yeah.

SPEAKER_03 9:00

I had never been like to this part of the world, like to Asia, and so yeah, definitely didn't know what to expect, but it was good.

unknown 9:08

It was good.

SPEAKER_00 9:09

That's great because I know that part of the world is populated and is very different from America, yes, like way different in terms of like their cultural customs, just the way they conduct themselves. I don't really know too much about that culture, but I heard it's uh the different, you know, they had they definitely have a different type of lifestyle, like very honor-shame culture type of environment.

SPEAKER_05 9:34

Yes, and so and we saw that a lot, yeah. We observed that everywhere we went, yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:40

So, which leads me to my next question. How did you prepare yourself to travel overseas into a different country?

SPEAKER_05 9:49

Oh, I think for me, it just took a lot of prayer, um, asking the Lord to just um I think maybe humble my heart in ways where um I was letting pride get in the way of a lot of things. I think when it comes to sharing the gospel, you really have to lay lay down your life to the Lord. Lord, like use me, um speak through me. Um and so I think I really was asking for a humble heart um and just trying to lay aside my expectations too. Um, I wish I would have um did like prayer journaling more and just seeing like um the difference in what I asked the Lord um and just like continuing that prayer um journaling like throughout the trip as well. Um I think that just would have been um really beneficial for me. Um and also just like with what Brooklyn said earlier, like researching Cambodia and their culture and religion. Um I did have the opportunity to go to um a uh like seminar about um into the Buddhist mind, um, which shared a lot just about the Buddhist culture and religion and just um what Buddhists do believe and um how that affects the way that they live and the way that they communicate with others and um how we should approach sharing the gospel with those um within the Buddhist religion. And so um, yeah, but I wish I would have done more individual research on my own and um would have dove into that a little bit more.

SPEAKER_03 11:27

Yeah, for sure. Leading up to the trip, I would um just like start to be in prayer over the students that we would minister to and just that the Lord would start to soften their hearts, um but yeah, back like piggybacking off what Avery said, like I think it would have been a lot more beneficial if I had done more research on Cambodia because they have such a um very complex history um as a nation that I just was never taught about, and so going into that, I kind of wish I would have had more background knowledge on that history because it affects them to this day, and then also um just more knowledge on what Buddhism looks like because I had never really um interacted with someone who was Buddhist, I'd never really known much about the religion, um, but at the same time, I think not knowing a lot allowed me to genuinely ask questions to these students and get to hear what Buddhism is like from someone who is a practicing Buddhist, and so um I would in hindsight like prepare myself more to be more knowledgeable about the culture because um, like you mentioned, like it is such like an honor-based culture, which I don't feel like in America we experience that as much, or to the extent that they are like, but like when you say thank you, you bow your head, and so that was something that Avery and I both kind of we picked it up quickly, but we going in were very like oblivious to that, and just kind of were like you could tell we were just Americans, and so but it also is just a cool opportunity for both of us to learn about the culture and ask questions, and yeah, I can remember like the first time we learned how to say thank you in their language, we were like so excited and the waiter was so excited, but yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:13

That's actually good insight. I love that you both shared that. Thank you for sharing that um because it's so important when someone goes overseas to have that curiosity in them. Yes, it's okay to learn about their specific culture, but also when you actually arrive at the destination, just asking those intentional questions about who they are as people. Yeah. I love that you said that because it's it shows that you actually care for them as an image bearer of God. Rather than just coming in like, hey, I know this about you. Is this true? It kind of comes off in a way where it's like, I kind of want to get to know you, but I see you more as a project.

SPEAKER_02 13:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:59

And so I'm glad that you both said that. I think that's important for you, dear listener, to know when you go overseas, if that's what the Lord is calling you to do, to really take time, yes, to learn about the culture, but also come in with a humble heart and be curious, be intentional. I know that's something that we did in a Dominican Republic. I I did my research of knowing about the culture because even though my culture is a little different, Salvadoran culture is very different in Dominican culture, it was still helpful to know somewhat of what they do, but at the same time, when I got there, it's like, whoa, this is a little bit different than I was expecting.

SPEAKER_05 14:38

Right, for sure. Yeah, and I mean the same way of just like with our desire to know the Lord more, it's it's like a a way of serving others by getting to know them. And um, it's actually funny because um I've been reading through Psalms 133, um, and it talks a lot about that of just um when you gain understanding about other people, about their culture, about their religion, um, you know how to better serve them. Um kind of makes me think of like love languages when you get to know someone better, um, you get to know their love languages, and I think it's it is so important to really, like you said, ask those intentional questions and to get to know them about, I mean, honestly, just as a friend. Um, and through that they get to know like you and what you're passionate about, which like they get to know that you're passionate about Jesus and about who he is and how he's done um like worked wonders in your life. And so I think that's just something that I also going into the trip, I didn't have that mindset of um I'm here to get to know them in an intentional way. I had a r I I would say I had a really hard time wrapping my head around that because I thought we were just going there to share the gospel, but we really just were going there to um transfer their head knowledge about the Bible and getting to show them what it tangibly looks like to love and to serve others well, um, just as Christ does for us, and so um yeah, I think that was one thing that I really like took away from the trip and something I feel like our team really got to discuss, and I thought it was just so cool. Um, and just today, as I'm continuing to learn that, um, just through discipleship, um, and so yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:29

