More than 600 participants spent this summer on mission through the International Mission Board’s Go Impact program. They crossed oceans, navigated unfamiliar cultures, endured long days in city parks and public squares and stepped into conversations with strangers.
What they discovered was more than a mission opportunity. They found confidence, purpose and a deeper understanding of what it means to live on mission.
Traveling to nine countries and serving in 10 host cities, students were trained to engage people with the gospel in practical, reproducible ways. For missionaries on the field, these teams multiplied outreach efforts. For churches, the program became a catalyst for developing young people to be committed Christ-followers.
“We always say our Go Impact teams have two purposes,” said IMB missionary Rob Darnell, who has served in the Netherlands for 20 years with his wife, Katy. “We want to impact the lostness in the world, but we also want to impact the next generation of disciple-makers.”
Training that leads to action
Unlike mission trips focused primarily on service projects, Go Impact emphasizes evangelism training and immediate application.
In the Netherlands, Darnell’s team piloted a student lab format that was observed in a similar setup in other Go Impact locations. Students spent four days learning biblical foundations for evangelism and practicing tools for gospel engagement before putting those techniques into action across the host cities.
Students first learned to start conversations with strangers by asking simple questions about the city. They progressed to prayer walking, offering to pray for people, sharing personal testimonies and eventually presenting the gospel.
“We’re building a conversation,” Darnell explained. “By the fourth day, they’ve learned how to engage someone, transition into the gospel, share the gospel and invite a response.”
In Berlin, church groups trained each morning before heading into parks and public spaces to meet people. Students learned a simple approach called “Care Through Prayer,” which began with a question: How can we pray for you?
Sebastian Connor, student pastor at First Baptist Church Durant, Oklahoma, led five students to participate in the Go Impact program in Berlin, and he saw his group grow in confidence.
“The first step is always the hardest,” Connor said. “The students were astounded by how easy it was to start conversations and how much they actually enjoyed them.”
A student’s unexpected transformation
One example of Go Impact’s influence came through students who initially doubted they could do the work. Heath McClure, youth pastor at First Baptist Church Chickasha, Oklahoma, led seven students to Germany. Among them was a teen named Kanaan.
“Kanaan is pretty shy,” McClure said. “He would tell you that himself.”
McClure, who previously served as a Journeyman with the IMB, wondered whether the naturally reserved student would be comfortable initiating conversations with strangers. By the end of the trip, those concerns had disappeared.
“We’d come back every day, and people would tell me, ‘Kanaan talked to everyone,’” McClure recalled. “If he got rejected, he didn’t stop. He just went on to the next person and kept going.”
Finding people who are searching
IMB missionaries in Europe repeatedly emphasized that this area of the world can be a challenging place for gospel conversations. Yet amid many rejections, students encountered people actively searching for hope and purpose.
One afternoon in Berlin, McClure and another team member approached a man sitting alone in a park. When they asked if there was anything they could pray for, his response surprised them.
“There are so many things you could pray for,” he said.
The man, visiting from Milan, Italy, explained that he had spent the previous week pursuing pleasure and nightlife but was left feeling empty. He had come to the park specifically to think about life’s meaning and purpose.
The team shared how Christ offers lasting purpose and hope, prayed with him and gave him a copy of the Gospel of Luke. The man said he would read it on his trip back to Italy.
In the Netherlands, a student on the Go Impact team was battling illness. During an outreach event, she sat down to rest on a park bench. Next to her sat a young Iranian student who had recently left Islam and had been searching for answers about God.
A simple conversation led to dinner with the mission team, attendance at a local church service and participation in a church outreach event.
Most importantly, the young man whom they called John connected with a local pastor and church community capable of continuing discipleship long after the American students returned home.
“That’s the whole point,” Darnell said. “We’re working with local churches so connections can continue.”
Fruit beyond the summer
In Hungary, the students’ reach extended beyond individual conversations.
IMB missionary Lamar Schubert, who helped host youth labs in Budapest, Bucharest and Riga, said 240 participants recorded more than 14,000 gospel approaches, over 2,700 gospel presentations and 73 professions of faith.
One notable story involved Charlie, who became a Christian earlier this year. Students approached him in a Budapest park reading his Bible and discovered he had no church community and little understanding of his next steps.
While Schubert and the team were talking with Charlie, another group approached two Hungarian young women whom they believed were ready to follow Jesus. However, their English was limited, so Schubert sent Charlie over to join the conversation and translate.
“I never knew that I could share what Jesus had done in my life, and I could share it with other people and that they would say ‘yes’ too,” Charlie said.
Before summer ended, IMB team members baptized him.
Charlie’s non-believing mother attended the baptism service, heard her son’s testimony and listened as believers explained the gospel.
Now, missionaries continue to connect with Charlie and his family while exploring opportunities for new church planting work in the area.
“We’re hopeful this is the beginning of a church plant and a new network of relationships,” Schubert said.
A lasting impact
For missionaries, the value of Go Impact extends far beyond one summer.
Students return home with practical evangelism experience. Church members become eager to engage their communities. Some participants begin exploring long-term missionary service.
Schubert noted that several students have already applied to return as interns next summer, while others are considering future service as Journeymen.
Meanwhile, churches are adapting what students learned overseas for use at home. Some have launched regular evangelism initiatives and are training others using the same methods practiced on the field.
Multiplication effect
For Darnell, that multiplication effect is one of the greatest benefits.
“This isn’t just an experience for your youth,” he said. “It’s a chance for them to see where their role in the Kingdom could be, whether that’s overseas or in their local community.”
The summer’s numbers were impressive. More than 600 students and leaders participated worldwide. They conducted thousands of gospel conversations. New believers have followed through with baptism. Local churches felt strengthened.
Perhaps the greatest result cannot be measured. Students returned home convinced that sharing the gospel is not reserved for missionaries, pastors or extroverts. It is something obedient believers do wherever God places them.
For more information about IMB’s Go Impact program visit imb.org/goimpact.
Some names were changed for security.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Chris Doyle and originally published by the International Mission Board.
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