The idea was so uncomfortable at first. Emma Kate Taylor didn’t even know if it would work.
“I didn’t want to be seen as weird,” she said.
But she and the other Summer Sojourner missionaries couldn’t get inside the university campus in Lima, Peru, to meet people and share the gospel. A new idea was worth a try.
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Taylor grabbed a whiteboard and wrote “Practice English with me” on it. She made her way through the crowded area and held up her sign with a smile — a silent invitation amid the noise.
“Surprisingly, people were super engaging!” she said. “We often stood there for hours, and it wasn’t uncommon to constantly be in a conversation.”
Many Peruvian students wanted to come to the United States, she said, and were excited to practice English with native speakers.
Mateo was one of these students who paused to talk with Taylor and her teammates.
“He was in a hard point in life,” she said. The team listened to Mateo, shared the gospel with him, and met with him throughout the next few weeks. They prayed. Before they met with him, they fasted, which Taylor said allowed her to be guided by the Holy Spirit in conversations with Mateo.
“I labored in prayer over this guy,” she said.
But the weeks were passing, the team was preparing to return to the United States, and Mateo hadn’t yet chosen to follow Jesus. Then, on the last day of their 8-week missionary experience in Lima, Mateo told Taylor and the other summer missionaries he had come to a conclusion about the gospel and a relationship with Jesus: “I want this,” he said.
“How kind of the Lord to show us this fruit on the last day,” Taylor said.
That fruit was already producing more. Mateo was already sharing the gospel with his dad. Whether holding up a whiteboard to invite conversation, sitting and talking with women, or praying on public transportation, Taylor did it all on mission alongside an International Mission Board team as a Summer Sojourner.
Summer Sojourners are college students and young adults who walk alongside IMB missionaries, learning and participating in missions, for eight weeks during the summer in the Americas. This summer, Southern Baptists sent 58 young adults to serve as Sojourners with the IMB in Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Mexico, Panama, and Peru.
Prayerwalking into unexpected gospel opportunities
Like Taylor, the Summer Sojourners in Mexico, also learned what it means to labor in prayer.
“The most important task we assigned the Summer Sojourners has been prayerwalking — our team strategy as it relates to the core missionary task,” Lara Koon, an IMB team member in Mexico, said.
She and other IMB missionaries showed the Sojourners how to use Bible verses written on index cards to guide their prayers as they walked. They taught them to stay open to conversations with people along the way — and “how to go from casual to spiritual and then to a gospel conversation,” Koon said.
On one of these prayerwalks, Lee Lawson and several other Sojourner young men came upon an alley full of drunken men. Lawson and his teammates stopped walking, but they didn’t stop praying. They introduced themselves as missionaries and began talking about the gospel.
“They were the most honest to talk with,” Lawson said, because the men knew they weren’t living the way they should.
Two of the men were so interested in Jesus, they stepped out of the alley and led the missionaries to their home to learn more.
“As we were walking away, I turned around and saw the shock on the other men’s faces,” Lawson added. “Their buddies had just walked away from them to hear about Jesus.”
Prayerwalking that alley became a regular ministry among men whom, Lawson said, “I’d be scared to talk to at home.” The experience challenged Lawson not to let fear keep him from sharing with people back in the United States.
Being present and making a difference
While sharing the gospel with people who didn’t know Jesus, the Sojourners also made a difference in the lives of local believers and the local church.
“Getting to spend time with local believers there — it was amazing,” Katherine Garcia said.
When Garcia arrived in Buenos Aires, Argentina, a new friend invited her to a local church, and Garcia began attending on Sunday mornings. The church didn’t have a formal young adult group, she said, but Garcia started inviting the other young adults to go out after each Sunday service and do something fun together. They still do, even now that she’s back in the United States.
Another Argentine believer often hung out with Garcia “like a normal friend,” she described. Garcia told her about the ministry she and her team were doing. Toward the end of the trip, the young woman told Garcia that hearing about their ministry was inspiring. Now the friend wants to attend seminary in Argentina, do missions and evangelize the city.
“I wasn’t actively doing anything,” Garcia commented. “I was just being present. I had no idea the Lord was working in that moment.”
Lasting impact
The Summer Sojourners’ work mattered far beyond the summer. Local believers and IMB teams are still on the ground, ministering to the lost and to the local church.
Koon said the indigenous village where the Summer Sojourners served was new territory for her IMB team in Mexico. As the Sojourners prayed through schools, stores, recreation areas and restaurants, they took notes and journaled about what they saw and who they met.
“This will prove invaluable to us as we grow in our knowledge about the village and work to connect with people they have encountered,” Koon said. “Spending the summer in an indigenous village is no small task, but we have seen these young adults grow to love the Lord and others in deep ways. Praise the Lord for them!”
The Sojourners were also a blessing to IMB missionary families. Two days a week, they spent intentional time discipling the missionary kids on Koon’s team.
“I am indebted to the way the Summer Sojourners have ministered to my family this summer,” Koon said. “Their influence on my children will be remembered.”
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Emily Hall and originally published by the International Mission Board.
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