That's great, Avery. Thanks for sharing that. Yeah, yeah. I I pulled up this passage from 1 Corinthians chapter 9. I think what you two just said emulates really well with Paul what Paul had to say here. Um so in this context, he's like speaking about that, he makes this his aim to share the gospel. Um, but this is what he says starting in verse 17. Um actually let me start back in verse 15. But I have used none of these things, and I am not writing these things so that it will be done so in my case, for it would be better for me to die than have any man make my boast an empty one. For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for I am under compulsion. For woe is me if I do not preach the gospel. We must preach the gospel. For if I do this voluntarily, I have a reward. But if against my will I have a stewardship entrusted to me, what is then my reward? That when I preach the gospel, I may offer sorry, I may offer the gospel without charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel. For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I may win more. To the Jews I became as a Jew, so that I might win Jews, to those who are under the law, as under the law, though not being myself under the law, um, so that I might win those who are under the law, to those who are without law, as without law, though not being without the law of good, but under the law of Christ, so I might win those who are without law. To the weak I became weak, so that might win the weak. To I have become all things to all men, so that by all means I may by all means save some. I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that be may become a fellow partaker of it. I know that was a very lengthy passage, a lot of repetitive phrases, but what you just what you two just said encompasses that. Yeah. I mean, we are called by Christ to share the gospel, but at the same time, we are called to become weak, essentially, like figuratively, like understanding where someone has been, understanding who they are, and understanding maybe their culture to reach them. Because Paul's aim was to win people to Christ, and sometimes that means he he had to humble himself to get to a point where he can earn the right to be heard, right? To share the gospel, even though in the back of his mind he has been charged by God to go proclaim the gospel to all nations. And so I'm sure that Paul would say today to anyone that was to go on mission, get to know people for who they are so you can share the gospel with them and have the right to have this gospel preached to them.

SPEAKER_02 19:16

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 19:17

And so, alrighty, here's my next question. What were your expectations as you came into this mission trip? So, dear listener, if you've heard the episode Getaway, Summer Break on Mission, you're gonna hear the very same questions that I asked those students that I'm asking Avery in Brooklyn here.

SPEAKER_03 19:36

Honestly, um I really didn't have a lot of expectations. I think one of the main expectations I had was just like God was gonna move, um, not only in those students' lives and hearts, but also in mine. Um but yeah, other than that, I wouldn't say like I had a long list of expectations. I kind of just was having like an open mind going into it. Like open hands. Yes, open hands is a perfect illustration of that.

SPEAKER_05 20:07

Um but yeah, I think I would have to agree since I've never been out of the like I hadn't been out of the country. Um, I think I was just like, Lord, like like I was bringing that to him, like Lord, I I don't know what to expect. Um just um I mean I know that he can do big things, and I think that was something that I was reminded of of just even in the um even in the little moments to be observant of the big ways that he's moving, um, amongst the kids' smiles and the teachers and just seeing how they're being blessed, um, just by us getting to interact with the kids and um just sharing Christ's love with them. Um so yeah, I think I was just really asking the Lord to like allow me to be um more observant of the ways that he was moving in um such a different culture.

SPEAKER_00 21:04

So uh sorry, go ahead.

SPEAKER_03 21:07

Um Avery and I also kind of didn't really know what to expect going into it of like the structure and things. Yeah. Um for the listeners, like we were throwing a summer camp essentially, yeah, modeled after one week, which is the camp that our student ministry throws.

SPEAKER_00 21:25

I went to it.

SPEAKER_03 21:26

Yes, Joey was Joey was there. Um, and so me and Avery actually met at one week when we were both in high school, and so I thought that was kind of like a full circle like experience of like we met as students in one week, and now we're kind of throwing um a camp base and modeled around that in a different country, so that was really cool. But we kind of going into it didn't know what to expect, how many students would be there. We got like a rough number of how much to account for, and like we knew the lesson plans, but we didn't really have a lot of like knowledge of each day by day. Yeah, you you didn't know whether it was gonna happen. Like we they could give us a structure, but you know something on that you have to learn on mission trips is you have to be flexible. Yes. And so you can't just go in with this mindset of like it's gonna be like this and this and this. Because one the Holy Spirit starts to move and things can you know change last minute or someone can get sick and you're just thrown into something and um so I think going into it not having so many expectations allowed for us to um really just enjoy the moment we were in and just let the Holy Spirit come in and just be guided by the Holy Spirit and I would say like having less expectations allowed for me to enjoy the process more. I would agree.

SPEAKER_00 22:48

That's good. I love that you say said flexible because when you're on mission especially if you're engaging with a different culture you you don't know what you're gonna expect. Yeah and so sometimes you just have to come in Lord I'm coming in with open hands I don't know exact I don't know exactly what's gonna happen but I'm entrusting myself to you it's almost like a position of humility. Yeah for sure and also just having this deep understanding that God is gonna be the one that guides you as you're ministering in places that are different than you're used to ministering to sometimes it's just as simple as showing up and just allowing the Lord to use you in any way that he he wants a heart posture of like Lord use me for your glory.

SPEAKER_05 23:34

And I think that was just one of the things I like really learned.

SPEAKER_00 23:39

So that's good. Thanks for sharing that and so I'm not gonna ask you guys these two qu next two questions because I mean obviously you didn't have any expectations but I do want to ask you this in terms of like in your time in the country um when you went to Cambodia what were some differences it's not on the script what were some differences that you've noticed from American culture versus their culture like it can even be like things like not drinking out of a water faucet.

SPEAKER_03 24:15

Well the big thing with Cambodia is their water is very um different than ours uh they just have to drink purified water from like bottles and stuff yeah and that was something that was very um very different we brush our teeth brush our teeth with water bottles wash our face with water bottles um but also another thing is like the humidity and the climate is very different there and so we were like constantly like drinking electrolytes and trying to stay on top of our water intake because it was so easy to get dehydrated. You would step outside and you were already sweating yes it was just I will never complain about the humidity because their humidity is just so much um more worse than ours and so that makes yeah that was a big thing is just their water um and just how unclean like their water is yeah um yeah what else I don't know they would have uh I think these were the monsoons but we were there during monsoon season so for like for 30 minutes each day it would just pull you like cut it flat out yeah like but what was like the most amazing thing about that though is after each like um downpour was a double rainbow.

SPEAKER_05 25:37

Yes and we saw many rainbows we like got so excited every single time it was just the sweetest like yes moments it reminds me of this memory like that is I hold very dear to my heart.

