Five students from the Crowder College BSU went to Toledo, Oregon from March 12-16, 2023 to aid Toledo Baptist Church in revitalizing their church in partnership with Ron Allen and the Oregon Mission Coalition. Their efforts focused on repairing and beautifying the church building to make it more useful for the church’s needs and hospitable to the congregation. They repainted the church, helped remodel the nursery and toddler classrooms, and worked on the parsonage.  

We asked what the biggest challenge of the trip was and what fruit they saw come from the trip. Here are their responses:

• Tyler Kelly: “I think the biggest challenge might have been being flexible when plans changed. The best fruit out of the trip was getting used to being a useful part of a team and getting used to working well with peers.”
• Wyatt Patterson: “I think the biggest challenge for me was stepping out of my comfort zone with others. A fruit that came from the trip is realizing that there is always ministry in every aspect of life.
• Hadley McBride: “I think a challenge for me was being flexible when things changed instead of getting disappointed or frustrated. The fruit of that was continuing to learn to serve joyfully. A lesson I still need to master.”
• Jaden Steele: “I would say the fruit of this trip was that all of our eyes were opened as to how lost our country truly is along with the challenge of having a broken heart for those in need of Christ and a willing heart to help them.”
• Matti Donnohue: “The biggest challenge for me was trusting others to complete the tasks that I was unable to complete alone. The fruit that I got out of the trip was realizing that door to door ministry is not the only way you can reach others, sometimes the simplest way to reach others is to lend a helping hand.”