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So, the summer’s almost over. The time
literally flew by. In all we sent 16 teams to 15 different countries, over 175
students and 50+ leaders on 2, 3, 4, and 5 week trips. The final team came back
last week. We drove out to debrief them ourselves in Mexico. We enjoy every chance we can be on the field with them.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
After Training Camp the first week of
July, we welcomed several teams back every weekend. Our days were full of
handling random issues for the teams on the field, organizing debriefs, and
preparing for next year. This continued until the first week of August, when
all the students were officially “home”.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

Between debriefs we celebrated our
niece, Ashleigh and Jonathan Madrid’s wedding and that of good friends, Ashley
and Seth Simonson. Both beautiful brides, beautiful days!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Right now we are trying to find a way
to sum up all that God did over the summer through our students. So I’ll quote
from Kristen, who is our Administrative assistant for Ambassadors.

 

“There’s no possible way to tell you
everything, about the hundreds who came to Christ in Uganda, the orphans in Haiti
who gathered around our team and prayed for them when the team left for the
States, how the Peru team discipled
local Christians and took them on a missions trip into the jungle to share the
gospel in a remote village, and how the Mexico
5 week team saw God multiply water when they were giving it out on a very hot
day. I could tell you the stories of people who were healed, of the foundations
of a church built in Kenya, the Puerto Rico team that lived in a
woman’s shelter in the mountains of that beautiful island, how the Scotland team went out into Glasgow to
feed the homeless and wrote their own dramas to be used in ministry, and the
group in the Philippines made sure
to tell the little girls something they’ve never heard before: that they are
beautiful and loved by the Almighty God. The Bolivia team found a ministry called Manos de Amor and spent their
days loving on the children there, teaching them about Christ; the Guatemala team prayed for a man who
lost everything in the mudslide and when they asked him if they needed
anything, he only said, “prayer”; our Jamaica team played soccer with blind children in Kingston; and the
DR team met a little girl named
Meraldy who captured their hearts. The Costa
Rica
team worked with a church who served them so profoundly all they could
say was, “we went to serve them, but they taught us the meaning of
servanthood”, the Romania team
got to meet and tell the gypsy king about Christ while being interviewed on
national television, and the students in Nicaragua
went into the dump to meet and share Christ with families who literally live
in, on, and surrounded by trash. There’s no way to tell it all.”

 
In the participants own words, here’s what they said when asked on their trip evaluations the following
questions, here were some of their answers:
 
What
was the biggest impact on you?
seeing people affected by poverty/death, who have joy in spite of it

playing with kids, forming relationships, church ministry, evangelism, etc.

God taught me the power of prayer
leading someone to Christ
seeing God heal people
realizing my own
brokenness
living simply and
realizing how much of my possessions are luxuries
choosing to surrender
hearing God speak to me
for the first time

 

What
was the coolest thing God did?

He saved people!

He healed people! Physically, emotionally and Spiritually!

He gave me the words/courage necessary to minister to people

I saw a depressed city smile

I was in awe of how God worked through me and my team

He broke my heart for those around me

He led our team

He brought groups of people (who spoke different languages) together

He showed me how much I have to be thankful for

He strengthened my relationship with Him

He opened my eyes to what is important

He brought me out of my comfort zone

He showed me what the Body of Christ really looks like

He gave me everlasting joy

He answered prayed

He multiplied things like water, balloons, etc.

He gave me peace

He brought life (when a widow in Haiti gave birth to her child, whose father
died in the earthquake).

 

For more stories from the summer, check
out these links:

http://10pp0630amb3.myadventures.org

http://10ug0630amb4.myadventures.org

http://10ke0616amb4.myadventures.org

http://10pe0616amb4.myadventures.org

http://10gu0616amb2.myadventures.org

 

We are so blessed to do this, to be
able to go out into the nations and be a part of sending others overseas to
share the good news of Christ, to be able to pour into the Church in America as
well through the discipleship ministry of AIM.
 
We realize these are all YOUR fruit – Because of your prayers, because of your encouragement, and because
of your financial support, God has used you to provide for us and give us what we
need in order to live. The above stories are of how God used YOU in the nations… and in the lives
of North American teens in America. Thank you!
 
There are changes ahead that we are excited to tell you about… more later!
 

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