All praise and glory to God, thousands of students are coming to faith, serving God, and loving extravagantly on mission trips! Looking back on the first four weeks of the summer, many students, adults, and community members have come to faith in Christ. It is Jesus who brings hope, freedom, and healing. He repairs what has been broken and restores what has been lost.

At Next Step, we are overflowing with thankfulness for the mighty way God moves. He is faithful, reliable, true, and absolutely worthy of all praise. Every detail, of every mission trip, every week of the summer is all about Jesus. From the smallest detail to the biggest projects it all comes down to this one thing: it is all for God’s glory. Day in, day out, we echo the words of the Psalmist:

“Not to us, Lord, not to us, but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness.” Psalm 115:1.

Much of the hard work comes from the hearts of 100+ amazing summer staff members! Each summer staff team works hard to serve alongside communities nation wide and abroad, while building relationships and facilitating construction projects with student volunteers. Every week of the summer, hundreds of middle school and high school students attend the mission trips and look up to the many thoughtful, caring, Jesus-loving young adults leading them in the hard work.

Not only do the summer staff teams lead construction projects during the day, but they come together to lead worship in the evenings. To help communicate the truth of Christ, every night the staff teams feature 15 minutes of a full-length film titled, Shattered. It is our prayer that this film and the nightly worship services would help students to shatter the lies of the world and unveil the truth in Christ.

We are humbled God would allow us to be a part of something much bigger than ourselves – the growing kingdom of God. With full hearts of faith we lean on his promises and trust that he will fulfill his purposes on every mission trip and beyond. We understand and trust that nothing can be accomplished apart from Christ!

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” Ephesians 3:20-21