Impact Ghana
The Ghana Summer Mission Team for 2023
Introduction
If you don’t know me, I’ve wanted to go on mission to Africa for years. Yet, over the last two years, God has somehow led me to both Yellowstone National Park and the western part of the Middle East; neither of those locations happened to be in Africa. But, after prayerfully and patiently waiting, this year God led me to apply for two summer mission trips in Africa. In other words, now was the time!
The two trips that I applied for were both mission trips to Africa. The first trip being a mission to Northern Africa (I applied to this trip because it seemed very similar to my mission trip last year); and the other trip was a mission trip to West Africa (I applied to this trip because it was sponsored by The IMPACT Movement, which is a college campus ministry that equips Black students to become disciples of Jesus Christ, and implement their faith into every aspect of their life).
Therefore, both of these trips were drastically different from one another; and not only that, the trips happened at the same time. As a result, I was stuck at a crossroads. I felt like God was calling me to Africa, but I didn’t know where. Did he want me up North, or did he want me out West? I needed clarity.
Days went by and I didn’t feel like God was answering, but then suddenly I received a phone call from Andrianna Watson, and she informed me of my acceptance onto the 2023 Ghana IMPACT Summer Mission Team, and I couldn’t believe it. (At this point in time, I still hadn’t heard a thing about my application for Northern Africa; and as more weeks of silence passed by, I believed that maybe this was a sign that God wanted me in Ghana this summer. Thus, I committed to the West. But it wouldn’t surprise me if the Lord somehow got me to Northern Africa in the future. My hands are open to go where he wants me to go, and I surrender myself to his will and timing.)
Anyway, I mention all of that to say, God brought me to Africa this summer, and what follows is a little snapshot of my trip in Accra, Ghana.
Ministry Partner Development (MPD) Acknowledgement: But first, before I get into anything, I would like to give a big thank you to my ministry partners. If unfamiliar with the term, Ministry Partner Development (MPD) is the partnership between the missionary (in this case, me) and their supporters (in this case, you). Whether through praying, donating, supporting, sharing, any person reading this right now has become one of my partners, and with that I say THANK YOU!
In all honesty, it can be extremely uncomfortable asking people for support, especially when I’ve gone on two mission trips already. I’ve wrestled with doubt, thinking that people are annoyed by me, that people are sick of donating money, and in fact, during the winter when it came to potential mission trips this summer, my biggest deterrent was asking people for support. Essentially, I wasn’t comfortable doing it. I didn’t like the process, and in general, it was scary. Yet, after talking mentioning this concern to people, I was caught off guard when John Corrigan, a member on UMass Cru staff, stated.
"Why are you doubting?”
Doubting? Well that’s not what I thought I was doing.
“God provided for you two times already, do you think he’s incapable of doing it again?”
Stunned, I realized that he was right. Without even knowing it, I was doubting God’s ability to provide for me. In other words, God wasn’t calling me into something comfortable this summer; instead, he was calling me to step out into faith, and trust in him that he’ll empower enough people to come alongside me and support me during this trip. And long story short, I needed $4,500, and once again God blew that number out of the water. So, if you were apart of that team, I genuinely say THANK YOU, because you were my answered prayer. I’m incredibly grateful for you joining my team, and this entire trip wouldn’t have been possible without you!
Maurice Powe at Black Star Square in Accra
Highlights and Overview
Trip Overview: To put it simply, for three weeks, I had the privilege of experiencing God’s love in Ghana with 11 other African Americans. While there, we partnered with the Institute For Christian Impact (ICI), the Akrofi-Christaller Institute of Theology, Mission, and Culture, GHAFES (the Ghanaian version of what some Americans might know as intervarsity), the Great Commission Movement (the Ghanaian version of what some Americans might know as Cru), Torchbearers (a non-denominational missionary organization), Home and Urban Missions, and many other groups and organizations.
