Summer Highlights: Thirst Missions
By Adam Swenson (Director of Alaska Operations) and Ashley Binneboese (Director of England Operations)
July brought many fantastic teams to Alaska, Belize, and England! It’s always a great pleasure to introduce people to the locations that are near and dear to our hearts and see what the Lord does during their weeks. Here is a look at what has been happening with Thirst Missions in July.
Alaska
Christ Triumphant put on an amazing VBS for our partner church Real Life in Palmer. We did an outdoor service on Sunday when the team was here and had a bear wandering the woods on the perimeter. The pastor was packing heat! The team had a great week and took great strides in their fellowship and love for each other and in trusting God.
Dripping Springs UMC came up to do a Vacation Bible School with Awaken Church. Awaken is a great up-and-coming church in Anchorage, but hadn’t yet done a VBS, so this was a first for them. Dripping springs did a fantastic job and the VBS was well-attended with some nonchurchgoing kids from Mountainview neighborhood also in attendance. The team hiked up a big mountain and caught salmon in a creek alongside Turnagain Arm!
Wintergreen Original Free Will Baptist was one of the hardest working teams we have ever seen! They worked at an indoor horse arena, hosted a horse playday (like a rodeo), put in railroad tie steps in a hillside at a local Christian camp, and built horse trails on 50 acres for a cowboy church. They also had a little fun and hiked on a glacier and trekked in the northernmost rainforest in the world.
Belize
July has been a great month of ministry in Belize and we are blessed to be on mission there, partnering with local churches. One highlight over the past weeks has been the relationships building between our staff and our participants. The trips are a great time for people to get to know one another, learn from one another, and do Kingdom work together. Many wonderful memories were made on mission trips in July and we are grateful for that!
Another highlight from Belize is that teams are really embracing their creativity and providing new, fun outreach activities that are drawing in the community members. We love to see the fresh ideas different teams can bring to their trips and local church partners. God directs teams in different ways and it is fun to see how everything comes to fruition.
With so much going on in Belize right now we have had lots of projects completed, outreach happening, and VBS weeks! Praise be to God for all that He is doing through our participants and their local church partners. Keep up the great work!
England
Today was the end of our summer trips in England and what a great start we had! We completed two fantastic trips with lots of great ministry that happened. One team was involved with younger Kids Club, teenage Club, outreach BBQs, Evangelism, and more. The other team was heavily involved in their partner churches Kids Club week of activities which included a trip to the seaside and a BBQ with carnival games as well as serving the homeless.
After our trips ended we found out that a few new people and families came to church on Sunday as a result of outreach events. How awesome! We know that our pastors in England are excited to see where these new relationships go and to follow-up with the new contacts.
If you’re looking for a missions opportunity for 2018 that will stretch your team, grow your vision of God, and put you in some amazing locations, get in touch! Registration is open for 2018.
Adam Swenson is the Director of Alaska Operations and the Director of Sales and Marketing. He loves to catch salmon and nap on rocky streambanks in his downtime.
Ashley Binneboese is the Director of England Operations and the Director of Administration at Thirst Missions. In her spare time she enjoys baking, playing violin, and spending time with her husband.