SPEAKER_03 25:48

It was like our last day we were flying out in the night and we were in a group text with like a lot of the young adults on this trip and someone sent a picture and it was a double rainbow and so we like ran outside and we could see this like beautiful double rainbow and me and Avery and one of our friends we were just like screaming because it was so beautiful but it was really just I feel like very symbolic of God's promise to his people. It was literally a couple hours before he left yeah and so it was the very end and throughout the week we had seen multiple rainbows and so I felt like that was like God's like promise to his people and very symbolic.

SPEAKER_00 26:28

It is very symbolic.

SPEAKER_05 26:29

Yeah and I thought it was funny because like we were like the only people like getting so excited about like everyone else was just going about their day and we just Americans were like so I have like multiple pictures of Brooklyn and our friend Maylee like jumping up and down and um I think we even started singing like worship music because creation and that was just such a sweet memory that I like hold it but that was definitely like the climate and stuff was a big difference.

SPEAKER_03 27:05

It's just also like the driving and everything there it's it's a lot like picture India there's just lots of motorcycles and crossing the streets a little intimidating and so it's just a very um congested city.

SPEAKER_05 27:22

Yeah we live in the suburbs so we're not really like used to that but that was definitely like yeah we took like their version of a taxi called a tuk tuk um and I could literally put like my hand out the little like window and like I could touch a car. Like that's how they like close they were and like they're starting and stopping and it was just like that's crazy. It was crazy. I was I think that was the number one thing I was like whoa okay here we go like definitely the driving is different.

SPEAKER_00 27:52

I can definitely relate to that in my experience riding what they call a wawa bus in Spanish Dominican Spanish. Yeah um we would be driving really close to these big semi trucks in the capital Santo Domingo and it's like what are these people doing? Right it's just like what do they call that like organized chaos like just for sure like everyone is a part of the every Cambodian knows the rules of the road yes but to us it looks like there's no rules of the road so I don't think I'm ever gonna complain again about traffic and the humidity as well that Dominican was the same way with all the humidity because it's in the tropics and so is Cambodia.

SPEAKER_05 28:30

Yeah I would say on the other end we saw a lot of similarities between like the Cambodian culture and just the western culture as well um the area we were in um there was I felt like a lot of like the people were kind of westernized. Yeah they they like knew what we were talking about.

SPEAKER_03 28:51

Yeah and so they knew like what I guess like our pop culture is like they knew all about like the artists that popular yeah and I think um social media is really the main reason like TikTok is very popular over there. I feel like a lot of the kids had like technology and we would be like on the street and just like a little kid's on his phone. And it's just kind of normal there which me and Avery were very thrown off by that just the use of like technology and how a lot of them like they want to come to America and yeah I had a student and he he wants to come to America so he can go to like Target and Walmart and I was like oh really like you can go there it's like just a store. But they like here and they see like social media and they see these American things and they they like they want to experience that and so I feel like a lot of the people like feel like are trying to become more westernized. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 29:51

I think it allowed me like a newfound like appreciation for social media just because like we get to stay in touch with um our kids um and um we get to talk to them whenever we want and um but yeah it was something where you would just go like out on the streets and you would see a lot of people um on their phone and um yeah TikTok was a very big thing. Yes. But I I think yeah there are some perks to that though because we like can communicate with them and they're you know all the way across the world so yeah.

SPEAKER_00 30:26

Yeah in in an instant too. Yeah yeah that's awesome that's a lot of things that you guys have experienced in a different country and it's really good to hear the differences between Western culture and culture out there in East Asia and so that's good for my listeners to notice like hey if you ever go to a different culture like just things are gonna be different than what you're used to you probably won't see a lot of Starbucks. You probably won't see Dunkin' Donuts.

SPEAKER_03 30:56

We did see a Starbucks though didn't we yeah we saw like one in the Capitol one wow yeah and then I think there was one in the town that we were staying in as well probably in the mall yeah yeah we didn't we didn't experience that though and so yeah just be like if you ever desire to go on mission dear listener like this is something that you may want to keep in mind as you go like things are gonna be just really different.

SPEAKER_00 31:20

Yes which is actually a good segue to my next question.

SPEAKER_05 31:24

Did you experience culture shock while in Cambodia honestly not as much as I thought I would uh a lot of things were in English too which helped me just to know what exactly I was doing um like when it came to like finding the um supermarket like it was in English and the airport all in English and so I think that relieved a little bit of my stress going in of just like um not everything was where I couldn't understand it like a lot of things I could understand so yeah I think they a lot of times they would see us and they'd be like oh they're Americans and they would switch to English and so because of that I think we were able to navigate a lot but it also helped that like we had gone with a group and some of the people had come like for the past couple years to the same town so they're kind of more familiar with it and knew their way around certain things.

SPEAKER_03 32:24

So I think that helped but I would say um it the first like couple days were a little shocking just being in the Capitol and um also just like adjusting to like time the time zone was like the check flag yeah so they are 12 hours ahead of like our time zone and so when we got there yeah it didn't really hit me until the next day and we were I was like I have to stay awake I have to stay awake but um yeah I would say physically I felt more of a shock than just like the cultural shock um going there. But yeah I think we kind of touched on a lot on like things that were shocking to us with like the traffic and the technology but like other than that it wasn't too crazy.

SPEAKER_00 33:14

Yeah yeah and then culture shock is actually a real thing. Yeah um a lot of people who go on mission overseas sometimes experience culture shock because their culture that they go to is so different than what they're used to. I can speak on behalf of the students that went to the Dominican Republic. In their case things were not in English other than like the airport everywhere we went everything was in Spanish. And so a lot of our students but one spoke Spanish and so they had to rely on me a couple of our staff and volunteers that spoke Spanish and also a couple interpreters that we hired and for them it's like uh I don't know what that says how do I find the bathroom like I don't know what the sign says I don't know what they're saying because sometimes like I know in my my recent mission trip a lot of the kids that we interacted with wanted to talk to our students but like could you tell them this and the students that we brought would want us to tell the students like tell them I said this and so and for some of them it shocked them it's like whoa I was not expecting this.

