Recruiting and Reconnecting in Minnesota!

What does it look like for me to be "on the road"?  Here's a glimpse into my recent recruiting trip.

Recruiting at Bethel University, UNWSP, and Crown College!

Setting up a TeachBeyond display.  This is my "home base" for the day.  It didn't take too many recruiting events to establish a routine for assembling the banners, brochures, and rack cards for people to peruse.  I never know what conversations will happen at the table, but I pray that God will provide people for me to connect with throughout the day.  Whether or not these interactions lead to completed inquiry cards and applications, I love the divine appointments to listen to their life stories, and speak truth and purpose into people's perspectives about the future (Proverbs 3:5-6).

Speaking to classes.  Although it's not possible on every campus, I welcome the opportunity to share with education majors about TeachBeyond.  I tell them the story of my uncertainty about serving overseas, and many nod their heads as they resonate with the roller coaster of indecision.  Conveying God's work in our partner schools is even easier to do since the mobilization trip to Southeast Asia last month!

Meeting with "influencers."  Talking with interested individuals is great, but establishing connections with professors, student life staff, and career services representatives can be even more valuable.  These "influencers" (as we call them) have the potential to impact many more students than I can reach in a few hours of on-campus recruiting!  It's great to be able to leave information for this person to pass on to their networks, which has ripple effects into the future.

Connecting with church leaders in the area.  Whether from the home church of a current TeachBeyond member or a personal friend of mine, I thoroughly enjoy talking with missions representatives from local churches.  It is helpful to learn more about their programs, such as focus people groups and the process for becoming a mission partner, as well as share about opportunities for their congregations to get involved with TeachBeyond.

Spending "down time" with friends.  On the trip to Minnesota specifically, reconnecting with friends was an added bonus!  I stayed with a family I know from Kandern whose college-aged daughter was in my small group at BFA.  It was wonderful to eat together, reminisce about memories from Germany, and hear about what has happened in the last year and a half.  It was so special to give their daughter Katie a hug, hear stories about college life, and meet some of her friends!

Reconnecting with Katie was a highlight of the trip!

I also had dinner with a former BFA co-worker, one of my first friends in Kandern back in 2010!  It was delightful to catch up with Emily and see her neighborhood in the Twin Cities.

What a difference 6 years makes!

Ultimately, recruiting is a seed-sowing adventure (1 Cor. 3:6-7).  Post-trip emailing and periodic reconnecting - the "watering" of seeds - are time-consuming but worthwhile tasks.  I never know which conversations will grow into serious commitment to overseas service.  Thankfully, God does!  I'm grateful that this work is His, that I partner with the omniscient Father who is ever drawing His children into deeper obedience and trust... which sometimes looks like joining TeachBeyond.

Beautiful sunrise over Crown College!