V180
V180

It may seem like a crazy, extreme adventure. Some may even call you mad. That hasn’t stopped Carl and many other teenagers across Australia and New Zealand from getting stuck into God’s business around the globe. Carl was 16, when he put up his hand to go on a short-term mission trip.

“I was willing, yet slightly nervous as to what to expect.” The plan was simple, the team would be journeying out to a remote village in Cambodia where they would build a school dorm, and then fly to Hanoi with the goal to encourage the churches established there. But as all adventures go… Carl got more than the task he signed up for.

“That summer God became real.” The more God blessed others through Carl and his team, the more God revealed Himself to Carl. “I knew there was something, some sense inside of me that knew God really did exist and cared for me, but I had no idea how. I personally didn’t know or feel God in any sort of way at all.” That was before God did a mighty work in him.

A highlight of his trip was staying in the wilderness of the Kampong Chhnang. “I relished the opportunity to see and experience the Cambodian daily life”. With the building completed they were on the road again, destination Vietnam. While the country prohibits public evangelism, the team were still able to have an impact on the people around them, both tourists and locals.

“I learnt the importance of not limiting God’s power with my own limitations and doubts, instead trusting in the power of prayer. And I was encouraged by the humility and genuineness of the believers I met along the way.”

“Many times I am still struck with anxiety; being far too afraid to do anything. But now I can fight it, because I know that God loves me and that I have my life secured in Him. So when those moments of depression and negative thoughts try to persuade me that I’m nothing, I can just remember back to the days, when God said ‘I’m something’.”