Frontline Involvement: Global Encounters 2026
Designed to Engage
At MBU, we want our students to recognize their responsibility for Great-Commission involvement and see opportunities for ministry both locally and globally, which is why we established Global Encounters (GE). Each summer we offer controlled group encounters designed that help students experience missions firsthand, serve cross-culturally, and hone evangelism skills. We encourage students to participate in at least one GE trip. Three groups met that goal this summer, each using a different platform to share the gospel.
Ministering Through Music
Team Canada traveled to Nova Scotia for a full itinerary of gospel opportunities—participating in a music conference, assisting with a Bible camp, holding concerts as a means of outreach in church and open-air settings, and providing music and a speaker for a ladies tea. Additional opportunities arose to lead a children’s Bible club and participate in a nursing home ministry.
For many students, raising funds for the trip is a common concern, as it was for Louise Harris. “The week before we were supposed to leave,” she explains, “I still had a large amount of support to raise. My church took up a love offering, and it was almost the exact amount I needed.” Hailing from the Maritimes, she adds, “It was a blessing to get to give back to my community.”
Teams often find their perspective of missions reshaped once on the field. Naomi Bolender sensed this and shares, “It made me realize how much the missionaries pour into the ministry.” The partnership between host pastors impressed Kaleb Lettau. “I saw a different kind of mission field than what we normally imagine,” he comments. “In Nova Scotia, evangelism happens through relationships and long-term connections.”
Faculty member Melody Steinbart, a veteran of GE trips, marvels at how the Lord brings together the right team members for each location.
Ministering to Spiritual Needs through Physical Care
Our senior nursing students traveled to Albania in southeastern Europe. Though Albania’s economy is slowly rebounding, the country remains one of Europe’s poorest nations, having been fettered by communism for more than four decades. It gave student nurses an ideal setting in which to provide compassionate care.
Joining an Operation Renewed Hope team hosted by local missionaries Michael and Jennifer Fiocchi (MBU alumni), they held clinics in the southeastern cities of Kucove and Berat, providing medical, dental, and optometry care. As patients and their companions awaited prescriptions, team members presented the gospel. As a result, local churches gained many new contacts.
Lynnzie D’Andrea enjoyed the recap at the end of each day when the group gathered to reflect on new experiences, unexpected challenges, and blessings. “This simple reflection time,” she says, “would bring to light all the things God was doing in me and my classmates and would inspire us to pursue excellence.”
The trip’s highlight for Elizabeth Stille, director of clinical and lab experiences and group leader, was watching students develop a ministry mindset while using their nursing skills. She prays they will retain that outlook wherever they serve in the future.
Ministering Through Language
For the third time, Mrs. Angela Morris, chair of the Department of Humanities, and her husband, Pastor Dwayne Morris, led a team to Tuxtla, Mexico. Tuxtla, in Chiapas, Mexico’s southernmost state bordering Guatemala, is home to Pastor Morris’ brother, Dan. He has served there for nearly 50 years, planting churches, starting Christian schools, and establishing Chiapas Baptist Bible Institute.
Building on that long-established work, Team Mexico taught English as a second language (ESL), developing relationships with public school students and staff. Despite language barriers, it was gratifying for the team to effectively communicate, impacting more than 450 students each day.
Makenna Russo found the trip faith-stretching. She states, “I saw the Lord strengthen my trust in Him by helping me step out of my comfort zone.” On her first trip abroad, her fears were allayed by the hospitality of the host church. These trips also stretch students in other ways. Haddie Bartlett, who admits to being shy, noted a social contrast, saying, “Mexicans tend to be outgoing and fun. I loved that culture.” By observing them, she hoped to learn how to be more open.
Dr. and Mrs. David Saxon also accompanied this group. Mrs. Jamie Saxon was delighted by the students’ willingness to do whatever was asked of them. Likewise, she recalls, “We were grateful for the reception given to us by the schools.” She was amazed at how freely school administrators allowed the team to share their testimonies.
Student Reflections
When asked if they would recommend GE trips, team members responded affirmatively: “I would 100%,” “absolutely,” “definitely.” Lynnzie D’Andrea states it well, saying, “You get the opportunity to directly participate in something bigger than yourself. Everyone on the team is important to the overall mission. No matter what your role is, you can be confident knowing you are forwarding the work of Christ.”
Their enthusiasm reflects the central purpose of GE—to inspire lifelong commitment to missions and evangelism by firsthand involvement.
These trips are open to all MBU students. Learn more here.
If you would like to give so that students can go, do so here: mbu.edu/give/.