The beginning of spring is often seen as a time to reset, prepare, and foster an environment for new growth. As things have slowed down a bit for GoMission.Church, we are taking advantage of the opportunity to do some of our own “spring cleaning” in preparation for some exciting things coming this summer: Welcoming a new team member. In May we will be welcoming Jared Duran to the team! He will help lead our second summer internship, develop resources for churches and mission partnerships, and help us onboard additional team members. Preparing for this summer’s internship. The summer internship was a huge highlight for us last year, and we have been enjoying dreaming with God about what He wants to do through the internship this summer. Strengthening how we serve. As we prepare for what’s ahead, we are also taking time to evaluate how we can grow in supporting our ministry partners and better serve churches in their missional endeavors. We are thankful for the grace God has given us in this season to slow down and prepare well for whatever He will do next. Here are a few ways you can be praying with us during this time: That God would help us further develop the platform and internal structures to better serve our partners. For vision and clarity for what the internship should look like this year. For grace and provision as we step into the transition of adding a new team member. Thank you for your prayers and for partnering with us! We are excited to see how God will continue to use GoMission.Church in our local community and through our global partnerships.
Tangible Testimonies GoMission.Church printed our very first Year in Review! It has been such a gift to hold a physical copy of written testimonies…something we can place directly into the hands of our ministry partners, pastors, and friends. I get excited about the ways God uses testimonies…the things He has done in our lives…to impact the lives of others. This past month, I’ve felt surrounded by countless testimonies from my own life and from the lives of those around me. God answered my prayers for provision and direction.God healed a family member from stage four cancer.God sent out a family to expand their ministry.God showed favor in my brother’s job and next steps.God brought peace to a friend’s life.God is teaching a friend about Sabbath rest.God provided birthday gifts and school funds for a girl in GFL God restored people to community.God moved in an entire family unit, stirring a desire to become more like Jesus.God is bringing my church into a season of learning to abide in Him (and I am so excited for the testimonies that will come from this season.) The list could go on and on. God is at work…everywhere, all the time. I need to hear these kinds of things constantly. When a testimony is written down and spoken out, it becomes tangible to the one who hears or reads it. Shared testimonies become tools, points of reference, landmarks, monuments, roads to worship…reminders to place our hope in Jesus. Just this morning, I had a conversation with a coworker about a struggle I’m facing and what the Lord is teaching me through it. She shared that she’s walking through something similar. By sharing our struggles, we invited one another into a testimony that is still unfolding, active, present, alive. God is at work in me, right now.God is at work in my coworker, right now. What a story we get to live! What a gift that we can look at our struggles and say, “God is good. God is present. God is gracious.” The work of Jesus is tangible, and we get to partner with His work by giving our testimonies away. It doesn’t need to be in a fancy book (although that is fun to have). All that is needed is a person willing to share the testimonies, past AND present! This is why I love GoMission.Church. We get to partner with ministries in giving away the story, the tangible, living breathing work of Jesus!
Happy New Year everyone! This was a very full holiday season and I am happy to be sharing some fun news with you! In December… Jared and I got engaged! I feel so incredibly blessed by the way God has brought us together. We are really looking forward to getting to do the things God has called us both to do, but as a team! This means we will be moving to Argentina, to continue to participate with what God is doing in the Vineyard churches there. In this transition, through prayer and discernment with friends and mentors, we’ve decided to take a year in Fresno after getting married at the end of April, to prepare for the move to Argentina in the summer of 2027. We don't know what everything will look like yet, but we would love if you could pray with us about both our year of preparation in Fresno and our move to Argentina. Here are some specific things you could join us in praying for in this season: - This season of engagement… preparing for marriage, Jared’s last 3 months in Mendoza, and all that comes with planning a wedding. - Our first year of marriage… direction from the Lord about priorities for that year, provision for a place to live, and preparation for the transition to Argentina. The Continuation of the Calling A few years ago, the Lord really put it on my heart to be a “bridge between missions and the Church.” When He spoke about this, I had no idea what He meant but I did know that my heart was being turned towards something that the Lord was doing. Shortly after God shared this with me, the opportunity to work at GoMission.Church came about. The whole ministry being centered around “engaging the people of God with the mission of God for the glory of God”... confirmed for me that this was the next step in what the Lord was asking me to do! Even as Jared and I prepare for this next season of life and spending our first year of marriage Fresno, my mission at GoMission.Church remains the same until we head out to Argentina. What is amazing to me, is that this whole idea around bridging missions and the Church, isn’t done or going away. If you aren’t familiar with the work Jared is currently up to, you can read about it in his updates here! In summary, the church he is currently supporting in Mendoza is a part of a wider partnership between a few different churches in Argentina and America. Jared and I have enjoyed dreaming about the potential for this bridging work to continue as we step into this church partnership together when we move to Argentina, getting to further connect people with what God is doing in other parts of the world, in His Church! I just think this is such a beautiful work of the Lord in our lives, inviting us into this marriage, where we get to participate in what God is doing! This will be a continuation, even a deepening of the things God has burdened our hearts for. I am so excited to see God move in more ways, in GoMission.Church, our marriage, the move to Argentina and all that comes after that! Thank you for partnering with me in prayer about what is on the horizon and I look forward to sharing more detail in the coming months!
