Sarah didn’t set out to go on a mission trip.
In fact, she hadn’t even heard of e3 Partners before she stepped on the plane.
“As a part of my nursing school, we were all required to go on some international trip,” Sarah said. “And the one I got chosen to be on was e3’s Europe trip.”
What started as a requirement quickly became something much more.
“It was incredible,” Sarah said. “Definitely a life-changing experience for me.”
When Faith Becomes Real
Before Europe, Sarah had never been on a mission trip. She had limited international experience and no background in sharing her faith.
But everything changed when she stepped into a medical clinic serving refugees from dozens of countries.
“We were working with people from over 30 different countries,” she said. “I heard so many stories … it gave me so much more perspective on life and faith.”
She also experienced something she hadn’t before – watching God move in real time. That reality stirred something in her.
“I got to share the Gospel, which I’ve never really done in my life,” Sarah said. “That was life-changing for me. God felt very real, very powerful. And that made me want more of that – not just on trips, but in my day-to-day life.”
A Simple Prayer
During mission trips like this one, teams set up medical clinics in partnership with local churches and ministries where they examine and treat patients, pray for them, and share the Gospel with locals.
While Sarah prepared herself for the first day at the clinic, she prayed that God would give her “one meaningful encounter.”
The next morning at the clinic was chaotic. Patients lined up early, and the team rushed to prepare for the day.
But in the middle of the noise, Sarah felt something unexpected.
“I just felt very powerfully that I needed to pray over a specific table,” Sarah said. “So I stopped and prayed out loud while everybody was still running around. And I went on with my day.”
She didn’t think about it again until the final patient of the day came in: a widowed refugee mother from the Middle East who was raising three-year-old twins alone in a country where she didn’t speak the language.
“She had just lost her husband,” Sarah said. “She was a single mom with two boys, and all of them were obviously malnourished and exhausted. It was heartbreaking.”
Sarah listened to her story and, though she was assigned to stay at the triage table, she walked with her through all the stations.
“I had this connection with her,” Sarah said. “So I just felt like I should go with her.”
After moving through the triage, provider, and treatment stations, Sarah finally sat with the woman at the Spiritual Counseling station. At this table, a team member would share the Gospel with patients.
But when it came time for a spiritual conversation, another volunteer began sharing the Gospel. Something felt incomplete.
“I just felt really strongly like the Holy Spirit was asking me to break in and finish sharing this,” Sarah said.
She hesitated.
“I didn’t want to do that.”
But the prompting didn’t go away.
“So finally I told the Holy Spirit, ‘Okay.’”
Sarah asked the other volunteer if she could take over sharing the Gospel because God had laid it on her heart. So she shared her testimony, connecting it to the woman’s story and to the Gospel.
“Immediately, she broke down in tears,” Sarah said. “You could just feel the Holy Spirit at that table.”
That day, the woman gave her life to Christ.
Later, Sarah reflected on the day and the woman she could now call a sister in Christ. She realized something she hadn’t noticed in the moment.
“That was the very table I prayed over that morning,” Sarah said. “God had just put it on my heart to pray in that area. God was moving through prayers and my obedience!”
A Changed Perspective
Sarah has gone on more mission trips since her first experience in Europe, and today, she is stepping into a new season as a nurse. But she knows she isn’t the same person who boarded that first flight.
Something shifted in her – not just in what she believes, but in how she lives.
Before the trip, her faith felt more contained, something personal and private. Now, it feels active. Urgent. Meant to be shared.
“I definitely have the desire to have missions be a part of my life,” she said.
That desire isn’t rooted in a single emotional experience, but in what she witnessed God do – and continues to do. She saw firsthand how a simple act of obedience could open the door to transformation, not just for one person, but for entire communities.
She’s still discerning what that calling will look like long-term, but one thing is certain:
“I’ll always go on more of these trips.”
For Sarah, short-term missions are no longer just moments; they’re part of a much bigger story.
What impacted her most was realizing that the work didn’t end when her team packed up the clinic and flew home. The conversations, the prayers, the decisions for Christ – those were just the beginning.
“It’s not like you just go and then those people you talk to are just left to their own devices,” Sarah said. “You’re partnering with Indigenous ministry partners and other [e3] missionaries there … they’re following up and connecting them with a local church.”
That continuity changed her perspective completely. The trip wasn’t an isolated effort; it was one step in a larger mission of church planting and discipleship already taking place.
The woman she met in the clinic wouldn’t walk her new faith alone. Local believers would continue meeting with her, discipling her, and helping her grow. Over time, stories like hers could lead to new believers gathering, forming community, and ultimately becoming part of a local church.
That’s what makes the difference lasting.
“So what you do on a short-term trip makes a long-term difference,” Sarah said.
And that long-term vision has reshaped how Sarah sees her own life and calling. As she begins her career in nursing, she carries with her not just clinical skills, but a new awareness: Every patient, every interaction, every place she goes is an opportunity for God to move.
“That difference isn’t just for those you encounter on the trip,” she said. “It can change your life and grow your faith too, and who knows what it can do in other people’s lives because you said yes.”
What started as a requirement has become a calling – one that continues to ripple outward, far beyond a single trip, a single clinic, or even a single country.
Just Say Yes
When asked what she would tell someone considering going on an e3 mission trip, her answer is simple:
“Pray about it first … and then take that step,” she said. “It can feel like a big commitment, but then you get there and you realize how small of a sacrifice it was in the big picture.”
And sometimes, that one step leads to something eternal.
A prayer whispered in a crowded clinic.
A moment of obedience.
A life forever changed.
“I had prayed for one meaningful encounter,” Sarah said.
And God answered.
*Images have been blurred for safety and anonymity