Parents on Faith, Fear and Funding a Gap Year (Part 2)

What if the bravest thing a parent can do is step back so their child can step forward? We sit down with moms and dads who watched their kids trade comfort for a year of service overseas—and came home with something no classroom could teach: confident maturity. The stories start raw and real: a post-Christmas visit where a daughter clung to independence, a dad enforcing guardrails in high school, a son too introverted to share much. Then the turn—values chosen rather than imposed, language learned on the fly, and a growing eagerness to lead, invite, and serve.

Across these moments, a pattern emerges. Distance didn’t fracture families; it refined them. Parents describe the slow confirmations that this path was right: modesty embraced without pressure, deeper faith that anchors decisions, and a quiet courage that sticks through college, marriage, and new parenthood. One father’s plan for self-reliance—oil changes, tire changes, driving stick—became the foundation for a new kind of resilience when his daughter followed a call to ministry, multiplying student impact in every city they’ve lived.

We also get practical for families on the fence. Anxiety is normal. Unknowns are real. But the counsel here is steady: let your child be obedient and trust God with the outcomes. A nine-month gap year can compress years of growth—cultural agility, empathy, problem-solving, spiritual depth—while widening their world far beyond grades and resumes. And the effect doesn’t stop at one student; siblings notice the change, communities are served, and conversations abroad plant seeds that bloom later.

Fifteen years in, with over 600 students sent and a bold aim to reach 10,000, the ripple is more like multiplication than addition. That’s why this conversation carries both gravity and hope: you can protect your child without controlling their story, and sometimes the safest place is exactly where purpose meets risk. If this resonates, subscribe, share with a parent who needs it, and leave a review with your biggest question—we’ll address it in a future episode.

Transcript

How Relationships Shifted

SPEAKER_04 0:08

I'm just gonna shift a little bit just to the relationship piece and how that changed for you guys. Um if it changed and how it changed, like your relationship, you know, with your sons or daughter throughout the year. Like what was some things that you saw change um relationally for for you guys? If it did at all.

SPEAKER_06 0:37

You gotta say it.

Independence And A Hard Visit

SPEAKER_02 0:40

I just remember when she got there, she was so happy and I was home struggling, but she was thriving. And um we planned to go see her after, right after Christmas, because I told him I said I can't get through Christmas unless I go right after. And um, so when we went down to see her for Christmas, um I guess it was a transitional period for her because when I got there, she was clinging to her independence. So she shunned me a little bit when I first got there. And I still tease her now, you know, she's 31 and I'm teasing her. You were so mean to me when I came to El Salvador. But I think that was her being able to grow up, really, because we were pretty tight. Yeah. Um and then I remember um when we got home, I thought, she's never coming back home. You know, but um but the the Lord turned her heart when it was time to come home. And she was so excited and ready to come home, and um it it it strengthened her as a young woman, really. It did.

SPEAKER_06 1:56

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 1:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:58

When she was in high school, uh, and she was a cheerleader, so we always had people at the house. Um, and Lane's bedroom was upstairs, and they'd be going to a movie or whatever. So I'd watch them come down the steps and and literally walk over to the door and I'd ask her where she was going, and she would say, You know, we're going to see a movie. And then she would put her hand on the doorknob, and I would just say, Hang on, not dress like that, you're not.

Modesty, Maturity, And Dad’s Guardrails

SPEAKER_06 2:28

But later after high school, after gap year, and then when she's um, she was actually the youngest intern to ever be hired at first Bath Swiss talk. Wow. Yeah. But um, you know, then you would see her in a pair of shorts that were down to her knees. You know, so it's just the that's just a God thing. Yeah. You know, it's maturity, it is, but it's still a God thing. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 2:58

Yeah, as a dad, that's pretty comforting. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:01

And now she's appreciative of the modesty that he tried to instill in her. Um, whereas I was clueless, I was like, Yeah, those look cute. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 3:12

Oh man, he's like, no, no, yeah, not happening.

SPEAKER_04 3:16

Yeah. As a dad with your daughters, it's it's different for sure. Yeah.

Sons Find Their Voices

SPEAKER_04 3:22

What about you guys with the relationship with Sam now with I mean Gus is still there, but um, how is that changed at all?

SPEAKER_05 3:33

Have you seen that change as they've matured or um I've seen Gus come a little more uh uh talkative, a little more apt to share his stories with us than he when he was in high school. Yeah. Um he seems eager more, eager to tell us what's going on and happy to share how he's influenced and what he's doing, what he's able to accomplish and see over there. So I can see that um enthusiasm in him. That's cool. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:09

Um yeah, same with Gus. He's always been super introverted.

