How Go Now Missions Orientation prepared me to serve

Sabrian Staggs, is a Go Now Missions summer missionary serving at the Huntsville Hospitality House and a student at Tarleton State University.

My experience at Go Now Missions Orientation was life-changing. I thought I knew how everything was going to go, but when I allowed myself to learn and grow I walked away with so many tools and knowledge that I didn’t even know was out there.

At orientation, we were put into different groups, called tribes, that were composed of people going on the same trip together, or going to similar areas and trips. Getting to meet all the other students with a heart for God and wanting to serve Him was refreshing. And the worship was amazing; everybody’s voices just crying out with their whole hearts, louder than the music all coming together as one, it was breathtaking and awe-inspiring.

The weekend was just what we needed to prepare our hearts and our minds with God before our trips this summer. More than once we were humbled and taught how blessed we are, often more than we realize. The leaders kept telling us about different cultures, since that’s where most of us are going. They would tell us to remember that “It’s not bad, it’s just different.” That is a phrase I will take away with me forever. Just because something is not what we are used to  does not mean it’s wrong. Somebody else’s culture is their everyday life and for me to go and say that it’s wrong because it is not how I live my life can be inconsiderate and hurtful.

This weekend was life-altering and mind-blowing, and I am so grateful to be able to be a part of it with all the other student missionaries going out to the field. I hope that everything I learned will stay with me and will continue to help me to live a Christ-like example. Thank you, everyone at Go Now, for loving us, for teaching us, and for continually praying for us.