Trip to Thailand

Trip to Thailand…

As I transitioned to the University of Kansas in the fall of 2022, I desired to find a church with a college ministry where I could grow in my faith. I prayed to find a community of friends who were running after Jesus and mentors who could disciple me. Praise God for Story Hill Church and Salt Company!

Salt Company is a national network of 30 churches in 15 different states. Churches are planted in major university cities with the vision of reaching college students with the Good News of Jesus. This vision expands to university students around the world. The Salt Company sends summer teams of college students to various places around the world where established long-term missionaries live and are working to make Jesus’ name known. This summer over 300 college students were sent out for 7-week trips.

God has worked through Salt Company to grow my faith in ways I could not fathom. Small groups with other girls have shaped my walk with Jesus, by growing in vulnerability and encouragement. I also serve in our international student ministry, International Friendship Connection (IFC). For IFC we meet every Friday, eat dinner, play games, worship, and read a portion of the Bible together. Many of our friends come from countries that are unreached with the Good News of Jesus, so for many, the first time they heard about Jesus was at group! It has been such a blessing to grow in my own faith, while learning about different cultures and hearing the stories of my friends. Through this learning, God opened my eyes to the need for His glory to be spread throughout the nations. This summer, God opened the door for me to go to Bangkok, Thailand with 50 other students from across the country to team up with long term missionaries there and tell university students about Jesus! Through this eye-opening trip, God taught me that His desire is for every person on earth to know Him and love Him. He intentionally places each person on this earth in a place, that they may reach out to Him. Paul’s words in Acts 17, show God’s heart for the nations and His sovereignty over them.

“The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is not far from each one of us,” (Acts 17: 24-27 ESV).

Nataley Schumaker