Summer Missions 2026: Send-Off
At 4 am this morning, our two summer mission teams loaded up vehicles and headed out to Dallas Fort Worth International Airport to catch their flights to Chile and Paraguay. Please be in prayer as they begin this month-long time of service to the Lord and His people!
A vital aspect of ACF’s ministry is the desire to be and to welcome God’s church wherever we are, and one of the places this is most evident is our summer mission trips. During these missions, our hope is to humbly come alongside the work of the Church already moving in the areas we serve and to share life with them. We seek to shine the light of Christ to all we come in contact with. We know only Jesus can deliver, save, justify, and redeem the world, so we boldly and courageously go into the world proclaiming His great name and wondrous story.
Our Paraguay mission team will be based in Asuncion, the capital city. While it’s summer here in Louisiana, it’ll be winter there, so the team will be visiting women’s and men’s jails to deliver warm clothes, as well as talking with inmates and teaching them artistic or practical skills. They will also be working with a ministry whose name translates to “With a Smile, You Live Better,” which feeds impoverished children, helps them with their schoolwork, and makes sure they have socks for the winter. Other work will include repair projects at a home for orphans and foster children; partnering with the native Maká community; delivering supplies, food, crafts and games, and dental and medical care to an impoverished neighborhood; and teaching English classes to children. One of our students who plans to be a missionary doctor will even be able to teach a first aid class to a group of women from a vulnerable part of town. On Sundays, the team will be visiting rural churches to worship with them.
Our Chile team will we have the opportunity to serve in Santiago and Viña del Mar, Chile. Santiago is a large city with over 8 million residents. Viña del Mar is a coastal city with approximately 300,000 residents. Both cities have major universities, which the team will be ministering to through El Oasis, a campus ministry program run by Christian Missionary Fellowship (CMF). Other work will include joining local churches and ministries for worship and fellowship and building relationships which will foster eventual Gospel conversations.
ACF mission trips have historically been times of radical growth. On these missions, our students and interns will constantly be given the opportunity to pour themselves out for those around them- for communities of people they’ve never met, but also for their fellow team members. Though they will be engaging in a variety of physical labor, this work of constantly striving after selflessness, humility, gratitude, and Christ-like love is where an abundance of immense growth is found. Please pray that our students and interns will be led by the Holy Spirit and receive the gifts He has given them.
Both mission teams will return to Ruston on June 29th. Stay tuned for weekly updates on how each mission trip is progressing. We’re so excited to hear what God will do through these young women and men and the ways they will be transformed!
