Have you previously participated in one or more missions trips or opportunities? Or have you thought about this for some time but haven’t gone yet? The new year is a wonderful time to pray about where the Lord would have you GO this year…whether that be participating in a local opportunity, or domestic or global trip.

We have intentionally and prayerfully created opportunities for individuals to serve using their unique talents. I promise that we have an opportunity for you! We invite you to check out our Missions page to learn more about all of our 2025 trips, with more details being added to this page regularly.

Many of our trips fill up fast, so don’t delay in checking them out! If you’d like help finding the right trip for you, please email us at missions@clacamphill.com. We are happy to help!

Did you know? We have created Facebook and Instagram accounts for “CLA Camp Hill Missions.” We invite you to like and follow these accounts for prayer requests from our missionaries, trip deadline reminders, photos from trips and more.

Also, this bimonthly Mission 10 Update is another great way to stay connected with what’s happening in missions. We hope you find the information valuable! To opt-in to this Update, click here.

Finally, CLA has a history of encouraging students to go on a missions trip, as well as supporting them to do so. This summer, we have three missions trips planned for our middle school, high school and college age students.

In addition to prayer, one of the most significant ways CLA has supported our students is through Student Missions Dinners, which offer a great way to support our students while enjoying a delicious meal.

More details will be coming soon, but please save the dates for our three Missions Dinners – February 23, March 23 and May 4 at 10:30 AM and 12:30 PM. Attendees can give donations to support students’ trips via cash, check, card or tap pay. The takeout option is available. Thank you for supporting our students!

Questions? Email us at missions@clacamphill.com.

We believe in investing in the lives of local students and recently sponsored an Adopt-A-Night event on November 21 at The Link 4 Youth (formerly Medard’s House) in New Cumberland. This organization offers a meaningful after-school option for youth to connect, find encouragement, learn useful skills, enjoy a delicious meal and more!

Thank you to several of our CLA family who prepared and served a delicious meal for The Link’s students. In addition to blessing them with a meal, our team had a great time interacting with the students and sharing important lessons. It was so great to interact with and pour into the kids!

If you’d like to get involved with future events at this organization, email localmissions@clacamphill.com.

CLA has a long-standing partnership with the Capital Area Pregnancy Center (CAPC), a Christian organization in our community that supports life. In honor of Sanctity of Life Sunday, we are providing a special opportunity for our church family to support CAPC through a Baby Bottle Drive.

We encourage you to pick up a baby bottle at one of our Welcome Centers and fill it with loose change, bills or a check. Return the bottles by Sunday, February 23. You may also give online (select "Other - Specify in Memo" and note CAPC).

CAPC provides a variety of free services – from medical services like pregnancy testing and early ultrasounds – to support and education for birth, parenting and adoption. It also provides necessary materials for moms and babies, such as furniture, diapers and formula.

Last year, we launched our Mission 10 Work Days to make an even greater and more consistent impact locally. Held on the fourth Saturday of March through October, we have designated these days to send a team of volunteers to serve on-site at a local missions partner. Typically, skilled and non-skilled help is needed. Tasks could include assisting with basic construction projects, yard work, general cleanup, organizing items/donations, etc.

We are currently finalizing plans for several upcoming Work Days, but please save the date for Saturday, March 22. Our team will be assisting with projects at the Bongiorno Conference Center, where countless kids, students and adults have meaningful encounters with Jesus through camps, retreats, conferences and more.

It doesn’t take long on a missions trip to realize your story is actually His story! So many go to bless others, and what they find is that they are personally blessed in the process. Below are a few of those stories from 2024.

“My heart is to tangibly help those that are hurting and when the hurricane first hit North Carolina, I was compelled to go even before the trip was announced. Once I found out that there was an avenue to go, I signed up right away. I was excited and hoped I could do whatever I could to help.

In all, I went on two trips to North Carolina to assist with disaster relief. The first trip was especially impactful as God worked on my heart to show me how something simple like going to get your mail can become an impossible task for those impacted by disaster. It is amazing to see how three days of work building a small bridge can reveal some normalcy restored for a family. It also presented an opportunity to see how showing God’s love can sometimes be more impactful than preaching at someone.

For instance, I had the opportunity to speak with someone from the community while we were working on making a foot bridge. This full-grown man was breaking down and crying as he talked about PTSD, saving his family from the flood, and how he feels he failed people he couldn’t help. He was a former pastor and had not been to church in 15 years. God was showing him how he was using him regardless of the hurts from the past.

