2026 UK Mission Trip Recap

Hope Week Recap

Saturday (Family Fun Day):

Family fun day was an event in which the church set up several stations run by the volunteers for children to have fun at. Some of the stations included crafts, face painting, various games, bracelet making, and balloon animals. The event also had a bouncy castle and a tent with toys inside
for parents to bring their toddlers to play in.

I saw God working through this day through the many Muslim and Hindu families that attended this event.

I personally manned the bracelet making station. There were a few girls who kept coming back to my station to make bracelets, and it was very fun to get an opportunity to chat with them, invite them to the holiday club, and to encourage them as they crafted with me. It was also great to be able to talk to the parents and to let them know about the Holiday Bible Club.

I saw God’s kindness this through all the people that came to the family fun day. The children seemed to have a blast, and it was very fun to get to see them excitedly partake in the activities at hand. I personally enjoyed seeing many of the young girls having fun making jewelry. A few of these girls ended up coming to the Holiday Club, which was very encouraging because I had the chance to continue building relationships with them throughout the week.

Sunday (Church, picnic, and then cultural training):

On Sunday Mark preached at North Evington Free Church on Psalm 121. The church was very receptive to the message. The church also included the rest of our team in the service by having me, alongside two other NEFC church members, pray during the service. The church also asked Karissa, Eleanor, Yasso, and Chase to help serve communion.

After church we attended their church picnic. Here, church members fellowshipped and broke bread together.  

During the picnic I saw God’s love and kindness through the wat that the members of the church shared food, laughs, and stories. It was a great time to get to know some of the church members better and to enjoy fellowship with them.  

After the picnic we had a cultural training and ate dinner with the church afterwards. Jetlagged and delirious, we headed to our host homes afterwards! 

Monday (Team went out to celebrate Karissa): 

This was the first day of the Holiday Bible Club. Our lesson was based on the principle that Jesus is the one worth following. We went over the story of Zaccheaus and the kids memorized Luke 19:10. Eleanor did a great job teaching the children the memory verse, and the rest of the team helped wherever was needed! 

One of the most encouraging parts of this day was how well the kids did at memorizing and reciting the memory verse. 

At the end of each day, we finished with a craft. This day we made a craft of Zaccheaus in a tree. During this time, Eleanor had a conversation with one of the Muslim girls named Fatima. She was asking her about her faith and her practice of faith. It was encouraging that the Fatima was so open to talk about her own faith but was also open to learn about Jesus at the Holiday Club. I saw God working that day through the children’s openness, and through the little conversations about the lesson that were happening throughout the day.

After Bible Club, the team went out to celebrate Karissa’s birthday with the team and a few NEFC church members! 

Tuesday (men’s ministry night and women’s dinner): 

On Tuesday I helped with a ministry called “Mom’s and Tot’s”. This ministry runs year-round and is focused on creating a space for moms in the community to bring their toddlers to play. This ministry also leaves space for gospel focused conversations, and always leaves 10-15 minutes each time to share and act out a Bible story for the moms and toddlers.  

During the ministry time, I was able to have a long conversation with a Muslim woman that I had met during last year’s trip. We chatted about many things, and she was asking me all sorts of questions about my faith like why I decided to become a Christian and if I always grew up in the same faith. The conversation naturally led to me sharing my testimony with her, and she was very open to hear it! I got the chance to speak with her several times again throughout the week.   

Karissa also had a great conversation with a Muslim man who was talking about a holiday in Islam where they sacrifice a Lamb. She was able to take that conversational opportunity to share about how Jesus is the Lamb that was slain for our sins. She explained that He is the perfect sacrifice and we no longer need to make sacrifices anymore because of what Jesus did for us. It was very cool to see God open a door for Karissa to share such a fundamental Biblical truth with a person who practices Islam! 

That evening the men had a ministry night and I hear it went well.  The women gathered at one of the church members homes and had a lovely dinner together in the English countryside. 

I saw God’s goodness on Tuesday through the open doors of conversation that happened in Mom’s and Tot’s to allow those two conversations to happen. I also saw God’s goodness through the joy of fellowshipping with the women of the church.  

