Go Now Missions, a ministry of Baptist General Convention of Texas that mobilizes university students to share the love of Christ around the world, has appointed 100 student missionaries to serve and share the gospel during Christmas break.
“The Christmas season is a unique opportunity to share the gospel,” said Brenda Sanders, Go Now Missions consultant with the Center for Collegiate Ministry. “People are thinking about the gospel more this time of year, and we can tell the real meaning of Christmas.”
A total of 11 teams will serve for various lengths of time between Dec. 10 through early January. Students use their time off for winter break to go on mission. Some teams will serve in Texas, reaching people locally in Arlington, Houston, Round Rock and McAllen, while other teams will serve nationally and internationally in Florida, New York, Jamaica, North Africa and South Asia.
Students will serve in a variety of ways, like assisting with outreach and ministry programs, building homes and beds for those in need, and sharing the gospel with people from around the globe.
“For many students, [these trips] are the first time they actually share the gospel,” Sanders said. “So many times I see them come back and realize if they can do it in this other place, they can do it here where they live … They become disciples that make disciples.”
Go Now Missions has been commissioning student missionaries since 1946, and they have sent Christmas missionaries since 2003. In total, 13,455 student missionaries — including those who will serve this winter — have been sent around the globe since the beginning of Go Now.
Knowing God even more
Abigail* from Highlander Baptist Student Ministries at McLennan Community College in Waco has served on several missions throughout Texas, as well as three times internationally.
“[On a prior trip] I learned that having the heart of Christ means dealing with a broken heart sometimes,” she shared. “It means feeling sorrow when people choose to reject God … It means feeling sorrow when His children are hurt.”
This year, Abigail will be serving in South Asia.
“I want every person to hear and know the gospel, and I believe that sharing this with people across the world will help me tremendously in sharing back home. I am looking forward to having my beliefs challenged so that I can know God even more and know efficient ways to share who He is,” she said.
Supporting Christmas missionaries
Students work to raise a majority of the funds needed to go on mission by enlisting Partners in Mission and through other fundraising efforts. Their trips are also funded in part through local churches that support BSM, the Mary Hill Davis Offering for Texas Missions and the Texas Baptist Missions Foundation.
School supplies and clothing are also being gathered by the team that will serve in Jamaica. The materials will be distributed while on mission in that country.
“Ultimately, our heart and goal is that students have the opportunity to meet a physical need and verbally share the gospel,” said Sanders. “That is the goal in everything we do.”
To learn more about Go Now Missions, click here.
*Name changed for student safety.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Meredith Poe and originally published by Texas Baptists.
