Hi! My name is Abby Martin, and I am about to start my third year as a student at Liberty University. I am double majoring in English Education for grades six through twelve and Christian Leadership and Church Ministries. This summer I have had the
opportunity to intern with Christian Adventurers and it has been such an exciting journey. I have been going on mission trips with Christian Adventurers since 2018 and it has become such an important part of my life. I have made so many friends and
memories while being on these trips and I also have grown closer to the Lord because of my summers spent on trips with Christian Adventures. I jumped at the opportunity to be an intern this summer because of the impact they had on me when I was in high
school.
Similar to past experiences on the mission trips, the Lord is still teaching me so many things through my time this summer with Christian Adventurers. One thing is the importance of sharing His love with people around me. We know that one of the last things Jesus told us to do while on earth was to share the gospel and tell people about Him. Obviously, the great commission is important and our call as Christians, but sometimes it can be a daunting task. I have always been kind of shy so it can be hard at times to put myself out there, but this summer God has been teaching me how to come out of my shell a bit and start sharing with those around me.
I had the chance to do all the lessons for the kids at a local camp that we did at Positive Attitude Youth Center and that was really a helpful experience for me because it helped me to become more open when sharing. It also gave me a chance to see how what we say to young children can really impact them. While at PAYC I gave the kids a challenge to memorize the different parts of the gospel story for points for their team. In all honesty, I wasn’t expecting many of them to memorize it or even remember that I gave them this challenge. On the last day of camp, I had around ten kids come up to me and tell me the different parts of the gospel story which really blew me away and excited me. Even when we feel like we haven’t made a big impact we have left a small seed whenever we share with people about Jesus.
Our trip to War West Virginia also gave me such good insight on the importance of sharing God’s goodness. The trip to War has always been so impactful to me and one of my favorites. This year was a bit different because it was my first time going as a leader instead of a student and there was a learning curve. At the beginning of the trip, I was really focusing on trying to prove myself and I quickly learned that something like that shouldn’t be your focus. Our focus should be on pleasing God, not the people around us.
The experiences that I have had this summer will stick with me as I go back to school in the fall and even when I get a job in ministry one day. I am thankful for the opportunities that I have had this summer and I can’t wait to see what the rest of the summer holds!
Abby Martin