Wednesday (women’s cake decorating night)  

On Wednesday I was in Mom’s and Tot’s again. I spent more time talking to the same woman that I had spoken with the previous day and asked more about her life. We did not get into another deep gospel focused conversation, but I feel that we were able to learn more about one another and become better friends. During the end of the week, I took her Instagram, so I will be able to stay connected with her.  

In the evening, the church held a community women’s cake decorating night. This was very fun! I sat with two Muslim women who were fantastic at decorating. We chatted about life, and they were talking about what it is like to be moms. During the evening, one of the church members gave a talk on the story of the woman at the well. She based it on identity and how this woman was known to have a negative identity, but Jesus paid no mind to that and was only interested in changing her identity to be restored and redeemed. As she shared, the entire room was captivated. I believe that the Muslim women really resonated with the shame and social isolation that the woman at the well felt. Especially that it wouldn’t have even been appropriate for a man like Jesus to be talking to the woman at the well. We were able to discuss this a bit with the women afterwards, and it was cool to hear about what stood out to them. 

I was very encouraged to talk to the Muslim women that were there, to hear about their lives, and to know that they are planning on continuing to be connected with NEFC.   

There is a member of the church who has a ministry to Muslim women, and it was also really encouraging to see how many relationships she has made in the community, and how this will bring sustained opportunity and ministry to these women.   

Karissa and Eleanor were at a different table but had a very long faith conversation with a Muslim woman who attended the event. The woman seemed very encouraged and hugged us all as she left! A church member said that she has never seen her do that before.  

I saw God’s kindness on Wednesday through the many women that showed up at this women’s event, and how open they were to discuss Christian themed topics. 

Thursday (the Bridge connect)  

On Thursday I was back in the Holiday Bible Club. During this day Mark taught lesson to the children based on Parable of the Wicked Tenants. The moral of the day was that Jesus is the one who saves.  

One of the most fun parts of this day was watching how much fun the kids had playing the games that tested their knowledge of the Bible lesson. 

They played a game where they had to pour water while standing on a chair into a cup that was on one of the volunteer’s heads who were kneeling. It was great fun, and of course, the volunteers got a little soaked.  

That evening the church hosted a community dinner. Unfortunately, only church members showed up to this. However, it was still a good time to get to know some of the church members better, to hear from one of their pastors John, and to discuss the concept of where we find our hope, which was the theme of the night. 

 Friday (Final Celebration)  

Friday was the final day of the Holiday Bible Club and was also the final community celebration. During the day we had a small group but still had several children from the community attend the Holiday Bible Club. It was a fun final day of running the club.  

A moment that stood out to me in that day (and also showed the goodness of God) was when I went around during craft time to test the children on their memorization skills from each of the days of the week. I got to go around and hand out a prize to each child who could recite one or more memory verses from the week. It was incredible to see the Muslim and Hindu children of the community reciting Bible verses to me. It made me hopeful to know that those words of life have been planted in their hearts, and I am also hopeful to consider what God may do with the lives of these children and how He may continue to encounter them throughout their lives, regardless of the religions they were born into. 

During the evening, we had the final celebration. Parents brought their children to a celebration where we had activities such as arts and crafts, face painting, and served refreshments and hot drinks. During the party, our team was able to perform a song with the Kid’s Club children and share with the parents about the week and what kind of activities were going on during kid’s club. I got to work the face painting table, which was very fun! Overall, it was a great celebration of the week, and several families from the community came out to enjoy the time with us and to learn about the week. There was also a short preach that was given by a church member, as well. 

Saturday (day off)

On Saturday our group had a day off. We woke up nice and early and met each other at the Leicester train station. We took a train to Birmingham, grabbed a rental van, and headed to Wales to explore for the day!  

Throughout the day we shared snacks, had some laughs, explored some BEAUTIFUL nature, ate some good food, went on a hike, saw a castle, and arrived late at our air bnb thoroughly exhausted but having a day well spent, and Welsh countryside well explored.  

The next morning we were up and rolling to travel back to America with two Moms who had a blast doing ministry but were more than ready to see their kids, two men who had a great time making connections and serving God and somehow still had energy, and one married couple who had a great time serving on this trip but were excited to get back to their own pillows and daily routines.  

God’s kindness and grace saw us safely home in one piece around 10:30 pm on Saturday, even though for us we were technically arriving at RGBC at 3:30 am!