The theme for the trip was “Love in Action,” in which we sought to see God at work and walk alongside the movements that He’s already started. And I think the best way of imaging this vision can be seen through this scripture…
“You are the salt of the earth” (Matthew 5:13)
In other words, the entire purpose of our travel was to embody the properties of salt. What does that mean? Salt in essence is used to bring the flavor out of something. Therefore, our team was on mission to see and acknowledge the ways in which God is, and has been, present in people’s lives. Put differently, like salt, we sought to amplify God’s flavor in the lives of people we encountered. And having returned from the trip, I can attest that we did exactly that!
(Below is my “Fruitful Conversation Tracker,” which essentially is my stat sheet for the ways in which God used me as salt.)
Fruitful Conversation Tracker
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At this school, I was paired with five upper primary kids (Bright, Kelvin, Amanda, Luisa, and Hebot). We talked about the story of Joseph and his relationship with his siblings. From this conversation, the students discussed some personal hardship that they were experiencing with their own siblings, and after we prayed that God would restore our relationships with our brothers and sisters.
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On every Tuesday, Ghanaian fisherman don’t fish, it’s considered “taboo.” Consequently, we used this day as a time to evangelize to the fisherman and learn about their experiences. While I was there, I met a young man named Addo who desires to build a stronger relationship with God.
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At this school, Jalen Jones, Vanessa Ombiri, Vanessa Wilkerson and I teamed up to share the gospel at an assembly full of 250 middle schoolers. From there, we broke into 4 groups, and in my group I shared the story of the “Good Samaritan.” After that, Vanessa Wilkerson, Kayla Rogers, and I visited one of the high school classes, and we talked about our college experiences, and learned about the students’ vocational interests for the future.
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At this school, Vanessa Ombiri and I talked to 60 middle schoolers about the fruits of the spirit (Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Gentleness, Faithfulness, & Self-Control). We asked them questions like, what fruits do they see in other people? And what fruits do you desire to grow in?
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Achimota was described to us as a “drug hub.” When we arrived in the area, Vanessa Wilkerson and Ms. Rose Thompson delivered the Gospel message to about 60 people living in the ghetto. After that message, I was able to pray for an elderly man named Charles, who was going through some medical challenges, and I also prayed for a younger man named LaNeyo, who was trying to start rehab and beat his drug addiction.
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In this ghetto, I was paired up with Vanessa Wilkerson, Ms. Rose Thompson, and a local Ghanaian, Pastor Bright. I got to share the gospel with three men living in the ghetto (Samuel, David, and Ebenezer). We talked about addiction, shame, and God’s willingness to meet us in it. Likewise, I also shared about the power of faith, and how the Bible describes how faith the size of a mustard seed can move mountains. I didn’t know what their mountain was, but I believed that God could move it. After that, we prayed together, and by God’s grace Samuel and David rededicated their lives to Christ.
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For two days straight, we had the amazing privilege to evangelize and talk to players, parents, and children, at a local community soccer tournament. After the semifinals, I got to share my testimony to 20 of the soccer players; and during the finals, we had an amazing time playing with and evangelizing to the local Ghanaian children.
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During the last three days of evangelism, Micheal Grandison, Gladys, a local Ghanaian missionary, and I went out to evangelize to whoever we encountered. Over the course of three days we talked to 19 different people, and a lot of them were either firm believers, or individuals who experienced church hurt. By God’s grace, there were some people who we talked to, that instantly claimed that our presence was an answered prayer; and while talking to some street vendors, two women named Jessica and Jemima rededicated their lives to Christ.
The Ghana Summer Mission Team:
By the grace of God, our Ghana Summer Mission Team consisted of a total of 15 different people with all sorts of backgrounds.