I have been on several missions trips, but there was something unique about this one. I have served with many of the men I went with previously in the church or on work projects. Serving with these same men through missions was so different in seeing them make an impact through their love for Jesus! If you are thinking of going on a missions trip, I encourage you – don’t make excuses, be a part of the few and Go!”

“I had been doing local one-day missions trips in the nearby area for quite a while and then felt led to pursue a larger, more in-depth trip. When they introduced the trips for 2024, Navajo Nation was presented, and I had an immediate pull on my heart for this particular trip. I shared this with my younger daughter, Sydney, and she surprised me by being very interested. The timing was so precise that her spring semester ended just one week before the start of the trip! I felt this was meant to happen for BOTH of us.

The finances were a concern as we both needed assistance to make this happen. I told her I knew that if we signed up and said yes…God would make a way…and He did! It was a testimony for her to see the donations coming in from so many various sources. God provided for us right down to the exact amount we had to contribute ourselves! She realized this was God’s will for us to be on this trip, and He made the way, which was awesome!

We left ourselves completely open to doing anything – construction, cleaning, ministering or creating. We ended up doing all of these and more. When there was a gap open, we chose to volunteer and fill it. We wanted to serve our team and the Navajo by letting our love pour out and step out of our comfort zone.

During our three-day Vacation Bible School, we had numerous encounters with women, teens and children who vulnerably shared their personal stories and struggles and let us pray and minister to them. It was beautiful to see the light in their faces that were filled with hope after being heard, feeling known and knowing they could trust that someone cared for them and their family.

There are so many different outlets and options this specific trip provided…anyone can be used. No specific experience is necessary, you just have to have a heart to serve. This was a profound experience for Sydney and me. The fire in our hearts has grown from our obedience to say yes and by keeping our focus on others instead of just ourselves. We have a new confidence provided by the Lord!”

“I have always had a heart for Native Americans. As a child, I watched western movies. As I grew and became familiar with God‘s Word, I wondered about the history of Native Americans. So, when they announced the Navajo Nation trip, I was excited because it was a childhood dream to meet and visit them in their homeland, and I was curious to learn more about their culture and what they believe.

My concern was that my job is seasonal, and the timing of the trip was a week before the end of the school year. I wasn’t sure if I would get the approval needed in time. In faith, I submitted my request for time off, and I also applied to go on the trip. I did not know if either would be accepted. I put my trust in God that He would work out the details. As it got closer to the time when the required deposit without a refund needed to be turned in, I spoke with my supervisor, and she told me that my time off was approved.

I have learned through this experience to trust, to listen to the voice of God and to believe. It is my experience that when God wants you to do something, He will open the doors for you to walk through to make it happen. Trust in the quiet voice inside you! These experiences have become part of my testimony, and our testimony is one of the best weapons to defeat the enemy.”

If God is leading you to participate in the upcoming Navajo Nation missions trip, be sure to sign up before the February 15 registration deadline.

December 2024 presented a unique opportunity for those who love missions and adventure: to conquer the summit of the highest free-standing mountain while simultaneously conquering the single greatest life-threatening challenge to the African people, the lack of clean water, by raising funds through this adventure missions experience, which will provide water wells in the local communities.

One of those wells will be placed at a church that has recently been rebuilt, with assistance by CLA, in Kiambaa following its destruction through fire following political riots many years ago. Below are two of the participants’ stories:

“While I am not a regular hiker, I felt especially drawn to the experience of getting to the summit of this well-known mountain and the rebuilding of the church in Kiambaa. I felt the Lord put purpose in the climb and that it was important to bring light to the story of the church burning.

The Lord gave me peace as I considered the length of time away from family and work, the training involved and logistical preparations for this unique trip. I heard ‘encounter’ in my prayer time about this trip and became excited to experience the encounter He had planned for me.

Personally, training for this trip taught me that, with discipline, it is possible to fully enjoy the time the Lord gives us – to have fulfilling work, mindful time with family, daily nourishment of the Word and challenging exercise to strengthen our bodies. Obedience to the Lord's call is the most important step. From there, we can be in a posture to receive the blessing He plans for us through the experience, even when we do not yet know if we will see the divine plan immediately revealed.