SPEAKER_03 34:21

Yeah and I don't know if you experienced that when you went to the village would you feel like so we um the camp that we threw was with a school that is an English school and so what will happen is a lot of these Cambodian families send their kids to learn English um because they really just want their kids to know that language and so the camp that we threw all the kids knew English so we didn't experience that language barrier through the like camp but one of the days um we went to a village that was about like an hour away we had to take like a bus there and then a little boat and then a tractor ride to get to the village. So it was a lot more secluded it wasn't city and a lot of those kids did not know English and we had maybe like three interpret or like translators and so um I kind of got to experience that with those kids because I was trying to like interact with them but they barely knew anything that I was saying and I didn't know any of like the things they were saying and so it's definitely challenging when you can't communicate but I also think like you're able to still have a connection with someone even if you can't speak with them and so yeah that was really cool we were how we were able to like build relationships even though we were just playing with them and having fun with them. Yeah um but yeah I would say that was the only experience with like a language barrier that I had and I was like I wish like I knew how to speak in their language but I just I didn't and so I think in those situations you have to just let like the Holy Spirit work and I think that even though I can't use my words they could still see Jesus like in me.

SPEAKER_00 36:00

Yeah they can see how you are intentional with them in different ways with how you engage with him with like just interacting with them. Yeah perfectly I like that you said that because it just shows like we're all one human race. Yeah even though we speak different languages like the Lord still uses us to reach people even though we don't speak their nate like native language those people can see like wow there's something different about this person. He actually or she actually takes time to interact with me even though we have no idea what we're saying. Yeah and so that's powerful.

SPEAKER_05 36:35

Yeah thanks for sharing that sorry all right here's my next question how do you believe this mission trip has changed your life I think there's a lot of things for me and I feel like I've probably I've already touched on um many of them but um I think the best way I can answer this question is just I just I really learned honestly a lot um about my relationship with the Lord as well um and I think that was really cool where I was going in with a heart posture of like oh I'm going to serve others but the Lord's like no I want to show how um like I'm serving you every day as well and um I think also just um like I said earlier a humble heart of like Lord I want you to use me or even like a desperate cry just like Lord I I need you to use me in this moment. And I think that can be true for a lot of people in a workplace or um within family situations and so I think that really just um opened my eyes to a lot of different aspects of my life where I need to ask the Lord like Lord I want you to use me every anywhere I go it doesn't have to be you know across the world but just even um in my everyday life wherever I step foot in like just allow me to um shine your light and so um I think that was um one of the biggest things too I feel like uh this mission trip really just put like a lot of things into perspective for me.

SPEAKER_03 38:27

I feel like before we go like going I knew that we needed the gospel and again I obviously I know that like we need the gospel so much but to go there and to see like these students and to make relationships with them um and be able to like have personal relationships with them and knowing like they are Buddhist and they won't go to heaven. It makes me think of um John 146 when Jesus says I am the way and the truth and the life no one comes to the Father except through me um like remembering that verse and then seeing these students that we like are having so much fun with and building relationships with and knowing like without them like coming to know the Lord like I'm not gonna see them in heaven. And it's you hear that when you hear about like like the nations that like don't have the gospel and don't have access to it and it's like it's a burden that the Lord puts on our hearts but I feel like whenever you personally know someone in that like that is just a lot heavier to like know these students by name and know like if they don't accept the Lord like I'm not gonna see them in heaven and like that is very heavy and so I feel like the Lord really like gave me like a burden for that um on this trip that I mean me and Avery have talked about like this and you know we've cried about this together like we truly do have like a burden for these children and so that changed my life like knowing more personally these students that you know that they don't know the Lord and they don't know the goodness and they know the stories of the Bible and it's head knowledge but to them that's not something they believe in and so it changed um just my perspective and it's helped me to be more intentional in my prayers because now I can pray for them by name. Whereas before like you could pray for the nation of Cambodia but now I know like I still remember every one of my students' names and faces and so like I can intentionally pray for each student and I know like their stories and I know like what they believe because I was just very intentional with like asking each student like what do you believe because it's a mix there's some students at the school who are Christian majority of them are Buddhist or come from Buddhist families and then there's quite a few of students who are atheists because they're hearing like their families are saying like Buddhism's the way and then the school is preaching the gospel and they're kind of like at this place of like what do I believe in or I don't really even want to believe in either of them and so we did have like a lot of the older students I feel like were atheists and so um knowing like the students personally and just it allows me to be more intentional with like praying for them but I would say that really did change me when I came back home of like knowing like just the depth of the gospel and like just the importance of how much we need it.

SPEAKER_00 41:31

Yeah I love that you said that Brooklyn you actually answered my next question that you returned from Cambodia for new perspective on life that's good. It's different when you know the statistic about someone that lives in that part of the world and Cambodia is in a 1040 window am I correct about that? Yes and so we know that there's three billion people who have no access to the gospel in that region. And each of those three billion people have a name and it's like you just said very different when you actually know their name and you know that they may not be in a relationship with Jesus when they pass away from this earth in heaven. And that's actually really scary to think about like this is why we go on mission is to go share the good news of Jesus that God is holy, God is good, God is righteous, he's also just and he created us for a purpose to know him and to make him known but the problem is we can't know him because of our sin. Our sin taints us from having this relationship with Jesus and because of that we actually deserve the wrath of God but because God desired for us to have that relationship with him he made a way for us to be saved and that is by sending his son who we believe to be fully God, fully man. And he sent him to live a perfect life die to death that we deserve absorb the wrath of God that we deserve and he took that on himself because that is how much he loved us. And the fact that we yet to have a relationship with God if we confess with our mouth that he is Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised him from the dead and then also if we repent from our sin and also confide exclusively in Jesus alone just like John 146 says that I am the way the truth and the life no one comes to the Father but by me exclusively like people need to hear that this God who made everything we know to exist at the same time offers a solution for us to come to him broken and weary and heavy laden. He wants to give him rest from that act of religion including Buddhism which Buddhism is a workspace religion. It gives him freedom and the fact that that's We get to proclaim in places like Cambodia in the 1040 window. Each of these people that live there have a name and they need to know that message. And that's what you guys came in with. Giving providing them that hope. Yeah, thanks for sharing that. And so here's my next question for you two. How was life for you as you returned to the United States? From Cambodia.