Confident Maturity After Returning

SPEAKER_00 4:14

So this has been a great experience for him. Yeah. Um, but with Sam last year, I would say the biggest thing I didn't notice nothing, no, no big change. Like we were always pretty close and remained like that. But what I will say I noticed when he got back, there was just a maturity about him. A confidence, a different, different Sam, more mature, more confident, more sure of himself. Um, he grew a lot that year in many ways.

SPEAKER_03 4:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:46

I mean, that's that was the thing that stuff stuck out to me, is just that that growing and um confident maturity. Yeah, confident maturity.

SPEAKER_04 4:54

So yeah. I was just about to ask that what changed the most in them.

SPEAKER_00 4:58

That was it for Sam, was that that I saw.

SPEAKER_04 5:01

Yeah,

Leaving People-Pleasing Behind

SPEAKER_04 5:02

yeah.

SPEAKER_02 5:02

And for Lane and I know hers was huge because when she left, it was kind of annoying, but she was on the heels of that stage in, I guess, some young girls' lives where they're so consumed with what everybody else thinks of them. I mean, she was so just needy for friendships, approval, acceptance, kind of in all the not so healthy places. Yeah. And um, and it it was one of the best things that could have happened for her. I can't even imagine that type of mindset going to a college setting. Yeah, would not have been good.

SPEAKER_03 5:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 5:46

Um, but you know, like they said she came back with what I would call like a God confidence from that point forward. Yeah, it was very, very good for her.

SPEAKER_06 5:59

That's awesome.

Was It The Right Move

SPEAKER_06 6:00

She actually got mad at us because we she would she wanted to go to Georgia. And uh she says, Well, you you you know, I can't go there, but she let our brother, our brother, go there. And the answer to that was, yeah, we messed up. Yeah, we messed up, and um, you're not going there.

SPEAKER_02 6:18

That's the protective father coming out.

SPEAKER_06 6:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 6:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 6:25

Wow, yeah. Wow. Well, was there a moment uh during the year, and maybe you've shared, you've probably shared a couple, but was there any specific moments during the year where you felt like okay, this was the right move, this was the right decision for them.

SPEAKER_02 6:56

I think during the process, I don't know that I felt it. But now where she is in life, yeah, I don't know for a fact it was.

SPEAKER_06 7:05

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I wouldn't know where she would be right now if she had a gun. That's pretty amazing.

SPEAKER_02 7:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 7:15

That statement is.

SPEAKER_02 7:16

She loves the Lord and she's raising a cute little squishy baby right now.

SPEAKER_06 7:22

It's a good thing. Yeah. But not even not even just that, but but it's just the the godly wife and the mom. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_04 7:45

What about for you guys?

SPEAKER_05 7:48

The point at which we saw a difference.

SPEAKER_04 7:51

Well, yeah, uh just a moment where you felt like this was the right decision, you know, for them.

SPEAKER_05 8:02

I can't remember a specific moment. Yeah. Um I never felt it was uh the bad move from the time he told me that he wanted to go on a mission trip. I thought it was a good move.

SPEAKER_03 8:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 8:16

Um so it wasn't it wasn't a a 180.

Confirmation Through Service And Sacrifice

SPEAKER_05 8:20

So from the beginning, you were like, Yeah, this is this is it. This is good. It's good it's can only be good if God's in it. It's only it can only be good. That's great. Um so I don't know if I had a a a turnaround 180. Yeah. But I it was more um uh confirmation that my that the that was the right move for him to make as I saw him progress through the year and start seeing him picking up the language and his enthusiasm for I d this he I remember there's last year he had this, he was really enthusiastic. He met this friend, and um he was a teacher over there, and he was really trying to get his friend to go over with with them to a Christian conference. Yeah, and it cost a hundred dollars, whatever it was, money, and his friend only made seven dollars a day or something, which was normal for but yeah, but he really I remember he was really going out of his way to do everything he could to get his this guy to come with him because he he wanted he really felt this guy needed it, and I just saw his dedication to getting this other person he had just met to sacrifice to get him to go with him, and I that's cool, yeah. I was this is this is something he really believes in. This is this is good.

SPEAKER_03 9:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 9:35

So one of the one of the times I remember confirmation that this is the right move for him to make.

SPEAKER_04 9:42

Yeah, yeah. Absolutely.

Advice To Hesitant Parents

SPEAKER_04 9:45

Um well, you know, we're gonna close with this question, and I mean we can you know hit anything maybe that we've missed, but if you were, you know, sitting across from a parent that may be hesitant, um you know, right now, what would you tell them?

SPEAKER_05 10:16

If God's in it, it it it can't be it can't be bad. If if God is in this, it it's it's gonna be better than anything you could have thought of.

