by Rylee Byers
Being called to a mission trip is one thing. Hearing “no” when you share your faith is another.
For Oscar Rodriguez, a sophomore theology and ministry major and co-chair of Global Outreach ministries, a two-and-a-half-week trip to France this past summer challenged his understanding of what missions could look like.
Rodriguez recalled praying for an opportunity to share the gospel in English rather than French.
When he offered a Bible to a man walking by, another person began screaming at them and put the Bible back into Rodriguez’s hands. Discouraged, Rodriguez questioned what had happened. Then another man approached him and said, “I believe, I believe, pray for me.”
As Rodriguez and his team stepped out in faith through moments like this, they reflected on Isaiah 55:11: “It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.”
The verse reminded them that their efforts to share the gospel would not be wasted.
“When we hand out a Bible and they do accept it, it’s there for a reason,” Rodriguez said.
“God did that for a purpose. It’s not going to go unwanted. It’s there for a purpose, whether they read it at that moment or they read it later years down the road. And so that’s our prayer that the Lord will work through all.”
“A Global Outreach trip is considered a short-term mission experience,” said Melissa Stroud, director of the Avery T. Willis Center for Global Mobilization.
“The goal is to meet a need that has been requested by the field, which is usually a missionary, but sometimes it could also come from the local church body.”
The program seeks to connect students’ skills and areas of study with the needs of communities and ministries already doing long-term work.
Along the way, students experience cross-cultural life, evangelism and leadership.
That work looks different depending on the location and the needs of each host ministry.
Stroud said students are encouraged to draw on their academic disciplines, career interests and individual skills to support the work of local churches and missionaries.
“We have this huge wide expanse of expertise, right? As a university,” Stroud said.
“Any university does. And then we have the heart and compassion and love and desire for people to know Jesus. So, we couple those things together.”
For example, OBU’s Thailand trip focuses on disability ministry. Students studying education, physical therapy and occupational therapy can apply their training while serving at a home for children with disabilities.
Working alongside faculty, they can bring knowledge and resources that support the ministry’s ongoing work.
“Our view sometimes of short-term trips is we want to come and we do things for someone else, but it’s actually things they could do themselves,” Stroud said.
“So what can OBU bring that is new and unique that expands the work of the global church?”
The emphasis on partnership means students do not arrive in a community and decide for themselves what it needs.
According to Stroud, Global Outreach follows the direction of missionaries and local churches and serves within ministries already established there.
Over time, those partnerships can grow. As OBU teams return to serve alongside particular ministries, students and mentors build relationships with their partners abroad.
Returning students can also see how the ministry develops beyond a single trip. Stroud calls this the “Ministry of Return.”
“I think one thing that students experience is gaining friendships with our brothers and sisters in Christ around the world with Jesus alone as our basis for that friendship,” Stroud said.
“While there is no language. The cultures are different. We do different things. Our lives are completely different. But because of who we are in Christ, once you know a brother or sister around the world, that changes your heart for the nations.”
Stroud said those relationships can challenge assumptions students may have formed about other cultures through media or limited personal experience.
Referencing Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s TED Talk The Danger of a Single Story, she emphasized the importance of seeing people and communities as more than a single narrative.
Students begin preparing for those encounters weeks before departure.
Stroud said the program includes about 45 hours of training over 10 weeks. Students attend weekly orientation sessions, meet with their teams, participate in a retreat and complete an evangelism weekend before leaving the country.
The learning continues once they arrive. Teams hold daily debriefs so students can talk through cultural differences, exhaustion and unexpected challenges with their teammates and mentors.
Stroud said mentors help students make sense of difficult experiences rather than become overwhelmed by them.
Rodriguez experienced that process firsthand in France.
His team worked long days, including early morning shifts, but also set aside time to rest, worship and discuss what they were learning.
“We had 4 a.m. shifts, 6 a.m. shifts, all those things,” Rodriguez said.
“We had a time in the middle of the week to just rest and refresh, you know? Worship, talk about what we learned about, getting refilled, you know, for the next few days.”
For Rodriguez, exhaustion became part of the spiritual experience rather than simply an obstacle.
“You can see the Lord more evident when we were exhausted and just pouring our hearts out,” he said.
“Every day we poured everything out. And at night, the Lord was able to rejuvenate us and get us back to going.”
The impact of the trip lasted beyond Rodriguez’s two-and-a-half weeks in France.
He returned with what he described as “a different heart for the nations” and a greater desire to understand and reach people whose beliefs differ from his own.
“I think [if every student went on a Global Outreach trip] they would become more passionate about escaping their normal circumstances and purposely deciding to reach outside of their bubble and help expand God’s kingdom,” Stroud said.
“It will help with any career someone’s going into, if they can relate better cross-culturally, they’re just going to be a better person.”
Stroud encouraged students considering a Global Outreach trip to talk with someone who has already participated.
Applying, she said, starts a conversation; it does not commit a student to a trip.
“You’d regret not doing it than regret actually doing it,” Rodriguez said.
“There’s so much joy and learning that comes from Global Outreach trips.”
Students can find trip information and an application link on OBU’s Global Outreach trip opportunities page.
They can also email Stroud at melissa.stroud@okbu.edu or Global Outreach logistics coordinator Rachel Stewart at rachel.stewart@okbu.edu.