First, I will start by acknowledging my fellow students. Starting from out east we were privileged to have Vanessa Wilkerson from Colorado Springs, CO; Jerelyn Jones from Madison, WI; Vanessa Ombiri, a Kenyan American living in Houston, TX; Ta’Ja and Ti’Ja Taylor, aka the Taylor Twins, coming from Hammond, LA; Anti Cristabel, our only Ghanaian student, living in Cape Coast, Ghana; and me, Maurice Powe, the only New Englander, from Longmeadow, MA. (Sidenote: We visited the W.E.B. Du Bois Memorial Centre for Panafrican Culture while in Ghana, and it hit a special chord in my heart, knowing that Du Bois was born in Great Barrington, MA).
Nonetheless, on the staff side, we were privileged to have Jalen Jones, from Chicago, IL; The married couple, Micheal and Vanessa Grandison, from Columbus, OH; Ms. Rose Thompson from Fort Lauderdale, FL; Kayla Rogers, our Operations Director, who works full-time with the IMPACT Movement at Texas State University; Andrianna Watson, our fearless leader and Mission Director, who works full-time with the IMPACT Movement at Louisiana State University (LSU); Eunice Prah, one of our wonderful hosts who is native to Accra, and works full-time staff with the Institute For Christian Impact; and Dela Prince, our other host, who also works full-time with ICI, and is native to Accra.
Fun Fact: According to statistics, over 70% of the Ghanaian population identifies as Christian. Therefore, a large part of our mission involved interacting with Christians, and essentially fanning their flames. On the other hand, due to this high percentage, there were also numerous people who experienced church hurt due to pastoral corruption. So, for all the prayer warriors, continue to uplift the Church in Ghana.
Apart from all these people, I think it would be rude of me not to mention both Jimmy McGee, the national president for The IMPACT Movement, and the Rev Dr. Joshua Settles, and their relationship and planning to coordinate a trip like this. For context, both of these men developed a long lasting relationship through previous work with intervarsity christian fellowship in the states. Yet, eventually Dr. Settles would move to Ghana, where he now acts as both professor and senior research fellow at the Akrofi-Christaller Institute of Theology, Mission, and Culture. However, even though both Jimmy and Dr. Settles live in different countries, God used their friendship to organize this trip. So, I simply want to humbly acknowledge my gratitude for both of these men. God truly used their friendship for something beautiful!
Next, I will mention some quick highlights and lessons that I had during the trip…
Maurice Powe speaking to middle schoolers at the Faith School
Remembering The Castles:
As I mentioned before, this trip to Ghana was my first time in Africa. Therefore, I find it extremely ironic, yet significant, that on my first trip to the continent I would somehow find myself not at one, but two slave castles (Cape Coast, and Elmina), and at the “Last Bath,” a river where many enslaved people cleaned themselves one last time.
Visiting these sites was incredibly emotional. Churches stood directly above the slave chambers. One guide mentioned how fecal matter piled high on the floor. Most of the original items were still in tact. Yet, most significant of all, was the “door of no return.” This is where the most suicides happened, as prisoners would rather take their life, rather than walk through a door and into the unknown.
“The majority of the prisoners at this castle died rather than survived,” our guide reminded us.
It felt so surreal to me, and I couldn’t even believe it. But God, allowed my ancestors to be survivors, and despite the title of “no return,” the Lord had somehow allowed me to come back. That’s crazy.
I am the first person in my family to return to West Africa, when people conditioned us to believe that we would never come back. So, with tears in my eyes, I’m incredibly grateful to have the opportunity to come back; and I think it can only be attributed to God’s love and sovereignty to restore a broken history.
Submission: Building My Capacity and Trust in God
If you haven’t been to Ghana before, one thing that you might want to know is that it’s a whole lot different than the United States. From the people, to the animals, to the environment, to the food, Ghana exposed and challenged me in several new ways.
