Beyond What We Could Ask or Imagine: God’s Mighty Work in LOVE Europe
I dropped off the final participant of LOVE Europe at the airport in Madrid after our three-day debrief from their week-long mission trip. As I got in the car with Hannah from SEND Slovenia, I just looked at her, with tears forming in my eyes, and told her how I was just in awe and shock. I had thought that the trip would go well, but what I experienced and heard from the participants during debrief was way beyond what I could have ever imagined.
From idea to reality
It all started a few years ago when my SEND Spain team leader, Debbie, handed me her journal from the 2012 LOVE Europe short-term trip. She presented me with the idea of doing a short-term mission trip for European youth to serve alongside our different SEND missionaries throughout Europe. I was immediately sold on the idea as I started to read through the journal and talk ideas with Debbie because it was not just a trip, but the idea of training, debriefing, and continued mobilization along with the mission trip—something I personally have had both positive and negative experiences with over the years, and I am passionate about doing well with the youth that I work with in Spain.
I started presenting the idea to different SEND co-workers who work with young people in their countries and whom I thought would like to be involved. Next thing I knew, we had planned LOVE Europe 2024, and 16 different European youths were serving alongside SEND missionaries in four different countries. After their week-long ministry trips everyone headed to Spain for a three-day debrief at my teammate’s house in Guadalajara
Hearts changed and minds opened
Upon arrival, I heard surprising feedback as I was talking with one of the youths who had served in Sigüenza, Spain. He talked about how when the team arrived, they were all so eager to serve and offered to do as much as they could. But after a few days, he realized that it was not helpful and that he needed to listen to what was needed. Sometimes we can make assumptions or be too much when we just need to stop and listen to how to best help. I just smiled as I told him that was a big thing to realize and be able to understand, as many people miss that on mission trips.
The following day when talking with one of my fellow missionaries, he told me how his youth had shared in their small group discussion time that this one-week trip had changed her. She had doubted her value before, but through this trip and her teammates, she learned how she was a precious daughter of God. She was not the same person who had left for the trip a week before.
That evening we enjoyed a worship night where we spent hours singing and worshiping God in various languages. The youth switched around playing instruments, suggesting songs, and teaching each other worship songs from their home countries. I personally loved when we would sing a song that has been translated into each language, and every person would sing in their native tongue. It felt like just a slice of heaven listening to these young people worship our amazing God.
Throughout the debrief the team of SEND missionaries (Brooke, Alyson, Brett, Hannah, Johann, Giles, and Debbie) held sessions with the participants on different topics: Christianity in a post-modern Europe and prayer for the people we encountered, re-entry and sharing with others about their experiences, and next steps for where God is calling them now. One night, we also shared our stories as missionaries and how we were called to full-time missions and answered any questions the participants had. One of the biggest pieces of feedback we heard from them was how much they enjoyed hearing our stories and just getting real and practical conversations about what missions is like. Multiple people expressed interest in doing another mission trip and even possibly praying about whether God is calling them to full-time ministry.
Now, almost two months later, I again give praise to God for what he did in LOVE Europe 2024. God is moving and working in Europe and in the lives of the young people who participated in LOVE Europe. I look forward to seeing how God continues to move in each of these young people’s lives and how they will make an impact for his kingdom. Thank you to everyone who prayed and supported this mission trip. Join us in continuing to pray for these 16 participants and for Europe.
We hope to be able to organize another LOVE Europe mission trip in the summer of 2026, but we cannot do it alone. We need your prayers and your support! If you would like to be a part of what God is doing in Europe, please consider giving at https://www.send.org/give/projects/love-europe.
Contributed by Brooke Nagel, SEND Spain
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