Austin Goes to Japan After Hearing Others’ Experiences

There are a lot of fears that can prevent someone from going on a missions trip. “What if it doesn't work out? What if something goes wrong?” Those are some of the thoughts that were running through Austin’s head. “Those fears can really keep you from going,” he says. “It's not like you can just say, ‘I want to go overseas,’ and then you're there. There are a lot of steps you have to take.”

But as God surrounded Austin with others who were passionate about missions, their passion started rubbing off on him. “I go to Grace Church at Willow Valley, and seeing their focus on missions and their connectedness with Encompass is what drew me to Encompass,” he says. “I went to one of their mission conferences and heard testimonies from different Encompass missionaries, and that's one of the things that drew me toward wanting to go on a trip with them.”

Austin had done some outreach trips in the US, where he got out in the streets of Knoxville and Cleveland to serve and evangelize, but now God was giving him an interest for other cultures. “Since those trips, I've been really drawn to overseas ministry,” he says. “I really want to learn what ministry looks like in a different culture and see how missionaries deal with the challenges that present themselves in those contexts.”

Austin attends Lancaster Bible College, where he became friends with Malachi who recently graduated and started working for Encompass. “He’s the one who got me connected to Encompass, and he's just been such a huge blessing,” Austin says. “He’s been praying for me, encouraging my questions, and helping me work through them—and now I’m really at a point where I can say, ‘I feel the Lord's calling me to Japan.’”

We're so thrilled to hear how God has grown Austin’s a heart for missions, and now he’s going on a team internship to Japan with us this summer! On this trip, he will travel with a handful of teammates to immerse themselves in the culture and experience global missions as they serve alongside our teams there.

“I've had the opportunity to hear from some friends of mine who went to Japan and got to see the spiritual warfare with the culture’s religious plurality and agnostic atheism,” he says. "I want to see what ministry looks like there and show them the truth of Jesus Christ.”

“There's no greater power than the power of God, so it’s crucial for me to have people who pray on my behalf that God would work in me and through me,” Austin says. “And if anyone feels led to partner with me financially, that would be a huge blessing.”

Thank you for partnering with Austin as he explores God’s calling on his life.