It's finally here! 2025 GoMission.Church - Year in Review 2025 flew by, and we ended the year in awe of the many ways God spoke, guided, and surprised us. It was a joy to spend time in conversation with ministry leaders, volunteers, and partners, reflecting on what they have seen God do throughout the year. In this end-of-year review, we share what God has taught us as we continue to follow His lead, testimonies from ministries you partner with, and what we are looking forward to seeing God do in 2026. Again and again, we were reminded that we are part of the wider Body of Christ—the Church. The way Jesus transforms the life of a young person in Huntington Beach, California can be celebrated by a missionary in Argentina, and that same testimony can be shared with a small village church in Uganda, encouraging someone else that Jesus can change their life too. This is why GoMission.Church exists. We want to engage the people of God in the mission of God, for the glory of God. Thank you for being part of this Kingdom work with us. We pray that you are encouraged by the stories shared in this end-of-year review, and that the Lord would use them to stir a deeper desire for His glory to be revealed in your own life. - The GoMission.Church Team
At the start of this year, I had a conversation with a friend about what we were dreaming of doing in 2025. I told her that I hoped to help create some kind of publication or magazine for the Church. I didn’t know what it would look like or what the content would even be, I just had a desire to design something fun and encouraging for the Church. God has completely answered that desire! Our main project this month at GoMission.Church is putting together our end-of-year report. We’re sharing what He is doing through GoMission.Church, what He is doing in each ministry partner, and what we believe He is doing in His Kingdom at large. I am having so much fun creatively compiling testimonies, ministry snapshots, photos, and stories. It truly feels like a gift to serve the mission of God and the Church through design. As I reflect on 2025, editing this report, drawing, gathering stories, and talking with ministry leaders and supporters, my excitement for 2026 keeps growing. There is a lot we don’t know about the coming year. But honestly, we didn’t know much last year either… but as we looked to Jesus, followed Him, and said “yes,” He came. He surprised us, grew us, provided for us, and did more than we expected. Let us acknowledge the Lord; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, He will appear; He will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth. Hosea 6:3 We are walking into 2026 with expectancy. If we keep looking for where He is, we will find Him, and we will continue to be overwhelmed by His goodness and the beautiful things He is doing in His people and His Kingdom! We are putting out the end-of-year report at the beginning of January so keep an eye out for the PDF version in your emails soon! Here is a sneak peak:
We have some exciting news… We are launching a “sending” pilot project this month! Since the start of GoMission.Church, our team has been dreaming about being able to support local churches in managing and sending out teams on mission trips. If you have ever been on the planning side of a mission trip, you know that it takes a whole lot of organizing. Sometimes, having to come up with a way to organize all that is required to send a team can become a barrier that keeps churches with less capacity from organizing mission trips and sending their people out… or it is at least a heavy burden to carry! In the last few months, we’ve been connecting with three different churches with this exact struggle. We realized that this could be God opening the door for us to step into the next phase of developing GoMission.Church as a resource for the local Church to engage in missions. So, we have been working with a platform similar to GoMission.Church that is solely focused on organizing things like flight information, team member trip applications, fundraising tracking, and more. With these three “pilot trips”, we hope to learn how to better support local churches in sending teams, equipping and encouraging them, and helping them communicate with the people of God about what He is doing in His kingdom. We are so excited to see how God uses this resource to further engage His people, with His mission, for His glory! Please join us in praying for these three trips that God would provide for them, and as they go out in faith, that they would get a bird's eye view of how God is working in His kingdom around the world!
Looking Back Around things like birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays, I really enjoy looking back to acknowledge the different things that happened, but more importantly, what God did! Last week I turned 24, so I have been thinking about where I was a year ago and how God has moved in my life, teaching me things, taking me places, and showing me more of what it looks like to be a part of His kingdom. I realized that so much of what God has been teaching me this year has come through the vessel of GoMission.Church. A couple of years ago, God put the phrase “bridge between missions and the Church” on my heart. I held onto it because it felt like something important that God was going to bring about somehow, and I didn't want to miss it if He did! Then after about a month after coming home from the mission field (last October), God set my new assignment in front of me, one where I would get to bridge missions and the church. Never would I have imagined the outworking of this word would be helping to build a missions platform like GoMission.Church. I am so, so thankful for the gift this role is and the way God has allowed me to have a part in this beautiful picture of Him bringing unity in the city around missions, and uncovering avenues for the Church to engage with what He is doing in His Kingdom. In very broad strokes, here are a few things God has been teaching me so far, through working with GoMission.Church: - Abiding in Jesus is the best possible thing I could do not only for my life, but also for everybody else. Any ministry I find myself doing and anything I have to give, flows from THAT space of delighting, depending, and resting in Jesus. - When leading people, I don’t have to have all the answers; I just need to know how to point people to Jesus (the one with all the answers). - Working together with other churches to seek the Lord, follow Him, and invite others to follow Him with us… is the MOST FUN and unifying thing! (Probably because this is how God designed us, to be a part of The Body with our brothers and sisters!) - Nothing is ever wasted with the Lord; He can use anything! - God’s provision sometimes looks different from what I would choose for myself, but it is always what I actually need. I am so very grateful for these things and for what God is doing through GoMission.Church. There is still more to come, and I am so excited to see where God continues to lead us as a team, and as The Church!
