Embracing from the Heart
It was a slow, lazy summer sitting by the pool, drinking sodas and watching TV. She would sleep in till noon, eat brunch and then go to the pool to work on her tan. No worries, no schoolwork. It was awesome.
Many teens are spending their summers in such a way. But some teens are spending part of their summers flying to another part of the world to minister overseas and to learn about Bible translation. Through Wycliffe’s GET Global, teens to college age students experience translation and community development.
Similar to a GET Global trip, a two-week trip to Kenya was recently led by Bret Taylor, a Wycliffe missionary working at JAARS. Unlike Get Global, however, this trip focused on teenage missionary kids (MK’s) who came from various Wycliffe families.
The teens on Bret’s trip flew from North Carolina to Nairobi, Kenya. Once in Kenya, the MK’s didn’t sit around long. After a day of recreation visiting a giraffe center, the team went to the New Life Home, which works with orphans. New Life cares for up to 50 abandoned children below the age of two. Most are HIV positive. Part of the ministry of New Life is The Ark, which houses children over two years old who haven’t been adopted. Bret’s team led a small vacation Bible school (VBS) and painted a laundry room at The Ark.
For Father’s Day at The Ark’s VBS, the children decorated Frisbees with the words “The World’s Greatest Dad.” The team explained that even though the children do not have dads, God is the best dad in the world. Then the MK’s had fun teaching the kids how to throw the Frisbees. 
During the visit, Bret wrote: "We had a long team meeting last night to process all that we are doing at New Life. It is emotionally difficult for all of us to pour our love into kids and know that we will have to say goodbye tomorrow. We questioned whether it was worth doing since we know it will be hard on the kids. But Lee (Admin Director at New Life) told us that even though it will be hard on the kids, the kids that get the one on one attention (or spoiling) develop better in the long run. We were encouraged by that.”
The last day working with New Life, the team took the children from The Ark to a wildlife animal orphanage and safari walk. Also attending the trip to the animal orphanage was a little girl that the team supports through World Vision. At the end of the visit with New Life, the team left a huge box of markers, crayons and glue.
After the team left The Ark, Riah Lawry, a 16 year old MK who lived in Peru for seven years, expressed, “It hurt my heart 
so much to see these adorable, lively kids unwanted and discarded. I’ll never forget the pain in Nigle’s voice as he said goodbye and it’s kids like him that make me want to go back to Kenya or anywhere God calls.”
After leaving New Life, the team visited the Bible Translation and Literacy Center, a Wycliffe partner organization doing translation in Kenya. The MK’s learned about the culture in Kenya, about Bible translation and about the literacy work needed to help people to read the translated Word.
The MK’s then traveled to a church three hours west of Nairobi. At the church, they again led VBS for over 200 kids. The teens taught about Jesus and played games with the children. The children also taught the team songs in Swahili.
That night the team had dinner at the home of the street boys. Just a few small rooms house about 14 street boys. Some of the boys have lived on the streets so long and sniffed so much glue that the boys didn’t even know their names or how old they were when they were rescued from the street.
The team’s final opportunity for ministry was with the Maasai, a semi-nomadic language group. With the Maasai, the team taught in church. The team wrote, “We as a team were encouraged by (the Maasai’s) faith and sincere worship.” That night the teens stayed in Maasai homes.
Sarah, one of the teens, explained, “God has helped me grow a lot during this trip. It is very hard for me to leave. The children touched my heart. I enjoyed living in the Maasai huts and experiencing their culture.”
Abby Mann, who lived with her parents in Nigeria for 11 years, said, “The Maasai live in a very remote village. They don't have that much outside influence or an actual church building to meet in, but they still have church, worship and sing songs to God. It showed me how God can work anywhere.”
Finally, the team headed to a game park to debrief from the trip. After three days in the Maasai village, a hot shower felt great.
Bret said he was impressed, “Watching the team really minister in various settings. I was so impressed at the quality of the team and their eagerness to embrace culture and minister at a heart level.”
When the teenagers and young adults became involved in missions, their worldview and their relationship with God expanded.
As Riah Lawry put it, “Not only do mission trips change the lives of those you come in contact with, but it also changes the missionary. So often we fall into the trap of stagnancy where we don’t grow in our relationship with God. By focusing on others instead of ourselves we can’t help but change and grow to be more like Jesus.”
("Embracing from the Heart" was written by Margaret Coyle, employee of the Wycliffe USA Communications Department.)
More:
Learn more about GET Global and about the MK’s the trip to Kenya by reading Bret Taylor blog.
"Embracing from the Heart" was written by Margaret Coyle, a contributing writer of the Wycliffe USA Communications Department.