FLANNEL PROJECT
By: Elli Armistead (8th grade FSM Student)
Last summer, I had the chance to go on Flannel Project. My experiences there brought me a lot closer to God. From screaming worship sessions late at night in the van to serene devotional moments in the mornings, He was everywhere throughout the trip. However, I felt closest to him when we were ministering to the kids. It was easy to see Him in them, and it was so rewarding to help them learn more about Jesus. I felt God showing up for me when I was crying after leaving the apartment complex for the last time on the trip. It was super hard to leave after all the relationships we’d made there. But God was with me, and he gave me hope–hope that I could come back, and that there would be more chances for mission trips like this one. I started to think that maybe it wasn’t so bad to leave, because of all the great memories I had made.
At the apartment complex that my team worked at, there was one little girl I met that was the highlight of my trip. She was almost 8, and she was funny, smart, and kind. She hung out with me for a lot of the time we were there, and we made a secret handshake. We went around showing everyone, and we would play on the playground together. She also asked me if we could be best friends. She understood the lessons and the Bible very well. On the third and last day, she confessed Jesus as her Savior and took home her own copy of the Bible. When we hugged goodbye, we were both sad, but happy for what she’d decided to do.
GUATEMALA
By: Tori Woo
My name is Tori Woo and I am a member at Fellowship, a 242 leader of an awesome group of sophomore girls, and a middle school teacher here in Williamson County. In June, I had the opportunity to go on the FSM trip to Guatemala. During our week there, our FSM students led VBS style activities for two different groups of Guatemalan students within Orphan Outreach programs. It was wonderful seeing how the high school students stepped into ministry in a different cultural context, sharing their faith and loving others well. During the VBS programs, I had the opportunity to connect with several of the Guatemalan teachers. One conversation that stood out was with one of the teachers, Ruth. She tutors and supports the middle and high school students in Orphan Outreach’s program. During our conversation, Ruth shared with me that sometimes the stories her students share with her about their home lives are heavy and heartbreaking. She talked about how caring for these students can weigh on her long after work ends. We then discussed the importance of bringing the burdens of these children to the Lord, like Psalm 55:22 says. That day in Guatemala, Ruth and I encouraged one another in our callings to love the children and teenagers in front of us well. There are so many things happening in students’ lives that are out of our control as educators (and in other caregiving professions) and the Lord not only is capable of bearing these burdens for us, but He is glad to.
SLOVENIA
This summer, FSM had the joy of heading back to Slovenia for Fusion camp through Josiah Venture. If you haven’t heard about Fusion yet- it’s a relational ministry that uses music and creative arts as a tool. At this camp, we also got to join our global partner, Andrej Lovše and other missionaries in Celje, Slovenia.
Our team was made up of 17 high schoolers and 5 leaders and each person could share a story of what we saw God do in the hearts and lives of Slovenes and our Fellowship team. But today, Li Li Vest (12th grade FSM Student) is going to share about her experience:
“During my 2-week experience in Slovenia, I specifically connected with a 12-year-old girl named Tara. She was very curious, kind, and full of life asking me many questions about my family and friends. Tara was also very willing to learn about Jesus all week, and we talked about our personal experiences we’ve had and our faith journeys. Spending every meal together, I learned that no matter what part of the world you are in, God works in many ways. He gave me a strong friendship that I keep in touch with to this day on WhatsApp. Tara and this global trip have inspired me to strengthen my own personal relationship with Jesus and reach out to those who are in need of knowing him.”
PERU
A Story of Generosity and an Orange
By: Caden Nance (12th grade FSM Student)
I remember one afternoon going to share the gospel at a park near the Comas church where we were staying at in Peru. After dancing in the park my gospel sharing group was having a hard time finding someone to share with. The park was basically empty, so most of the groups went to the market right beside the park, that’s where we ended up. When we went inside, we found this one elderly woman sitting in a seat a little shoe shop. At the time we did not know that her husband was in the shop right next to her, so we came up to her first to share the gospel. When we asked her if she was a Christian or goes to church, she simply said she knows God and believes in him but is too old to go to church, for her body was too frail to make the small journey. I remember as she was sitting there, we were sharing the message with her, and she was trying to peel an orange. When we were finished, we gave her a bracelet and put it on her. After praying for her, we gave her a book that was the story of Jesus in Spanish. I recall after explaining what the little book was, she wanted to give up something for our time with her. Because she had been wanting to read more about Jesus, but she was losing her eyesight. She was so persistent in giving us her orange, because we had given her the book and bracelet. She said she was going to read it to her husband, who at this point was sitting in their shop on the other side, not wanting to hear what we had to say. She was having a hard time peeling her orange, so someone in our group peeled it for her. Then, even more so she was so grateful and thankful for us. She still wanted to gift us something.
It was such a heartwarming thing to see her take the food she was about to eat and try to give it to us. The people of Peru are so kind and generous to one another and even to us, the foreigners. Me on the other hand, feels greedy for not wanting to give my stuff away. And yet she wanted to repay us for the time we spent sharing the gospel with her. That is something I will always remember and is a reminder to me of how much God has given me, and how much I take for granted in the U.S. We are blessed beyond compared to the people in Comas, Peru. But what we must always remember is that we are all blessed by God and called to be generous to one another with what we are given.