SPEAKER_04 10:25

So um that's such a powerful statement, yeah. But it's like there's when all the you know, when you're going through when the fear and the anxiety and the real emotions of like letting go as a parent, and someone says, you know, God is in it, which is it's so powerful and it's so true. And if we all just believe, you know, it's like if we all just believe that fully, you know, I mean, everything would be right, you know.

SPEAKER_05 10:57

Yeah, it's like the man who was healed by Jesus, and he came to the Pharisee and said, Why don't you condemn this guy and tell this guy Jesus? I don't know how this happened. This is but it happened. It's yeah, what it what if God is in this, how are we gonna stop this? These people, we're not gonna be able to stop these people from proclaiming Jesus. Yeah. If God is in it, it's going to be good. And it that's why I felt this if God is in this, it's you can't stop this. Just to trust that. Yeah. Yeah. As a parent, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:22

I would encourage a parent to uh, yes, do it, let them do it. Um, because I was nervous too.

SPEAKER_04 11:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:32

But I've seen the amazing things that one Sam has gotten to experience, the ministry he's gotten to participate in, the just just so many things, just the the culture he got to experience, just a life-changing nine months.

SPEAKER_03 11:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:53

Um, that I would not, I would feel terrible having said no.

SPEAKER_03 11:59

Yeah.

Parents As Gatekeepers Or Guides

SPEAKER_00 12:00

You know, to deny him that experience. Um, yeah, you're you're kind of anxious about it at first, but it's so amazing at the end. So that's what I would encourage a parent on kind of on the edge thinking, what am I doing? Like, do it. Yeah, let him do it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 12:18

You know, we have a lot of parents that it's like they they'll say, you know, if I man, if I could go back, I would totally do this, you know. Yes. But when it comes to their kid doing it, it's like, you know, it's a whole other thing. Yeah, it's a whole different experience. And I mean, you know, like I said, I have young kids, and it's like I don't know how I'm gonna feel, but I know what I've experienced, you know, through it. And I know what God did for me. And I hope when that day comes, if they choose to do that, that I'll be able to, you know, like what you said, if God is in it, just surrender that and trust that um, you know, they'll get to experience something miraculous and something that almost can't be experienced outside of just, you know, uh diving in and doing it, you know. So what would you what's something you guys would say to parents that may be hesitant or scared or anxious?

SPEAKER_01 13:25

I would have said allow your child to be obedient and trust God.

SPEAKER_06 13:35

That's good. You know, we have a we have a granddaughter now, her daughter. And I don't know who, you know, at some point in time when she's 18, so 18 years from now, I don't know who's gonna be running Global Year. Maybe, maybe your dad? Maybe you, I don't know. Uh, she'll probably be going. Yeah. Yeah. And I some things in life we miss. Yeah. I'd just say don't miss this.

SPEAKER_03 14:05

Yeah.

unknown 14:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 14:07

That's amazing. Yeah, there, I think there is generational

A Father’s Story And Ministry Path

SPEAKER_04 14:10

impact in this thing. Like they're, I mean, we're getting ready to have our sub our 15-year celebration.

SPEAKER_06 14:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 14:22

And looking back at all the years and all over 600 students, you know, that have been sent. And you just reflect. It's a lot. Isn't it? I mean, you think because it's we talk about this all the time. We we were kind of, you know, trying to wrap our minds around how many gospel conversations have been had, you know, how many people have met Jesus for the first time? Like, we can't, we'll never know, you know, because obviously it's not like you can't calculate that. And not only just like through all these students, like they've had these conversations, and down the road, somebody, you know, they planted the seed and God did something, and it's that could affect somebody's whole. So it's just like the yeah, it's 600 students, but the the eternal impact, you know, of this and the generational thing, not just you know, for like for people like me who have gone, the desire to see my kids go do that, you know, but the the lives that the students touch while they're on the field. It just you can't, you know, you can't wrap your mind around it, you know.

SPEAKER_06 15:41

Even with our own family, because I mean we're so much on the other side of it now, you know. I mean, it's how many years have been for us, right? It's been 12, 13 years, I guess. But um even with her siblings, I think. I think they they saw the lane before she went, and then they saw the lane when she came home. Yeah. There's a difference.