SPEAKER_05 45:10

I think for me, I struggled with more like reverse culture shock than I did. Like actual actually going and experiencing like culture shock. Like I we talked about this earlier today of just the um we feel like as Americans we don't um like acknowledge or respect each other um in the way that um like the Cambodians did, like anywhere you would go, bowing your head and just acknowledging like their presence, even um it was just a very um like admirable, very respectful thing that I just thought was really cool about um their culture, and so I was just sharing this with Brooklyn at dinner, it's just like when I got back, I like watched walked into TJ Maxx and like wanted to like bow my head at like everyone that I like saw. Um, and so I think it was just a little bit more of a reverse culture shock for me. Um, and um just struggling to like as fully immersing yourself in a culture that's so different, and then coming back to what um you knew, I think my eyes were opened a little bit more.

SPEAKER_00 46:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 46:20

Yeah. Um, for me, I didn't really experience a ton of reverse culture shock. Um about a year ago, though, I did go on like a five-month-long mission strip, and when I got back to the US after that, I really did experience like a lot of the same things that Avery experienced. This time around, I think I kind of knew what it was like to come back home, and so I was more mentally prepared. Um, but adjusting back to life for me was a little different. About I was home for one day and then I left again to go like on a vacation, and so for me, I feel like I just didn't really get to process the trip until after I had gotten back from vacation, and then at that point, like I had been in the US for like a bit, and so um I didn't experience as much like reverse culture shock, but I definitely did notice like as soon as we got to like the American like airport, like just the pace of life is very different, and uh I feel like we're a lot more like into ourselves. Like Avery mentioned like the honor system's different here, and so that is something that I did notice as well when I got back.

SPEAKER_00 47:40

Yeah, reverse culture shock is a real thing. Avery just described what some of her experience was like in with that, and I know for me when I got back from the Dominican, I definitely experienced culture shock when I got back to Missouri, not so much when I got back to the US because I had the fortunate um thing that I actually got back in Miami. And if you guys know something about Miami, Miami is 70% Hispanic. Miami-Dade County, that's the amount of Hispanics that live just in that county alone. So everything was in Spanish but also English, but it was more just getting used to being back in the flow of like wow, people are actually driving like normal again. But it's when I got back to Missouri where it's like, whoa, I actually can drink water out of the faucet. I can take a shower with hot water.

SPEAKER_02 48:34

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 48:35

Um, I don't have to drink, I don't have to brush my teeth with a bottle of water.

SPEAKER_02 48:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 48:41

And so, and then even just getting used to American money again. And so I'd say that's been the case for me, but for some people that go overseas, it's like they come back and they're just honestly like upset at American culture because of how different it is in comparison to other parts of the world. And I know for some people, like if they've especially been to a country where it's extremely impoverished and they come back to a place where everything seems to be people have lots of money.

SPEAKER_05 49:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 49:16

It's like, wow, I have so much to be grateful for.

SPEAKER_05 49:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 49:22

And I'm so thankful to be where I am, but other parts of the world don't have what I have. It's one thing to know that a lot of the world less on less than one dollar a day, but when you actually see it, it's different. And you have and you come back to a place where like, wow, a dollar here goes a long way.

SPEAKER_05 49:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 49:42

Like a dollar here is like nothing to me, but in some places it goes a long way.

SPEAKER_05 49:46

Yeah, and I think that was something too where um I didn't really like experience a lot of culture shocks. They took the American dollar like everywhere we went. I was able to use my car. Yeah, we were able to pay with like American dollars. And we were able to get more out of it because um, you know, it was worth more, and um like something else I experienced, like they didn't have near as many like options or like choices that we have here in America. Like um you could go into the grocery store and you only had so many um choices on, you know, snacks or whatever, like and here it's such a wide variety, yeah. Um, and so I think it it opened my eyes to how living a simpler life um allows you to slow down and to um just get to live in the wonders of you know the Lord's creation and how it is so beautiful and um yeah, yeah, thanks for sharing that.

SPEAKER_00 50:52

Thank you. All right, starting to transition here in this conversation. So, how has taking this mission trip helped you stay tender to, or you could say, abide in Jesus, and will help you continue to do so after this trip?

SPEAKER_03 51:19

I don't know, like there's just a lot of things that I think changed my perspective and my like I'm just I feel a lot more grateful to the Lord because of these experiences. Um I feel like getting to observe what Christianity looks like in a country that's predominantly Buddhist, and like the lack of community that there is has really made me appreciate you know the people that the Lord's put in my life, and that is my community back home and my church family. Um and so I feel like just the perspective of like an like an outside view has made me just you know desire my time with the Lord more. And um, before going on the trip, my like daily abiding, like I would abide daily, but sometimes I would just get busy and push it off and like still abide in the Lord, but it was just kind of I was getting caught up in the busyness of life, and then taking the two weeks to step out of just like my busyness and just you know my routine, and then to go to this country and get to see and then come back. I was able to just put into practice like my time with the Lord and just how special it is, um, and then also just like how special community is, and it made me you know, just my affections for God to grow more after that.

SPEAKER_05 53:01

Yeah, I think I um gain a big heart posture of gratitude, like um what you're talking about. I think also just um a mindset of like I I'm not the one saving people. Um uh it's not my responsibility with what you guys were talking about earlier, it's like our urgency. Um and and so I think with that um I just have been trying to put into practice of like before um I go into work or before I go into a conversation um that I'm nervous to, you know, go into, um just really praying and seeking the Lord um for wisdom and for um his word to speak through me um and just so I'm not relying on my own strength. Um because I think that was another thing I really experienced every day. We were go go go. Um you like if you were relying on your own strength, then yeah, I I mean I would have been cranky every single day.

