Every fall, a new group of young people says goodbye to everything familiar and steps out to chase after God in places they have never been. This fall, one of those groups is Gap Year Squad 1. Over the next nine months, they will live and serve across five countries: Guatemala, South Korea, Vietnam, South Africa, and Eswatini.

Behind each of them is a family that raised them, prayed over them, and is now learning to hold them a little more loosely. This post is for you, and for everyone who wants to walk with this squad. Meet them, see where they are headed, and find out how you can lift them up while they are gone. They begin in Guatemala. Over the years I've seen that it's the perfect place for young people to begin their journeys.

Why Guatemala Is the Right First Step

Guatemala is home to our Adventures base. The base sits near Antigua. Its mission is to come alongside Guatemalans and help the local Church meet the needs of those in their area. They have the ministry of reconciliation that Paul describes in 2 Corinthians 5, the idea that God has handed His people the work of drawing others back to Him.

The team distributes water filters to families whose only water is contaminated with bacteria and parasites. A single forty-five dollar filter can give a household clean water for more than ten years. They install fuel-efficient stoves that pull the smoke out of homes where women have cooked over open flames for years. This makes their homes safer for their children and it cuts their firewood use dramatically.

Our discipleship work goes deep. The base hosts monthly Church Activation conferences with local churches. It also holds Beauty for Ashes events for women, and leads village Bible studies and discipleship classes throughout the year. And when a Gap Year squad like this one arrives, the base pours into them directly through Deep Dive Bible studies, Activation Days, one-on-one mentoring, Word and Worship nights, and real ministry out in the surrounding villages.

Years ago our Guatemala base sensed God saying that Guatemala was going to begin sending missionaries to other nations. Our team trains up Guatemalan believers to become disciple-makers and missionaries in their own communities and other countries.

Your kids are not going to Guatemala to rescue anyone. They are going to lock arms with a local Church that is already on the move.

You can see all of this for yourself here: Adventures Guatemala Base.

The Leaders on the Ground in Guatemala

Your sons and daughters will be in steady, experienced hands from the day they land. The base is led by Mae Moguel, its director, along with base elders Greg and Kim Smith and a full team of long-term missionaries and Guatemalan staff. Among them are Gabe and Kyndal Sanchez, who coordinate Church Activation, and Junior and Rake DeGomez, who handle regional logistics and Beauty for Ashes. These are people who love this country, know this work, and have welcomed squad after squad before this one.

Meet the Squad

The Leaders Walking With Them

Every squad is shepherded by a team of leaders who live life shoulder-to-shoulder with these young adults for the whole nine months. They lead debriefs, walk through the hard days, and help each participant hear God for themselves.

How You Can Pray

Prayer is the single most important thing you can do for this squad, and the requests below come straight from the team themselves.

• Unity and community found in the squad

• Peace over anxiety in leaving home embarking on the 9 month journey

• Hearts and ears to seek God consistently and slow down to know His voice

• Health and safety in travels

• God’s peace and covering in experiencing a lot of change both spiritually and contextually through the year

• Hannah Pequingot: Traveling to her cousin's wedding during training camp and is asking for safety over her travels there and back, and low stress in that transition.

• Kiryn Schaer: Wisdom, peace, and guidance over the next month of preparation for all the racers, their families, and for the communities this squad will be serving throughout the year!

• Ella Briscoe: For the squad to seek God in every area of their lives for the next 9 months (and beyond). That they would encounter Him in everything and in every part of life and learning to listen to His whispers instead of only expecting Him to move in great big ways or signs. For her specifically, to see God provide in fundraising and He be the one to get her to the World Race!  

Follow Along with Them

One of the best parts of this season is that you do not have to wonder how they are doing. This squad will be blogging from the field, sharing stories, photos, and what God is teaching them in real time. Following along is a gift to them; nothing encourages a young missionary like knowing people back home are reading, praying, and cheering.

Bookmark the blog page for World Race: You will be able to access each participant's personal blog from this page.

So pray for them. Read their updates. Send them a note when God does something you read about. You are part of this squad's story too.

We are honored to send them, and honored to have you praying alongside us.