SPEAKER_04 16:06

Yeah. I love your emotion. It's awesome. Well, is there and I say that because I can tell that you you've experienced

Gratitude, Impact, And Big Goals

SPEAKER_04 16:20

something impactful, you know. Like you've seen, you really have seen God do something that has impacted your family, her life, her family's life. It goes, it goes deep, you know. Yeah, you're killing me. Yeah. You're killing me. I love it. It's it's so important for people to get to see that, you know, and and hear that from you. And just because, you know, it does like we as parents can get in the way, you know. And that's a big statement. Yeah, I'm good at that. Yeah, me too. Yeah, me too at that. Yeah. And you said it, you know, like don't keep your kid from like trusting and following God. It's like I think about how that that line that we can, you know, we kind of have to carefully walk of like protecting your kid, guiding your your kid, your son or daughter, but also not getting in the way of what God could do. Like, you know, I you can't really articulate it because it's like, what if you were like, hey, you're not doing this. Yeah, yeah, you know, you're yeah, again, you can't like you can't go back and and do all that, but it's yeah, on the other side of it, you kind of can. You can say, Man, what if I, you know, what if I would have got in the way of them going and experiencing something like that's so life-changing, you know. In the way of what God in their life, right? Yeah, which he can do in other ways. Yeah, I mean, God is God, he's like, yeah, he's infinite, and yeah, you know, we don't the the story in a lot of this is that we don't have as much control as we think we do, you know? It's like God is gonna do what he's gonna do, but we are we do like he has given us the gift of getting to guide and what you guys have stepped into, allowing your kids, and even through fear and hesitation and the unknown, like allowing your kids to go and do what they've done, um, is amazing. I'm excited for parents to get to hear you know what we've talked about. But just the I mean, think about the lives they they touched, you know, while they were on the field, like how amazing that is, and and y'all play such a big part in that, you know.

SPEAKER_06 18:59

And then we're gonna how that changed over for us, because what I wanted for her obviously was to and I'll short backstory if this is okay. Yeah. Um, before Lane could get her driver's license, she had to be able to change her own tire on the car. She had to be able to change her own oil and filter, okay? I'm still in there. And drive and drive a stick. Yeah, I'm still in it. Before I was able to get her license. Okay, so this is like I said, I want to make sure that she didn't have to have anything from a man. She could do it all on her own. Yeah. So after all this, and then she gets, I wanted her to be the top-notch nurse, you know, and and live her life and enjoy and whatever. And then what the the path that I was actually mad at Mario, to be honest with you, because because then he sort of helped change her to ministry. Yeah. Right. I was like, um, yeah, okay. So uh, so then um she um obviously went to school and and um I forgot exactly where her degree is, but it was in in ministry. So now she's a pastor's wife, and they've gone to it's just it just shows what God's hands in it because they've they've gone to Kentucky, they've gone to Arkansas. He's brought them back here right before they had the baby. Yeah. But everywhere they've gone, they've multiplied the student ministry because he's a student pastor. It's it's it's three times what it was in Kentucky. It's two, three times what it was in Arkansas. And it's now double what it was at first past. Who else but him? Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 20:44

It's amazing. Yeah, the impact is unbelievable. Um well just before we you know call it quits, is there anything that um we didn't talk about that you guys wanna talk about or anything we missed or left unsaid?

SPEAKER_06 21:20

This has been really good.

SPEAKER_03 21:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 21:23

I'd just say thank you to Global Year. Yeah, thank you. Thank you for the impact of how many kids you've sent, and pray for those that are gonna go in years to come.

SPEAKER_05 21:37

Yeah. Thank you. Thank you, Google Love, for saving my good from college. Yeah. Yeah. That's probably where he was gonna go. Yeah. And he's may he still may, but I yeah.

SPEAKER_06 21:50

You're welcome.

SPEAKER_04 21:53

Oh man, that's awesome.

SPEAKER_06 21:54

Sooner or later there'll be homeschooling college, right?

SPEAKER_04 21:57

Yeah, that's so good. Um awesome. Well, thank you all for being here and doing this. Um, I think this is gonna mean a lot to a lot of people. Um, and the beautiful thing about getting to do this and record it and all that is that it it's gonna live for a long time beyond us. And our goal and mission is to send 10,000 students, you know. I don't know if we'll see that in our lifetime, you know, but it's a pretty grandiose goal, you know, and it and it feels eternal. Um, you know, and I one cool story was um, you know, one of my dad's longtime friends, you know, kind of had a revelation of like, you know, this 10,000 number, you know, we've, you know, he had, God gave him that vision from the start. And he kind of he called my dad, I was like, hey, you know, this 10,000 number, um, and I, you know, I might botch the story, but essentially it's like um, you know, God kind of gave me vision of that this was like the even the students you sent so far, that this is a multiplication thing, you know, not an addition thing. That God, you know, He may send, we like we may see 10,000 students sent, but the number of people who have come to know Jesus through this, through 600 students, you know, it's probably beyond 10,000. Oh, yeah, yeah. So the fact that God has multiplied and kind of you know, we've seen the fruit of all that. Um but you know, we continue and we press on and and we we're gonna keep doing this and hopefully keep sending a lot of students. And I think this will be a big part of that, you know, this this podcast and your story. So thank you guys. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah, yeah. Thank you for having us. All right, we're out.

SPEAKER_02 24:06

It's a wrap. It's a wrap.

SPEAKER_04 24:08

You always want to say that.