SPEAKER_03 54:10

Not only were we go go going, but like also physically, we were like drained with just like the climate and dehydration and exhausting that, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 54:20

And so I think it really just taught me of just relying on the Lord for all that I do, and that um like our strength isn't comparable to like the strength of Jesus and just um yeah, so that just that heart posture of a a really big change of heart posture for me. Um that's good.

SPEAKER_00 54:42

That's good. I love that you both said that. Just infusing yourself to his word and infusing yourself to just spending time with him in prayer, engaging with him in that way. Um it's just so key, especially if you're taking the gospel to another part of the world. Because, like you both just said, it can be exhausting because you're just going, going, going. Yeah, and you can only derive so much strength from yourself, but ultimately, I mean you gotta derive your strength from the Lord. Yeah, because He's the one that grants you that strength and ability to even go and share His Word, share His love. And so that's good. I love that you both said that.

SPEAKER_02 55:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 55:23

And so, do you believe your worship of God has increased because of this trip?

SPEAKER_04 55:29

Absolutely, yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 55:32

I think for me, my worship has definitely like increased. I think seeing not only just like God's people, even the ones that are lost, like I mean, obviously the Lord has given me a heart for the people of Cambodia now, but just also see his creation in that country, Cambodia is like it's beautiful. We talked about how it rains all the time, so it's very lush and very green. Yes, and so um getting to see like his creation there has also just made me just like humble myself before like God of just like the creator of this world, and so I feel like I am getting to worship not just in the sense of like reading his word and like you know, praying and music and stuff, but like worshiping like his creation and stuff like that. I think has just been so cool to like see that. I don't know if that makes sense.

SPEAKER_01 56:32

No, it does, it does.

SPEAKER_05 56:33

Yeah, no, and I would have to agree. Um, I think with the more like literal like term of worship, like we were able to go to a Khamae speaking um church service, and I think even then just to sit amongst other believers who I may not be able to communicate with, but we are all there for the same reason to worship our Lord and Savior, like I think I think that just allowed me to just sit back and just like say thank you. Like, um, I I think that was just a really big thing of just like I said earlier, heart posture of gratitude, but just um getting to see tangibly, um I think with a lot of what you were saying about community, but getting to worship uh with and amongst others who um don't look the same, don't talk the same. Um it's just it was something so special. And then um we also got to go to an English-speaking um church service and um getting to do praise and worship just together, like some of the teachers, some of the girls in our group, um, they all led worship together, and it was just so sweet. And um, I just am just gonna forever remember um that uh church service, and so I uh yeah, I think that just really it just allowed me to say like thank you, Lord, for that opportunity.

SPEAKER_03 58:07

And so, yeah, and that just kind of like reminds me of just like we are one body in Christ. Um, I think it's so amazing that like the Lord meets us where we're at, and you know, we went to a church service where we didn't understand anything that was being said, but we were able, I mean, for me personally, like I very much felt the Lord's presence in that church service, even though I didn't know what the preacher was seeing, but like because I was like with like God's people and the Holy Spirit was just present, like I I did feel like close to the Lord during that, and I was able to just like be in prayer during it, um, and just like I think that was so special that like there's people that don't even speak our language, but God speaks to them still, and God speaks to us still, and God knows all the languages and He created those languages, and so that was just so special to me, and I've experienced that in different countries of like those people hear God and they they understand like the gospel, and so it makes me just like excited. It's a taste of heaven. Um when we went to the English-speaking service, there was like a lot of missionaries there from different countries all over, and so it was just like a little taste of what heaven's gonna be like with like all the tribes in the nation.

SPEAKER_04 59:29

Yeah, what was it? Did I say Revelation 7, 9? I think it would be.

SPEAKER_00 59:39

Don't be me to that, by the way. Which I'll get there in a little bit, but yeah.

SPEAKER_05 59:46

And just like like you said, with the excitement, getting to see like how the Lord is working, like let alone in Cambodia, like without you know, you know, without us there, just like getting to see that a glimpse of how he truly is working 24-7 there. Um, we got to meet some of like I think we got to meet a missionary in Phnom Penh, which was the capital, and um, and she kind of just showed us around um the area, and it was just super sweet, and just to see that, like um got a lot of people. Seeing what her ministry like field looked like, and um yeah, yeah, it it can be discouraging going to a country where like Christianity is the minority.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:32

Um Avery and I were talking about at dinner, like you can go like just a mile down the road, and you're gonna see multiple churches along your way. And I mean, part of it might be because we're in like the Bible belt, yeah, but also like it's just not uncommon to see a church here. And in Cambodia, the equivalent of that is Buddhist temples. You just see a lot of Buddhist temples, and so it can be quite discouraging going to a country like that and being like, is God even like moving here? Which obviously that's a that's a dumb question. The Lord's always moving, but like it can be very discouraging of like you know what's happening here. Like, everyone here is Buddhist, it seems, but then you get to see those glimpses of like the Lord's goodness and how he is moving, and there is missionaries there, and there also is Cambodian people that have like professed the Lord as their savior, and like they are ministering to those people. I mean, we just went for two weeks, so obviously, you know, we just saw like a glimpse of what he's doing, but like he is moving in that country, and he's answering prayers. He's answering prayers, and there's people like now back in Missouri that are praying for this nation, yeah. Um, and people who have supported us who we've gotten to share stories of who are now praying for this nation, and so I think um going to that country and just I don't know about Avery, but I did feel like a little discouraged at first of like you know, like I mean that was also a culture shock just because Christianity, I mean, is still kind of prevalent prevalent in America and it's not as uncommon as it is in Cambodia, and so I think going there and still seeing that the Lord is moving was so encouraging, but it also humbled me a lot of like I don't even know like the depths of it. Yeah, yeah. I I'm just a human, like I can only see with my two eyes, and that like God, He knows everything, and He is all powerful and all-knowing, and He is moving, and so I think that's something to get excited about, um, for sure.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:36

Yeah, that's awesome. Thank you both for sharing that perspective because I know when I hear that it just makes me want to just value God even more for the fact that we even get a chance to know Him. We get to hear His Word preached in our pulpits, we get to hear His word sang in our congregations, and we get a chance to share His good news with people here. Whereas in countries like Cambodia, I mean, you do have, like you just said, missionaries there. You get to hear believers share the gospel, hear the Bible being preached, worship being sung in a different language, but the fact that we're all united as one body in Christ, and we'll get to worship God forever in heaven, which Revelation 7.9 says this. After these things I looked and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation, and all tribes and peoples and tongues standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and tall branches were in their hands, and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God, who sits on the throne and to the Lamb, and all angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worship God, saying, Amen. Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God for ever and ever. Amen.

