I know what people are thinking. Starbucks? What a waste of money. Ok, not everyone. Those who love cold coffee drinks would argue that it’s worth it. The truth is a trip to Starbucks is not something that I make a habit of. An opportunity to connect with one of our Hope Program students, however,… Read more
Last Saturday, when the final week of summer short-term groups arrived, someone handed me a bank envelope of $800 and said it was a gift to the ministry to be used however it was needed. I immediately pressed, “Would you like this spent on a teen in our program? At one of the Rio squatters’… Read more
Prior to my first mission trip to Back2Back Mexico, I asked my friend to teach me a few phrases in Spanish to make sure that I could communicate with the children at the children’s homes. One phrase that I worked really hard on was “Me llamo es . . . ” (or “My name is… Read more
The last night that I was in Monterrey, before communion Matt Massey shared some awesome insight to Jesus’ words at the Lord’s supper. He spoke about how a bridegroom builds a house in order to have His bride to be in marriage. “He is finishing a house to come get His bride,” Matt said. Since… Read more
Back2Back summer interns gain practical hands-on ministry experience by serving at our sites in Monterrey, Mexico; Jos, Nigeria; or Hyderabad, India. Interns work alongside Back2Back staff members and assist behind-the-scenes to host summer mission trip groups. Interns help to facilitate daily work projects at local orphanages and outreaches to impoverished communities, contributing to our mission… Read more
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord. “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” Psalm 91: 1-2 Shelter is the theme of this year’s Back2Back devotional. Every group member, along with staff,… Read more
At the beginning of this year I decided that I wanted to take my running to a new level. I’m still what most would call novice, but I decided that I wanted to run some local 10K races, that I wanted to run a half marathon, and that ultimately I wanted to run a full… Read more
How many times a day do you look at yourself in the mirror? Catch a glimpse in the rear view mirror? Check that your tie is straight? Stand sideways to see if you look thinner? For five months, we lived in an apartment that did not have a mirror. Other basic living needs always seemed… Read more
This summer the Back2Back staff is reading Crazy Love, by Francis Chan. Chan urges readers to resist the temptation to be satisfied with the status quo and instead respond to God’s invitation into a passionate love relationship. He challenges readers with a call to forsake complacency and apathy and follow God wholeheartedly. Here is an… Read more
I have learned that my definition of submitting to authority and God’s definition is oftentimes very different. God’s definition of submission is to voluntarily arrange yourself under authority. When we do that, we cooperate with a leader in order to ultimately accomplish a much larger work than we could ever do on our own. In… Read more