Having the Audacity to Ask One of the things we encouraged our interns to do over the course of the summer was to ask a lot of questions. (Which meant I got to join in this challenge alongside them, too!) We talked about the value of being “childlike” in our asking. Kids are naturally curious because they are figuring out the world for the first time, and there is an opportunity for them to be formed and shaped by the things they discover. As a group, we had the chance to come into ministry conversations with open hands and childlike hearts, to seek out the kingdom of God. Pastor Andy phrased the idea like this: “Kingdom curiosity leads to kingdom understanding.” Side note: Working with Pastor Andy is so fun because he asks crazy questions, with such a pure desire to see God move, and I have watched it lead to some amazing things… one example being the whole summer internship! That all came about because Pastor Andy asked, “What would it be like to invite a group of young people into what God is doing in GoMission.Church?” And…God moved! Since the end of the internship, I have found myself in multiple situations dreaming about and asking things like… “what would it be like if___?” or “what could happen in our city if we ___?” Or, I’ve been in conversations where people are telling me about things God has put in their hearts to do, and suddenly, I have multiple ministries in mind that they could potentially partner with. I share what God is doing in those ministries and then just wait. Sometimes it just isn’t for them or not for that moment. BUT SOMETIMES, they light up, are filled with excitement and faith that God is doing more than they can see. Sometimes, it is the confirmation they needed, that they aren't the only ones burning with desire to see God move in a specific area, and that it’s time to take the next step! I’m learning that this is a way I get to engage the people of God with the mission of God for the glory of God. I just get to dream with God and dream with people… because how will I know what the will of God is if I don't ask? I hope, for the rest of my life, I keep this audacious habit of asking God questions about what He is doing and “what if?” I have already seen it lead to some really fun, kingdom things, and I’m excited to see more! “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.” 1 John 5:14 “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” Ephesians 3:20-21
Testimonies from the GM.C Summer Internship! God did so much in the hearts of these four young people over two months of exploring with Him and discovering what He is doing in Fresno and Clovis, CA. The video linked below only scratches the surface of the lessons our interns are taking with them as they continue to follow Jesus and learn more about what it means to partner with His Kingdom's work. We hope these interns’ words encourage and remind you that the same invitation they received to join God's mission in their local area is the same invitation God extends to you. You also have an opportunity to engage with the mission of God, where you are, with what you have, for His ultimate glory!
Time flies when you're having fun! I can't believe that we only have two more days with our wonderful interns! These past couple of months have been so full of adventure together as a team and individually. It has been such a joy to watch the way God has been unfolding giftings, callings, and next steps for each intern. I know He is watering the seeds that He planted long before the internship. I feel so privileged to have gotten to spend this time walking alongside the four young people and getting to see how God is encouraging them to take hold of their gifts to use in the building of the Kingdom! In our last couple of days together, we will be taking in a harvest, talking about all that God has been doing, reflecting on what we've learned, and blessing one another. Then we will practice sharing about what God has been doing or ... Engaging the people of God, with the mission of God, for the glory of God! Please partner with us in prayer for: Many opportunities to share the "harvest" of all that God has done in the internship with people! A solidifying of the things God has taught us, in our hearts and minds! Joy and excitement for the next steps and next assignments God has for each of the interns! Thank you for partnering with us in prayer. I look forward to sharing more specific testimonies from the interns very soon!
First day of the GoMission.Church Internship was a blast! God is continuing to raise our expectations for what He will do this summer. We began our time together with some creative worship, focusing our eyes on Jesus through play! We talked about the importance of being childlike in our faith and how this summer is an invitation to explore with God. He is leading us, we are just along for the ride! Then we spent some time getting to know one another. After lunch, we all took some time to intentionally ask the Lord to reveal the areas that He wants to challenge and grow us in this season, as well as give Him our hopes for what he will do in His Church! We ended the day with our first pastor meeting at Grace Place! Pastor Brian told us the story of their church and his dreams for it in the future. It was so encouraging to hear his heart and passion for the Kingdom. Please join us in prayer that God would reveal more of His plan and purpose for our interns in missions and the local church!
Thank you for praying with us! Yesterday, I shared that we were going to have our first official church presentation for GoMission.Church. I am happy to report that it went well! Mountain Valley Community Church has a great team of such sweet and genuine people. Pastor Andy and I had a lot of fun sharing the things we have seen God do for ministries, churches, and for us personally while on this journey of following the path God has laid out for us in missions. Pastor Matt messaged us afterwards, telling us that the team was feeling excited about partnering with us. I am continuing to pray that their hearts are stirred to seek out the way God has made them to engage in missions! Thank you all again for praying with us! ❤️