As a graduate of Asbury University (it was still Asbury College at that time), it was exciting for me to see the high level of engagement that still exists around missions on campus.

After setting up our booth for Global Teams and sitting through an orientation with the other missions organizations participating, we attended a student chapel service where the focus of the day was the missions conference. At the end of the service they asked all of the missions organizations to come down front for prayer, and we had the privilege of several Asbury University students pray specifically for us and for the work that Global Teams is doing all over the world.

We encountered all kinds of college students at Asbury University during the day. Some were looking for Spring Break missions experiences, others for an internship to test living in the field before being placed somewhere long-term, and others who wanted to gain experience in their major field while continuing the work of the Gospel in an area that hadn’t heard yet. That was a piece that stood out to some students – going to unreached people groups.

That’s our focus: reaching those who have never heard of Jesus. Global Teams internships are customizable depending on the student’s interests and needs. However, each intern will always work with an unreached people group to share the gospel. Surprisingly, one student from an unreached group in the Middle East showed up at our booth inquiring about Global Teams.

He shared his story of how his father came to faith through the Koran in his home country. He became a believer through the faith and testimony of his father. The country that this student lives in is very against those who follow Jesus, and when word got out that he was leaving his country to come to a Christian college in America he was badly beaten. He escaped his home country and arrived at Asbury just a few months before we met him. He was so encouraged to hear about how Global Teams goes into countries like his and builds bridges from Islam to the Christian faith.

At the end of a long day of great conversations about internships, the heart of Global Teams, and hearing the stories of students who want to invest their lives in the advancement of the Gospel – I crashed into bed feeling hopeful about the possibilities of where Global Teams will lead these students. Maybe the student who escaped his home country will return one day to share the love Christians have for them.

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