SPEAKER_05 1:04:06

It's gonna be a party, y'all. It's gonna be a big time party.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:09

And so, with all sorts of different languages being sung, and so I know this gets me fired up to just continue just to praise the Lord in this season in many ways. Just enjoy God for who he is, and you kind of already answered a little bit of how this trip has caused you to enjoy God more. It's just having that perspective, like you just said, like just seeing how other cultures interact with God has caused you both to just increase your enjoyment of God more. That's awesome. Thanks for sharing that. All right, we're getting ready to wrap up here. And so, Avery, you're in college and then Brooklyn, you're college-aged. What would you say to the college-aged person who wants to travel overseas on a mission trip?

SPEAKER_03 1:04:59

Go. Uh yeah. I mean, if the Lord is providing like the opportunity, I would say go.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:07

Um, I think we like if you're like, you know, really wondering, like, should I go off? I mean, it doesn't have to be like you move there. Like, there are short-term missions trips that you can go on. I mean, ours was just two weeks, but like you can go on ones that are a month-long, or there's so many different opportunities. But I would really just like challenge you to just meditate and reflect on the Great Commission, which is Matthew 28, 16 through 20. And it's it's the one where it's talking about how um Jesus says, Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you, and surely I'm with you always to the very end of the age. Um, that's not like really a suggestion, that's more of like a commandment of like go. Yeah, um, it doesn't always have to mean going to a different country. I mean, you can do that right where you're at on your college campus or at your workplace or even in your like homes. Like the Lord doesn't necessarily mean like you have to go to a different country, but I think it's important that you meditate on those verses and you really just ask the Lord what that means in your life. And if He's opening doors to go, like do it because it will challenge you, it will grow you, but it will be so rewarding, and you're you'll really just get to see the Lord in a different way than you would here. Um, but yeah, I would say do it, go for it.

SPEAKER_05 1:06:36

I 100% agree with everything you just said, yeah. And I mean there. There are so many ways that we can as believers um work here amongst our own community, people that we do life with, um, and just encouraging them well and um serving them and all of that. But um yeah, I definitely say if you have the opportunity, um pray about it, but yeah, um take it into serious consideration because the Lord will he'll really give you a glimpse of just um what heaven's going to look like. Yeah. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:17

Amen. And dear listener, I I have resources that I can give to you if you want to be able to go on overseas mission trips. So there's many ways you can go. First and foremost, I would ask your local church if there's any opportunities that they offer. Um, there's also organizations like One Link, there's also organizations like Pioneers and Navigators, crew that offer short-term summer mission trips overseas. You can talk to any of them about potential overseas mission trips opportunities, and then just pray. Like they both both were saying, pray about that opportunity. And I know like some people are thinking, how much is it gonna cost? And trust that to the world, support you.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:03

Yeah, there is people that like the Lord will put on their heart to support you, whether it's in prayer, financially. Yes, I mean that was something that I stressed about. Yeah, about I was like, should I go? Like money, I mean, like, I don't know if I can support it, but the Lord was really faithful and he provides, and that's what the church is for.

SPEAKER_05 1:08:24

Like it is all a part of going, sending and um prayerfully um just encouraging one another. Um I think all encompasses um our idea of what it means to um to go. Um and also another thing that I thought of um for those who are on college campuses is um really getting involved with your um uh multicultural center and getting to know those people on campus who um are international students and um just inviting them into your home. Um I can't remember what the statistic is, and Joey might be able to help me out, but um, I think it's like 80% of international students never get the opportunity to step into an American home. And that just that amazes me. Um I it just saddens me as well. Um so um just prayerfully, if you're living on campus, off campus, asking the Lord to open up your home in any way that He can to invite those in so that they get to um know us and we get to intentionally know them. Um and so yeah, really just diving deep into those international students and um serving them in any way that you can.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:50

And also just really, you know, asking the Lord, what does it mean to live on mission? Like what does that look like personally in your life? Um, because it it can mean you mean you can live on mission when you're home. Like you don't have to go. And I think that's something that Joey, you do such a great job of living on mission here. Um, and I really just admire that about you of like how you're in your home and you know, you're not being called right now to like go to a foreign country, but you're still just like living on mission and investing on in people's lives, and so very encouraged by that. Yeah, thank you. So you don't have to go to be on mission and right, yeah. Um yeah, I I think that's the biggest thing of just take up like advantage of the opportunities wherever you are, and Lord willing, God will call you to go somewhere. Yeah, but if not, that doesn't mean you're done. Like you still you can still live on mission a little bit.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:47

Exactly. Amen. I'm glad that you actually answered the next question. Does anyone need to travel overseas on a mission trip to please God? Because there's this stigma that people think they have to go overseas in order to live on mission when you don't have to, if the Lord hasn't called you to go. Um you can do mission just where you're at. That's why season two was created, because I want to show you, dear listener, that in any capacity, if you work, like I said, if you work in a restaurant, if you're a married couple, if you're a computer programmer, a lawyer, entrepreneur, teenager, engineer, whatever it is, like the Lord has called you to go share the gospel and be intentional with people in your spirit influence because God wants to use you to proclaim his word. You don't have to be a qualified person like an academic scholar or missionary or theologian, which we need those people. Yes, we do, but he wants to use you as his redeemed child to go share his word. And what qualifies you is that you're in, that you have the inheritance of the saints and light, like it says in Colossians 1:15. Like that is what qualifies you, that you're in Christ. Nothing else needs to qualify you. And so I love that you both said that, and thank you for sharing that. And so here's my last question for you two. How can a college-age person stay tethered to Jesus right now? Does a college-aged person need to take a mission trip to grow in their love and enjoyment of the Lord?