For example, traveling around Ghana was incredibly difficult for me. Most days our leaders would tell us to hop in a van, and I would have no idea where we would be going, and that was hard for me. Apart from travel difficulties, the first night we arrived, prayer warriors were assigned to cover us during our sleep, and let’s just say those prayers were pretty loud, so some of us didn’t get sleep that night. Anyway, aside from that, I personally suffered from a little anxiety thinking about my exposure to mosquitoes and the risks of malaria. And lastly, there were multiple days in which the power went out, and on other days we’d also lose our plumbing and water heat. So, in the grand scheme of things, our team faced a good amount of difficulties. Yet, I think that in the midst of all this conflict, God was trying to show us something.
In America, we are incredibly privileged. So, in Africa, conflict looks different than it does in the states. So, when African conflict began to present itself, I automatically had a tendency to assume the worst. Yet, in the midst of the conflict, nothing was harming me. In other words, I was safe, and I wasn’t in danger. There was no need for me to panic, yet my heart seemed to be resistant to a culture that I wasn’t used to. Thus, it seemed as if God was inviting me to soften my heart. When conflict arose, I was invited to trust in him, and experience something beautiful.
So, on one of the toughest days of ministry, I decided to test this. During our first week in Ghana, we were staying at a hotel, and late at night, both the power and plumbing went out on us. Conflict. Yet, instead of shutting down, God invited me to open up. So, I opened up. After receiving a bucket from the hotel staff, I felt empowered to take a cold shower in the dark (only thing that can explain that is the work of the Holy Spirit). And to my surprise, that shower was amazing. I exited the bathroom feeling both refreshed and renewed, and at that point on, I didn’t care about power or plumbing. Instead, I was humbled, and felt grateful for the little things. God transformed a seemingly bad situation into a beautiful lesson about his provision and sovereignty. In other words, God showed me that he is sufficient, and he was challenging me to trust him. In the moments I did, I truly was able to see his beauty, and even today, the invitation to trust persists.
Maurice Powe doing the Canopy Walk in Kakum National Park
Prayer: Bridging Spiritual and Life
Another big area in which I’ve grown during this trip has been my understanding of prayer. In other words, I feel like this trip has reshaped my prayer life, and has given me insight into the ways in which I’ve been doing prayer wrong.
In Ghana we prayed ALL THE TIME. Before van rides, Eunice Prah would always choose someone to pray before we leave. Before meals someone would be asked to pray for the food. While preparing for ministry, we’d pray as a group for the people we’d encounter. Even during ministry, we’d pray for people, and lay hands on them. Today, we’re still praying for people, and we’re constantly uplifting the people that we’ve met, and even now, I only can imagine that someone in Ghana must be praying as you read this.
So, when experiencing prayer in this way, I think that my biggest learning outcome was the realization of the ways in which our faith and life are connected (This is the mission for ICI, the Institute For Christian Impact, bridging the gap between faith and life).
Thus, while growing up in Massachusetts, I feel like there wasn’t a heavy demand to pray. Yet, the bible says in 1 Thessalonians 5:16 that we should constantly be praying, and on top of that, I like Paul’s words in Ephesians 6:10 which says “and pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.” Wow, so the bible invites us to constantly pray with all sorts of prayers and requests? Imagine what that might look like.
To me, that looks like a freedom and creativity inside of one’s prayer life. While in Ghana we experienced some pretty incredible prayers. People were praying for the roads, praying for the fish to regenerate in the sea, praying for the weather, and of course praying for each other, and it was incredible. Therefore, when it comes to praying, I just sit and imagine all of the things that God might be inviting me to pray for. (For instance, I work on a farm, and I just imagine praying for the crops, the land, customers at our store, and how the food can provide nourishment and healing for them. I think about those without food, and I pray that the Lord might provide for them. I pray that God will use one of their stories to encourage someone else, and I can go on, but this is just the tip of the iceberg for prayer in respects to my situation.) Nonetheless, this trip has really reshaped my understanding of prayer. Prayer should be something exciting and freeing, and I’m grateful for the invitation to do it more.
Maurice Powe, Vanessa Wilkerson, Joel (Left with Nike Shirt), Kelvin (Right with Light Blue T-Shirt), and other kids from Sports Evangelism.
