Mission trips are fun. They are a time for endless frisbee games. They are a time for you to get closer with your group. They are a time for you to get sick on all the candy you eat on the ride home. Sometimes though, all the fun of mission trips cause us to forget the real reason why we came, the Gospel.

That wasn't the case with this recent Dallas trip. Of course the group wanted to play games and have fun with the kids in the neighborhoods we went too, but they so much wanted more for those same kids to know who Jesus was. It was so encouraging to hear them in the first night of feedback say that they wanted to present the Gospel better. They wanted Jesus's name to be proclaimed, not just mentioned.

Over the course of the week, they worked on ways to help those they met understand the power of Jesus's love. It was tough at some points because a good portion of the kids didn't speak English. That didn't stop them though. They used some skits and tracts to help they refugee kids know more about Jesus. It was incredible to watch them sitting in small groups telling the other kids about why they love God so much.

We were honestly and pleasantly surprised to see how much this group got the importance of spreading the Gospel. Since they were a youth group, we thought they would have to be constantly pried away from their cell phones and games to head to our next ministry site. That was never the case. They knew this trip was more than just fun and games.