SPEAKER_03 1:12:35

Well, I don't know. Like, I'm not in college, but I am college-aged. Um and so for me, I just stayed tethered by like staying in his word, um, being in community with people, and um just really asking the Lord to show me you know, like what he's trying to teach me. Yeah. Um, how do you how do you do that? Like being in school.

SPEAKER_05 1:13:05

I think a lot of what you're saying, just um abiding in his word, living amongst um the biblical community, and if you're struggling to find biblical community right now, like don't give up, don't be discouraged. Um, the Lord desires for you to be in that, and if you're seeking that, you will find it. Um, reach out, ask questions. Um and um I also encourage just being um discipled by someone as well. Um, I think it can be very important to help um when you're wrestling with anything, um going to someone who has maybe walked through that as well, um, and having those questions, diving in deep into the word um and answering those questions together because they're not gonna have the answers, but the Lord does. Um and so yeah, and I think to answer the second question, um I don't think you need to take a missions trip to grow in your love and enjoyment of the Lord, just because I mean, especially in America, we are so blessed to live amongst the nations. Um we ha live in a very diverse culture, yeah. And so the nations could be our next door neighbor. Um, and so I think I mean, yes, it can grow your love and enjoyment for the Lord, um, but it's not the only.

SPEAKER_03 1:14:32

Yeah, exactly. I would 100% agree with what you said. Like obviously the Lord will use that to grow your love, um, but it's it's not the only means of growing your love, and you know, if you don't feel like the nations are near you, I'd encourage you to look for them because they are. Um and so I think also college campuses are just um filled with so many of the different nations because of the international students, and so if you're by a college campus, chances are you are by different nations, and so um sometimes you you have to go looking for it, but it is there, and um it's just I think so sweet how the nations are coming to us. Sometimes um we aren't always able to go to the nations, and the fact that the Lord is bringing them to us is just I think very sweet. Um, but yeah, I would say just like finding community, being in discipleship. Um and if you don't like know what that looks like, talk to someone at your church or someone in like a campus ministry. I mean, they're there for you, yeah, they're there for that. Um and then also just like the Bible is like our lifeline to God, like he speaks to us through his word, and so um by being in his word, we're able to like recognize when he is speaking to us, and um that's just like what we should go back to. Amen. And yeah, um, so I would say just like a mixture of those things is how you can stay tethered to Jesus.

SPEAKER_00 1:16:10

Yeah, amen, amen. Well, thank you both for sharing wisdom there, and I just want to conclude with this. Um, if you're listening to this, yes, mission trips can help you gain a bigger perspective of God's heart for the nations, and you see this theme repeated throughout scripture that God has a heart for the nation. It starts from when he created the world, when he gave the Abrahamic covenant that all nations of the earth will be blessed through him. God has always had a heart for the nations. But for you, dear listener, it all begins with just recognizing that you need God in your daily life. Take time to invest in your relationship with the Lord by just understanding how much you need him. And what's most important, that God wants you. And that's what the confusion is. Like, it's easy to forget that God wants you, not because of anything that you've done, it's because you can't do anything. It's because he chose to make a plan to redeem you from your sinful state and to bring you back into an abiding relationship with him because of what Christ has done for you. And that was his predestined plan from the beginning, is to redeem you. And so I just want to remind you that that's what causes you to grow in your love for the Lord. Let that be. But also foster a heart for the nations because God wants to save all people, not just select people, but all people. That was his divine plan from the beginning, ever since he created the world. And so you mentioned that Cambodia, Brooklyn, was a land of lush, green beauty. And something that I just want to conclude with is this. So in Revelation 22, it talks about what it's gonna be like when we're forever in the kingdom of God. And this is what it says. Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, burying twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month, and leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. There will be no longer any curse, and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his bondservants will serve him, they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no longer any night, and they will have not have need of the light of the lamp, nor of the light of the sun. And I'm sorry, I'm a little stuck here. Because the Lord God will illuminate them, and they will reign forever and ever. And in this place is a place where God promises to wipe away every tear, to take away every sort of suffering. And in this midst of people, is people from all tribes, tongues, and nations, those who speak, Spanish, Japanese, or to do Arabic, we can keep going, Russian, Ukrainian. That is who the Lord is gonna have in this midst of people. And there are people who are waiting to hear the gospel in those nations. And listener, he wants to use you to do that. And it all begins right where you live, whether that's in America or somewhere else, he wants to use you to proclaim his message of saving faith, that people can be reconciled to a holy, loving God. And so, yeah, that's just what I want to conclude with. I mean, you described Cambodia like the Garden of Eden, and then at the end it's gonna be the Garden of Eden restored.

SPEAKER_02 1:20:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:20:09

And that is what I want people to come to experience this forever. Being with God and that. And so thank you both for coming out to the podcast to share about your trip to Cambodia. I really loved hearing everything you got to experience, and you two are dear friends of mine, and I'm really grateful to be your friend. And again, just thank you again for taking time out of your day to share about those experiences. Do you both have any final thoughts um that you want to share?

SPEAKER_03 1:20:39

No, I think that pretty much covered it. Um, I think we're very thankful and grateful um for your friendship and that you're just asked us to be on this podcast.

SPEAKER_00 1:20:51

Absolutely. And then on the next episode, dear listener, it's actually gonna be a surprise. And so I'm gonna leave that with you. It's up to you to figure out who I'm gonna be interviewing next because as of right now, there is no one on the queue, but by the time you listen to this, you might be able to figure out who it is that's gonna be speaking next. So I'm just gonna leave that for you to figure out for yourself. So thank you for tuning in to Tether, and we will see you next time. God bless and have a wonderful day.