Loving Children: Batwell, Kelvin, and Joel
Lastly, I think that the final thing that I’ll share is the experience that I had with children, and to be completely honest with you all, before this trip I had a very low tolerance when it came to working with children. I don’t know what it is, but little kids have a tendency to be loud, annoying, selfish, and rude; yet, due to the mission environment, I felt a need to deny myself, put on a smile, and play with some children even though I was out of my comfort zone.
After humbling myself in this way, I truly believe that God revealed a lot of stuff about myself, and how I surprisingly might be gifted in working with young children. So, to best describe that transformation, I’m going to share three quick stories of my experiences with little kids…
Batwell: “Excuse me, but do you know who Pastor Fred is? Well, I’m Pastor Fred’s Grandson!” This was my first encounter with Batwell.
Batwell is shy, polite, smart, and bold. His grandfather was the pastor of one of the churches we were partnered with, and since my grandfather is a pastor, I immediately resonated with the kid. While watching some soccer games, a group of us decided to kick a ball around, and in no time at all Batwell introduced me to a term called “SULIA!” (which is the Ghanaian version of “nutmegging” somebody).
As the day progressed, eventually Batwell would ask me this question, “can you gather everyone around?” Everyone is gathered around, I thought, what was he planning? Regardless, I informed my peers that Batwell wanted to say something; so, understanding that he had the floor, Batwell said this…
“Um, excuse me everybody, but I think that today I found my best friend…” he paused for a moment, and I didn’t really understand where he was going. “Maurice is my best friend,” I stood beside him in shock.
What did he say? Best friend? I didn’t do anything. All I could do was stand there, and Batwell stood beside me. I guess I must’ve done something right, and maybe God was trying to show me something through that.
Maurice Powe and Vanessa Ombiri teaching at St. James School
Kelvin: I met Kelvin during our first week in Ghana at Newells Elementary School. He was placed in my small group, with four other upper primary children.
Unsure of what to talk about, the conversation gradually ended up with us talking about our siblings (before we broke into groups, one of the Torchbearer leaders talked about Joseph in the Bible, and somehow while talking to the kids, we landed on a sibling topic). So, Joseph had some issues with his siblings, I asked the kids, how were their relationships like with their siblings?
Next thing I know, 3 of the 5 students described how their situations were horrible. From violence to abuse, I listened in awe as the students opened up their hearts to me. It was incredibly surreal, and we ended our time by praying together.
As we were leaving the school, it was difficult to grasp how we would probably never see any of those students again; yet occasionally, I guess God makes some exceptions.
About a week later, while doing evangelism at the soccer fields, I was standing on the sideline when a familiar voice shouted behind me.
“Maurice!” they shouted.
I turned around, and to my surprise it was Kelvin.
I asked him how he was doing, he said that he was fine. Then, after a couple minutes of chit chatting things went silent. We stood there quietly and watched the soccer game. But not after too long, Kelvin decided to break the silence.
“When somehow tries to hurt you at home, who is there to protect you?”
I was shocked by that question. Did our first conversation really have that much of an impact? Welp, it seemed as if that was where the Lord wanted me that day; so, I answered his question to the best of my ability, then after asking him some questions, I did everything that I could to provide him with support. We ended our conversation in prayer, and I found myself in awe of the entire situation. I never would’ve imagined having a conversation like that, especially with a kid, yet I believe that God placed me there with great intention and purpose. To this day, I’m still praying for Kelvin and his family. I’m grateful to have experienced his heart and vulnerability, and he truly helped me learn about myself, and about God’s plans for me.
Joel: While we were doing sports evangelism, someone decided that it would be fun to race; unfortunately for them, I happen to have some pretty significant experience in track and field. Long story short, people were getting smoked, and I wasn’t a person. The races weren’t even close, yet little did I know, all these victories came with a side-effect. Children began to swarm me, and Joel was one of those kids.
Maurice Powe at the W.E.B. Du Bois Memorial Centre
“How do you run so fast? Teach me your ways.”
