I, Chris Baugh, went on a mission trip this past summer to Butan City, Philippines. Teams of nine from Arkansas and six from Alabama went to work on a construction project to build a ministry center in the Agusan River valley. The ministry center was being built for the Agusan River Valley Association. It was in connection with the BOOST program which is sponsored by the Lottie Moon and IMB. The BOOST is an agriculture and ministry training center. They teach people from the surrounding villages and even surrounding countries how to grow food on very little money or no money at all. They also train certain people from the tribes that feel a call to ministry how to be ministers, and church planters in the villages. As we built the center we had pastors from the local churches in the area and even just people from other villages that helped us out. When we first got to the site it was a long way from being finished. The only thing standing when we arrived was a foundation and a frame of a roof. In five days we had the four outside walls up and the inner walls and electricity ran to the two rooms. During the five days I learned numerous things. For instance, I learned how the native live, work and depend on one another. It helped me understand that there are more important things in the world than just earthly possessions. The entire trip was awesome! Everyone that went came back saying that God had spoken to them in some way, fashion, or form. Well, God spoke to me this summer as well. But it was two and a half weeks later. I was at church camp as a chaperone when God made me realize that for the four previous years I had been living a lie. I went forward and accepted Christ for the first time. It was the hardest thing that I had ever done in my life, but it was the most incredible thing I have ever done in my life! ~*Chris Baugh*~

I, Brandon McDaniel am a college student at SAU Tech. I had the chance to go on a mission trip to Mexico over the summer and it was a blast. I went with a church group from Springdale. I enjoyed the time I spent down there with the people of Mexico. We had a few ups and downs. I would like to share a story with you about something that happened to me on this mission. As we were ministering to people this one BIG man came up right when we asked for all of the kids to come forward if they wanted to ask Jesus to come into their hearts. He was saying a lot of bad things about God and he scared a few of the kids away. As I was handing out toys for the kids and some tracts he came up to me trying to get all of the tracts that I had. But I only gave him one for himself. He held out his hand to tell me that he wanted the rest of them along with saying he was going to cut me and some other things like that in Spanish from what the people in my group told me. So I just looked at him and shook his hand. He jerked his hand back looked at me and walked away. Some of the others from my group tried talking to him but I don’t know if it did any good but I hope he opened up his heart and asked Jesus to forgive him and come into his heart. Please pray for this man and his salvation. Some of the other exciting things I experienced were meeting the kids that came to see the puppet shows and plays that we performed in the middle of town. We played a few movies at night talking about God, along with church service and had the chance to see people come and ask God to come into their hearts. Like I said it was an AWESOME trip! I got the chance to see God move in his own mighty way. Even though I came home and was sick for about a month afterwards (when they say don’t drink the water or eat the food, they are serious!) I pray that I will be given the opportunity to go again next year. ~*Brandon McDaniel*~

Stephanie Walker is the one seated on the far left with the American flag.
I, Stephanie Walker, just returned home from what could be called the most exciting and awesome missions’ opportunity of my life. I was chosen 1 of 6 collegiate women in the US to be a part of the first WMU collegiate women’s summer ministry team. Eight of us, including 2 WMU workers, traveled to Athens, Greece to serve during the 2004 Olympics on August 10th-22nd. After 2 long days of flight we arrived in Athens the night of the 11th. At our orientation the next day we discovered that our ministry would be mainly focused on the Greek people. We were to work with the FLAME organization and their program “more than Gold.” Along with ballooning and face painting we would also be ministering to the Greek community through fliers about the “More than Gold” program, and receiving their personal information, i.e. telephone, address, email…I found this to be an amazing thing being that when we were gone the missionaries could follow up on the foundation that we had laid. Most mission trips are over when the team leaves and all that counts are the things said when there, but this was better. The program offers free classes to the citizens of Greece. These classes include parenting, financial help, discussion groups on Christianity, soccer, basketball, and language classes in English, Greek, and Spanish. These cell groups minister to the needs of the people and slowly introduce them to Christ by forming personal relationships. Each morning and afternoon we ministered in different parks and squares around the HUGE city. It is custom that the Greek people nap from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. During this time we found recreation in touring the city and shopping, of course as Christians out ministry never stops. We were able to visit the ancient city of Corinth during our trip. This is an incredible place; the Bible comes to life before your eyes. We walked the same footsteps where Paul ministered both in Corinth and in Athens. Some of the squares and parks we ministered at include Omonia Square, Thissio, Monisterokki, and Kiffissia. At these places we were teamed into pairs. We would present balloon art to people, paint faces, and if they were Greek introduce them to the “More than Gold” program. The incredible thing about out ministry was that all people young and old were eager to except the gifts, and the smiles on each face will fill me with joy for a lifetime. Being that we were there during the time of the Olympics, we had countless opportunities to meet people from many different countries. Everywhere you looked people carried their countries flag with pride. I am sure if we counted; we met and talked with people from 50 different countries, countries I had never even heard of. One night during ministry I was sitting in a large group of people making balloon hats and flowers and conversing with the people around me. The man to my left couldn’t speak good English, as most people we encountered couldn’t, he told me he was from Afghanistan and when I told him I was from America a small sparkle came to his eye. He sat for a moment as if he were gathering his words and looked at me and said in the best English he could “Osama Bin Laden, very bad man, he gone.” He then held my hand and said most sincerely, “You America is my friend and good.” I was startled, and thinking of my friends fighting in Iraq and Baghdad couldn’t find any words to say as the man in his mid-30’s slowly walked away. It was very interesting to discover that as soon as people found out that we were Americans they wanted to be with us and try and talk to us. Our team laughs as we think of the many times people took pictures of us and with us, and bought us stuff just because we were Americans. We were able to see the USA play Australia in softball, and the USA men play Kazakhstan in water polo. Both times the USA won which was thrilling. Once we were inside the Olympics complex and were able to watch the USA men play Greece in basketball on the big screen outside the stadium. We were surrounded by 1500 Greek people and there was us 8 USA women in the big middle. The Greeks laughed at our small cheer squad compared to their large roar as wach team scored. The USA won that game 77 to 71 and the Greek people sadly congratulated us. I could go on and on with stories from this fantastic trip, but the main point is that there were seeds planted in many hearts and foundations made in the Greek community. Although we did not directly see any salvations, I can’t wait to see the fruit of our labor one day when I stand before our Maker. ~*Stephanie Walker*~