FBCO Youth take on Munich mission trip

Teens from the First Baptist Church of Olney and churches in Austin and Stephenville spent a week ministering to Germans alongside International Mission Board missionaries in Munich earlier this month, in their first international trip as a group.

The teens and their four guardians returned home on July 4.

The nine teens were “excited and ready” when they boarded a plane from Dallas-Fort Worth to Madrid and on to Munich, Pastor Chad Edgington told parishioners in a newsletter. “They have been anticipating this trip for a while,” he said. “It is hard as parents to send them so far away. Yet we are so proud of this group for being willing to serve the Lord in this way.”

The group spent a few days at the Dallas Baptist mission training center before heading to Munich. The group from Olney included Youth Pastor Chris Cavill and his wife Mariah, Calli Simmons, and Scott Hayter. The kids were Adelade Edgington, Sawyer Edgington, J.W. Rounsaville, Morgan Simmons, Mauricio Munoz-Cano, and Jessica Hayter.

The instructors encouraged the FBCO group to “remember the reason why we are here and to be humble,” Ms. Edgington said. “They gave us practical tips about how to get through international airports and go through customs.”

When they arrived in Germany they joined the international missionaries each day at locations throughout Munich to have a lesson. They then split into small groups to engage people on the streets and talk to them about Jesus’ word, she said. “We would ask them what it was like to live in Germany. We got to learn a lot about them. … but the main goal was to shed light on the Scripture.”

The group got some pushback from Germans who felt negatively about the Catholic Church scandals but generally people were friendly, she said. “They were very nice to talk to and wanted to hear what we had to say,” she said. “We told them, ‘We are trying to share with you about Jesus and not the church.’ It helped us learn about how to mission to people.”

The group visited the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site and a 17th Century royal palace, as well as “touristy” sites, Ms. Edgington said.