The summit climb was the hardest thing I have done physically, mentally and spiritually. It is the kind of experience that can draw you very close to the Lord if you allow Him to refine you in the fire of the challenge. I was convicted of the Lord's path to Calvary and wept during the climb. I also knew He was with me and that I had to depend on His strength to make it to the summit. It taught me how much I need Him but also how much He understands our struggles and is the closest to us in those moments. The reward at the top is unlike anything I have ever felt. It is a glimpse of our victory we have with Christ and the earned crowns if we stay faithful and courageous for the Gospel.

Pray earnestly if you are called specifically for the mission and if you are to participate in God's plan in this way or differently. Climbing Kilimanjaro is not for everyone, and success depends entirely on God's will for it to happen. You must prepare intentionally to have above average fitness, a persistent positive attitude no matter the situation, and a willingness to follow instructions from the guides who are helping you.

I am so grateful to experience the summit of the highest free-standing mountain in the world, however it was deeply humbling. I learned that total submission was necessary. Relying on the Lord's strength and the guides was essential. Pride has no place in a challenge like this, and freedom from it will allow you to learn the valuable lessons that the Lord has planned for you.”

“An avid hiker, I originally had hoped to climb Kilimanjaro 14 years ago, but too many days without pay made it impractical; our girls were young, and we ran a tight budget. This time around, the trip facilitated my teaching vacation and, although it still required four personal days, I felt like God had opened the door. No excuses now!

Knowing God always meets our needs, I was intimidated by the $10,000 fundraising goal. After drafting my own missions letter, I reached out to 15 friends and family. I even pursued a local business for sponsorship, offering my penchant for writing an article. While they would not sponsor me, friends and family did. At first, the money trickled in…but then started gathering momentum. I was excited for two things: successfully climbing Kilimanjaro and sharing God’s love with others.

Attempting Kilimanjaro is no easy task. If anything, my training and motivation to avoid injury became paramount. We prayed often, especially on the hike. Guides, servers, cooks and porters all witnessed our faith in action; we prayed often for the group at large and each other. Alex, the lead guide, asked me to pray one day; though I was weak in voice (bronchitis), I felt God’s power in that moment. A day or two later, I explained to Ricardo, another guide, my struggle with a chronic cough; later that night, after dinner, he stopped by our tent and gave me a few of his Z-cuff cough drops. In that moment, I felt cared for – God used Ricardo to help me.

On the final day, we visited five churches, with Kiambaa foremost on the tour. I appreciated how the people showered us with love, grateful for our vested interest in their community. At that moment, God made it clear to us – we were there to encourage the body of Christ.

Reliance upon God and my team became a growing point for me during this trip. Dealing with bronchitis made things more challenging, but God and the team sustained me through it all. If you are thinking of going on a future trip like this, I encourage you to prepare!

Train heavily, equip properly and pray mightily. It will be the toughest physical challenge you’ll ever undertake. God will take care of you, but you must do everything possible to prepare for it. I am truly grateful for the experience!”

For sensitivity reasons, we cannot share our names, but we both felt called to serve in the Buddhist world when we were in college. For us, "feeling called" is an inexplicable love for a specific group of people, and we desire to see them know Jesus like we do. Because the government is strict where we are going, this term we will be university students and doing campus ministry through building relationships.

We will be learning both the National language and the minority group language during our first four-year term. To help raise the funds needed, we have the privilege of sharing our vision with pastors and congregations around our country. It's fun to meet new people and talk about our work, but it is a lot of time on the road, and we miss home at times!

Once we learn the language, our long-term goal is to be able to use our teaching degrees and the arts (music, acting, etc.) with the child monks and nuns. The anticipation is that we will spend four years abroad working and then return to the U.S. for one year to raise funds before returning abroad for another four-year term. To get started, we have to fill out the application for our visa. The visa process can be complicated but not impossible! It requires specific documents, which must be verified, and then submitted. This process can take a couple of months.

As we are preparing to go, thank you in advance for praying:

• For a smooth visa process and for appropriate approvals
• For us to raise our funds quickly so we can go
• For us and our families as we start to experience separation
• For more people to say "yes" to Jesus and share His love worldwide

If you feel led to help support this couple, contact missions@clacamphill.com. Or, if you have a heart for impacting this region of the world through Sports Camps and English Teaching, register before March 15 to be a part of our team that is going this summer.