Repeatedly, Joel would request to race me again, and even though he’d get tired, he’d always want to continue. So, if he wanted to play with the big dogs, I was going to make him work for it.
After running back and forth, it seemed clear to me that Joel was just out of his league. Eventually he got too tired, so we were forced to shift to something outside of racing. In the spur of the moment, I offered to give him a piggy back ride. This was the ride of his life. I gave him bumps, dips, twists, and turns. Then I spun in circles, until the rider started laughing,
“Stop! Stop! Stop! I think I’m going to yuke!”
Yuke? I chuckled. Was there really that much turbulence? Nonetheless, after getting off my back, Joel insisted that he felt sick, and he wanted to sit down. So, he requested for me to escort him home. However, during our orientation we specifically were told to never follow a kid home. So, instead I compromised, I escorted him to the edge of the soccer field, and let him walk the rest of the way, and that’s what he did; well, that’s what he did until he came back.
“What happened?” I asked “I thought you were going home.”
Without responding, Joel clung to my arm in fear. “I saw a Mad Person,” he eventually responded, and I had no idea what that meant.
The boy looked terrified, and it really conflicted me. I didn’t know what a mad person was, and Joel made it clear that all he wanted was to be safe at his house. Yet, I was told not to follow kids home. Maybe this was an exception? Nonetheless, we walked towards the end of the soccer field, like we did the first time, but instead of walking back the normal way, Joel decided to climb a wall, in hopes of discovering an alternative route.
“What are you doing? Come back down” I said.
From the top of the wall Joel told me, “you can go the other way, and I’ll be standing on the other side waiting for you.” Yet, before I could answer, Joel dropped to the other side, and that was the last time I saw him.
In one way or another, it was somewhat heartbreaking, since I never was able to give him a proper goodbye. Apparently he lived close to the church, so there were moments where I wondered, Lord if it’s your will, allow this kid to be outside. However, unfortunately that never happened. And never in a million years would I have expected Joel to make that much of an impact on me. As clingy as he was, Joel truly showed up and changed me. I’m really grateful to have met him, and maybe if it’s the Lord’s will, I’ll run into Joel sometime in the future.
Words From Dela: Lastly, to drive this whole concept further, I think that the final thing to mention are Dela’s words regarding Ghanaian children. Specifically, Dela mentioned how children in Ghana have a tendency to be ignored by others in society. In other words, it’s rare for older people to go out of their way and play with little kids. Yet, when we came to Ghana, we challenged that dynamic. We entered a space, saw children, played with them, talked with them, and loved them. Consequently, from the words of Dela, our actions probably created memories that these children might never forget for the rest of their lives, and that’s a crazy thing to think about. Be it Batwell, Kelvin, Joel, or someone else, my investment into them could’ve completely transformed their life, and I’m in awe of that. So, for all the prayer warriors, please continue to uplift Ghanaian children. They are a beautiful and energetic bunch, and the entire world is extremely lucky to have them.
Micheal Grandison, Maurice Powe, Dela Prince, and Jalen Jones
Conclusion
So, I guess all of that brings us to now. Specifically, what will I do next, and how this trip has changed me?
During our orientation in Milwaukee, Jimmy McGee shared with us a quote by Mark Twain. That quote was…
“The two most important days in your life are the day you are born, and the day you find out why.”
This was Jimmy’s prayer, he wanted us to discover our why’s. Thus, now having returned from Ghana, I truly believe that Jimmy’s prayer was answered this summer. And for me personally, I think this presented itself in two major ways.
One, I truly believe that God has instilled in me a heart for missions; And two, I believe that God has uniquely equipped me to prepare and send others out into the mission field. Allow me to explain…
Being the Hands and Feet: As I wrote about earlier, I never would’ve imagined spending three summers in a row on mission for God. So far, that’s every single one of my collegiate summers, and in all honesty, next summer doesn’t even feel safe either. Regardless, mission work has become something regular for me. I love traveling, I love meeting new people, and I love being surrounded by people who equally desire that same thing.
