In a world of missions it is easy to get in a routine. And for us at Next Step our routine often hinges around a packed summer of nearly 150 mission trips, 150 summer staff and over 6,000 students. But we just wrapped up another time of year that is almost equally as exciting and Kingdom impacting.

Every February we enter into what we call our “OST” or “Off- Season Trip” schedule.   February and March are jam-packed with an exciting 8 weeks of mission trips all across the world. Although we only lead one or two trips per week (compared to 15 per week in the summer), the 8 weeks are none-the-less filled with the same construction, worship and excitement of what God is doing as the summer.

As we wrap-up our 2016 OST, here’s a quick overview of what God has been doing!

• Next Step led 7 week-long trips to Haiti, Texas and Los Angeles
• 38 crazy college kids took either their spring break, time off work, or skipped a little class to lead trips
• 210 high school and middle school students attended these trips over their Spring Breaks
• Teams repaired/ built 12 homes, two gardens, and two chicken coupes
• These OST trips encouraged consistent and sustainable relationships in our partner communities during this “slower” time of year
• All OST trips featured our “Greater Than” worship series with speaker/ author Francis Chan

Thank you to all of our participants, leaders, staff and supporters that make the OST season possible! This is an incredible time of year for our ministry and we are grateful for the energy and commitment it takes to live missionally this time of year!

Blessings,
Nick