Honoring Parents, Following God: How to Talk About Your Desire to Serve Cross-Culturally
For many young adults, the invitation to missions is both exciting and daunting. The idea of stepping into cross-cultural ministry, serving others, and seeing God at work in new places can light a fire in your heart. But if you grew up in a close family, or even just one where your parents are deeply invested in your life, you might quickly realize that sharing your decision with them could be one of the hardest parts of saying “yes” to God’s invitation.
More Tips on Support Raising
One of the biggest challenges to people joining God’s work is the fear of support raising. Every one of our 300+ Goers has experienced this same fear or at least hesitation towards support raising. We asked some of them what they would want to say to someone feeling daunted by the idea of support raising. So if you’re at all intrigued by the idea of tithing 2 years of your career in God’s global work, then read on for a few of their tips and thoughts before you let a fear of support raising cause you to settle for anything less.
Go Beyond a Gap Year: 5 Reasons to Move Overseas after College
Is the season after college a good time to take a Gap Year? Kinda but not exactly. Instead, consider going beyond a gap year in your first step after college.
The concept of taking a Gap Year after high school to travel, serve and learn by experience is normalized in several parts of Europe. In the last decade or so, it’s jumped the pond, and students and parents alike have warmed to the idea here in the US.
Pete: Engineering in the Middle East
Pete grew up in Austin, Texas and is a University of Texas grad from a family of University of Texas grads. Pete was raised in the church, choosing to follow Jesus at a young age and gradually growing in his faith as he grew in his understanding and knowledge of who Jesus is. Even as a committed believer in college Pete did not have a vision for being a Goer himself, but after working for a year after he graduated he had an early life crisis and God graciously revealed to him how he had made his own plans and the American Dream an idol in his life. After repenting of that He led Pete down a path through various interactions with pastors, roommates, etc. first to considering missions, then to focusing on unreached peoples, and finally to the engineering placement with GoCorps.
Juliana: Public Health Volunteer in Bulgaria
As a senior nursing major, Juliana knew she wanted to use her nursing skills cross-culturally and in a public health setting. She had actually seen another position on GoCorp's website, but it had been filled. However, rather than being deterred, Juliana felt the Lord telling her that He had more for her than she could imagine, and to take baby steps. She was attracted to the Bulgaria placement because of how it mixed her passions for public health and youth development...
Taylor: Anti-Trafficking in Mexico City
Taylor graduated with a degree in Social Work with a minor in Spanish. Though out a lot of her time at school she was interested in the work that Anti-trafficking ministries did and the knew there was great need for more workers. So when Taylor saw a placement that involved that type of ministry as well as allowed her to use my Spanish minor, she knew that this was what God had been preparing her for.
Aaron: Baseball in Italy
Aaron was finishing his bachelor's degree and was planning on going to Physical Therapy school when he changed directions and started looking for missions opportunities. Aaron started exploring through Christian friends and discovered GoCorps! As he talked with his mentor in GoCorps, she told him about a team in Italy who was using baseball to share the gospel. Aaron knew right away this is where he needed to go, as he felt excited about the idea and it aligned well with his interests and giftings.
Bri: Serving Refugees in the Middle East
I am so grateful that this was the way that I started my career. Being stripped of all that I knew and humbling myself to learn a new culture while being the minority and learning a new language taught me so much about life. My experience strategically evangelizing to Muslim people taught me so much about the beauty of other world religions and illuminated the truth of the Gospel more to me.
David: Linguistics Study in the Middle East
Have you heard those miraculous stories of Muslim people coming to faith? David had heard them too, but he did not know he would see God do those amazing things live and in person. Really, He had known for a while that he wanted to go overseas to serve the Lord, but he was not totally sure how his major in Linguistics would play into that goal. But once he saw the opportunity to study Arabic in the Middle East, he was ready to pack his bags. He not only studied Arabic, but he also became fluent and comfortable living and working with his Muslim neighbors. Today, David is using that skill to work with migrant communities in New York City.
