In preparation for summer mission trips through the Baptist General Convention of Texas’ Go Now Missions, Howard Payne University students Ashley Chapman, Daniel Harris and Paula Johnson spent time reflecting on Isaiah 6:8.
The verse reads, “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I. Send me!’”
“The last words in that verse really stuck out to me,” said Chapman, a junior from Ennis. “I already had a plan for my summer, but the one God had for me is so much better. I now have a chance to serve in two areas that desperately need the Word of God and His unconditional love.”
Chapman will serve in Mission, Texas, and Mexico City, helping with backyard Bible clubs, Vacation Bible School, food distribution, personal evangelism, prayer walking, medical missions and more as she connects with the people living in those cities.
“I just hope with all my heart that I will be able to find those who are lost or have strayed from their faith and show them that God’s love will never leave us,” she said.
Daniel Harris, a sophomore from Boerne, will work with families, students, senior adults and children in a vastly underserved area of inner-city Houston. Harris will work at the Mission Centers of Houston, helping with English as a Second Language (ESL), sports camps, prayer walks, food and clothing drives and much more.
“My goal is to build bonds with my teammates and the people we are serving,” he said. “I really hope I can show people how they can have a lasting relationship with Jesus Christ.”
Paula Johnson, a junior from Spring, is already in Orlando serving with Give Kids The World, an organization through which children with life-threatening illnesses and their families are treated to weeklong, cost-free vacations.
“My hope is that I can make an impact on these children,” she said. “I want them to know that, though they are hurting now, God loves them and they are here for a reason.”
Keith Platte, director of HPU’s Baptist Student Ministry, encourages the university family and surrounding communities to be in prayer for the missionaries and the work they are doing this summer.
“I’m very thankful HPU has students each summer who are willing and excited to forego typical vacations in order to serve others,” he said. “I pray that God’s hand will be upon them and that His will is accomplished through them.”
