How a Short-term Trip Led to Long-term Missions

Walking the dirt streets of a small Latin American village, Molly* had never seen such extreme poverty and lack of gospel presence. How could she, a young high school girl from Dallas*, make an impact here?

She watched her NEXT Trip leaders. They made it look so simple as they shared the gospel and waited for their listeners to respond. They, unlike Molly, seemed to have supernatural courage and trust that Jesus held the power to transform this community. Regardless of the response they received, they kept talking to people about Jesus.

Then it was Molly’s turn.

She’d always wanted to share her faith, but fear gripped her. She opened her mouth and somehow the good news of Jesus flowed despite the terror she felt inside. And by the end of the week, the Holy Spirit began His transforming work in Molly as she witnessed God use her on the mission field.

Molly returned home with a burden for the lost around her. She knew that if she could share the gospel in Mexico, she needed to evangelize in Dallas too.

“I felt uncomfortable being comfortable. I couldn’t just sit stagnant while knowing the need of the world. I felt a burden and responsibility to be a catalyst for the gospel for anyone who didn’t know Jesus."

Years later, this holy unrest continued to grow and Molly met East-West missionaries through her local church. She began spending two nights a week sharing the gospel with their team. That led to a summer on mission among refugees in Europe. That led her to spend eight months learning and practicing evangelism, discipleship, and church planting methods. And that led Molly to raise support to be an East-West missionary. 

Today what God began to stir through her time in Latin America is now being used by Him to mobilize leaders and believers to reach the lost with the gospel of Jesus Christ in Dallas-Fort Worth and beyond.

*Names, photos and locations changed for security reasons.