I’m Serena and I went on a mission trip with GMMA to Honduras. I just want to preface where I stood in my faith and where my heart was before this mission trip.

I struggled a lot with my faith and felt like there was this disconnect between me and God. Any time I would read the bible, nothing would really speak to me. I distanced myself from the church and from my community so when I started college, I felt alone. I was going through struggles with my identity, and what I wanted to do in my career. I was working part-time while being a full-time student so that heavily affected my social life. Not once did I turn to God. I had thought I could fight this battle on my own because it was somewhat in my control. 

Around a year ago, things changed, my family went through a lot and recently my parents decided to divorce. This was a battle I had little to no control over. The process took a toll on my mother’s mental and physical health. Yet she was so committed to fasting and prayer every single day. She gave her battle and hurt and pain to God and he gave her that peace and that rest. So here is the strongest, independent woman I know depending so much on this intangible being. I had questioned her about it and she had told me that despite her broken marriage, God had blessed her with us and that he had remained faithful in her life. So naturally I became more curious about God and decided to do discipleship with a member of L&F. 

I was told about the GMMA mission trip one day, so I submitted the application. And I went into panic mode. I barely know the gospel myself, how can I expect to share it with someone else? However, it was required that we commit to daily QTs and weekly training sessions to further prepare us for the trip. And honestly, I am super grateful for it because it was so wonderful to see how people approached the Word differently. Throughout the training, members would open up and just be super vulnerable with each other. And I appreciate having that accountability and developing that spiritual discipline over the 8 weeks. 

We visited one of Missionary Lee’s schools in the mountains where the people do not have access to medical care. We participated in doing public health presentations in order to educate children on various subjects and then we also opened the clinic up there. And it would be a kind of rotation where patients would get dental screenings and then rotate to physical check-ups. And here is where I just see God working in the hearts of everyone, especially the doctors and nurses there. I witnessed them joyfully serving the people in Honduras and praying over them if they needed it. Not only did they display traits of a good doctor, but of a Christian as well. 

Our groups rotated the next day, so we were doing VBS this time. I expected the kids to be timid at first, but they were so excited to dance with us and participate in games. God was just so evident in this village and the hearts of everyone there. 

Before going to the villages, we would have fellowship where our mentors would deliver a message. Here is where I felt so much connection with the team because we would just worship and pray for hours past midnight. Even though I had felt like the outlier here struggling with faith, there were others on the team that felt the same way.

That disconnect I had felt before withdrew and I could feel him

 transforming not only my heart but other members’ hearts too. 

There was so much healing and transformation that some members decided to get baptized as well. 

All in all, I am just so grateful for the healthy leadership God had provided for this mission trip. They committed to the Word, waking up every morning at 5 AM to pray, being there past 2 AM to pray for us, and delivering messages about finding our identity in Christ. And I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to go on this trip! There were so many great experiences and so many friendships formed!