"Forever Changed"
Insights from a Volunteer's Journal

One missionary team recently shared, "We were blessed to have a group of volunteers come to prayerwalk in the villages to prepare the way for the gospel to be shared. For those who have never had the experience of going on a short-term mission trip, do you wonder what it would be like? Putting the experience into words is a difficult task, but one of our volunteers did it perfectly."

I have traveled from the sandy desert plains to the cool mountaintops. My senses are overwhelmed, but the knowledge of my Creator continues to expand... The beauty of God surrounds me everywhere I go. I am hot and cold, I am exhausted and rested. I am slowly returning to my usual way of life. However, I will never be completely the same again.

Visions of Kona with his face popping up in the kitchen window smiling with a broken tooth; the small baby that was offered to me by her mother with a plea for a better life in America; the old woman who has poor eyesight but dances with an unusual happiness; the donkeys that rule the villages and provide transportation for many; the mud mosque in which prayers are given to an unseen, unknown god; the black fish in the market that smell awful but feed the hungry; the millet drink that would be useless to me is the source of life for a young child; bathing in a river which is filled with trash; disease that is a way of life; the hut that consists of a doorway and four mud walls but no roof is called a home, the 8-year-old girl who ties her baby sister to her back while she does her daily chores; the many women who have no rest and no pillow to lay their head; another day passes to repeat itself again, the same as before.

To live as Christ and to die is gain. I believe to live as required in this part of West Africa, you must die of yourself and then you will gain the knowledge and grace of our Lord. I see Christ in creation, in a baby's eyes, in the stillness of the African starry night.

As I close this journal, I am thankful to have shared a small part in another world, a world in which the love of Jesus must be shared. It must be shared soon.

Thousands of volunteers are needed in West Africa to touch the lives of millions of people who have never had a Christian witness. People of all ages, backgrounds, and occupations can participate in a variety of ministries. Pray that those individuals whom God is calling to go to West Africa will respond in obedience. Will you come?

Find out more details about ministry opportunities in the West Africa Region.