During July, three student teams from Palm Beach Atlantic University (PBA) spent their summer serving in South America and Africa. The students navigated cultural barriers and to support local ministries and share the Gospel.
The service trips were led by PBA’s Campus Ministries Global. CM Global’s mission is to equip students to travel abroad, connecting with fellow believers and serving local communities’ spiritual or physical needs. This year, CM Global sent over 200 students on service trips across Asian, European, African, and North and South American countries over spring and summer break.
God Opening Doors
Ten students traveled the Andes Mountains in Peru for over a week to help Wycliffe Bible Translations distribute Bibles in the Quechua languages. The team faced long days hiking steep and rugged terrain and navigating language barriers.
On their last hike, the team prayed God would open doors for them to connect meaningfully with others. The team ended up handing out many Bibles and prayed for people they met on the trail. The students came across a couple where the wife had been struggling with a physical illness, so they comforted and lifted her up in prayer.
“Despite the language barrier, it was evident that the Spirit of God was moving,” said Luke Purvis, a co-leader on the trip.
A Gospel of Their Own
Fifteen students spent 12 days in Guyana with Love Missions Global helping with adult and children’s ministries. The team brought Bibles in the native language of Guyanese Creole and distributed them in multiple villages.
Trip co-leader Alyssa Boone was amazed at how grateful the people were for receiving what for some of them was their first physical copy of the Bible. The excitement and joy of the children who received their own Bibles left a lasting impression on her about the importance of making the Gospel accessible. In one village, the team was invited to a Guyanese church service, where they witnessed the locals celebrating their faith through singing and dancing.
“It was such a joyful moment, and the presence of the Lord was so tangibly evident,” recalled Boone. “Childlike faith was a recurring theme on our trip, so this night was so sweet.”
Hearts with a Mission
In Mozambique, 10 students partnered with Strategic Action Mission (SAM) Ministries to cultivate fellowship with local families and help with children’s ministries. By what co-leader Isabella Knight calls “a miracle of God,” the students left enough Bibles in the Shona language with fathers, pastors, and leaders of the communities they were visiting.
Knowing Mozambique is one of the three African countries where Portuguese is predominantly spoken, Knight made it her personal mission to learn as much of the language as possible beforehand. She spent three weeks living with a missionary in Brazil to learn enough Portuguese to help with Vacation Bible School in Mozambique.
Knight brought her knowledge of basic communication and songs about God’s love in Portuguese to her team and the children of Mozambique. Being able to connect with the children in their own language really helped Knight properly express to every child how much God loves and cares for them.
“We prayed language wouldn’t be a barrier, and God filled in the gap and was our strength within our weaknesses throughout the whole trip!”
In Peru, Guyana, and Mozambique students witnessed the power of God to conquer language and cultural barriers to spread his message. The team returned encouraged and hopeful about future connections with the global Christian community.
To learn more about PBA’s Campus Ministries and CM Global, click here.