So, when it comes to my future, I truly hope to continue this pattern of being God’s hands and feet.
Thus, to poke into this idea a little more, there was a time during this trip in which we met Rev. Dr. Femi Adeleye, also known as Uncle Femi. Uncle Femi is the director of the Institute for Christian Impact (ICI), and before that he served for three years as the director of church partnerships for World Vision International, and even before that he worked for 32 years with the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES). So needless to say, Uncle Femi has a lot of “evangelical street cred;” and knowing this, I wanted to ask him a question about the future of this mission partnership. Specifically, I asked,
“What does this trip look like in 2 years, 4 years, 6 years in the future?”
With a smile on his face, Uncle Femi expressed his desire for a multiethnic mission team. “Imagine 12 Americans and 12 Ghanaians, both in spaces foreign to their own. I want to send a team like that to Burkina Faso, or Togo.”
He believed that a trip like this would bridge the gap between Ghanaians and Americans; and after-all, each group could probably learn a significant amount of stuff from one another, so I found that vision extremely admirable. So, currently even though I don’t know what my future entails, if God allowed me to be apart of that vision, I would be happy. Whether as a participant, a leader, a recruiter, or an informer, my hands are open, and I surrender to God’s will.
Maurice Powe and Josiah Walston at Milwaukee Orientation
Equipping and Sending Others: Secondly, I happen to find myself in a very unique position to equip and send others. Not only am I a leader in my university’s christian spaces, but I also have an opportunity to equip and challenge other men to answer God’s call for them.
For this trip, somehow I happened to be the only male student on our team. And although things ended up working out, I truly desire for more Black men to enter the mission field, and I feel strangely equipped to tackle the challenge.
As I mentioned before, the little boys in Ghana seemed glued to me. I didn’t know why, but in a sense I feel like God was trying to speak to me. At UMass, unlike many other schools, our IMPACT Movement chapter happens to have a lot of men rather than women. Likewise, in this last semester specifically, I happened to build relationships with seven Black freshmen men who all happen to be Christian. Thus, I mention all of this to say that God has placed me in a very unique position in regards to fostering young men around me.
And to drive this point home, the final thing that I will bring up is the ways in which God has challenged me through Josiah Walston.
If you don’t know who Josiah is, Josiah is a sophomore in high school, and he’s a longtime IMPACT kid who I met in Indianapolis. I don’t know what I did in Indy, but whatever I did, me and his family instantly clicked; and to this day, Josiah and I are pretty great friends. In one way or another he feels like a little brother that I’ve never had.
Anyway, this past winter, Josiah had the opportunity to speak at the IMPACT National Conference about his experience with summer missions. His dad, Vaughn Walston, has been a director of many IMPACT trips, so Josiah has gotten the opportunity to experience a lot of missions. Regardless, at the end of his speech, Josiah said some words that shook me.
“Overall summer missions are a really great experience, and who knows, maybe one day one of you guys might lead a trip that I can go on in the future.”
Those words messed me up, “maybe one day one of you will lead a trip that I can go on in the future.” And to add insult to injury, later Josiah informed me that, “oh yeah, I was specifically talking to you.” Thus, although it might be difficult for me to commit to something that significant this early, if it’s apart of God’s will, and if it makes the kid happy, my hands are open to whatever God has in store for me.
For now, it seems like something regarding missions and youth, yet I will keep you all updated on whatever comes next. Regardless, that’s me for now, and if you’ve gotten this far I thank you so much for reading! I’m truly grateful for this amazing opportunity, and I’m incredibly blessed to know all of you. I pray that the Lord continues to bless you, keep you, shine his face toward you, and give you peace. For more updates on me, feel free to poke your head around this site, because I tend to stay busy. But that’s it for now, so thank you so much for reading!
-Maurice Powe
