When Ava Barthalow boarded a plane for Nairobi, Kenya, this summer, she wasn’t just traveling with strangers. She was serving alongside a team of believers who had spent the previous 10 weeks growing, learning, and preparing together through Bellevue’s Send Out Training. For Ava, a sophomore in high school, that shared foundation made all the difference.
After becoming interested in missions through a trip to Nicaragua in October 2025, Ava enrolled in the spring 2026 Send Out Training course, hoping to become better equipped for whatever opportunities God had ahead. Throughout the course, instead of simply learning about missions, she discovered what it looks like to grow alongside others while being rooted in God’s Word.
“Each week was a different topic,” Ava said. “We learned about team dynamics, spiritual warfare, sharing the Gospel, discipleship—just all these great things.”
One lesson in particular stayed with her long after class ended. Participants were asked, “If everyone on your team were just like you, would it be a successful mission trip?” The question challenged Ava to think beyond her own gifts and consider what it means to faithfully follow Christ alongside others.
Just weeks later, she and fellow Send Out Training graduates traveled to Nairobi June 12–22 for a missions project. On that trip, the lessons Ava learned through Send Out Training quickly became reality.
Because the team had learned the same biblical foundations, wrestled through the same discussions, and encouraged one another throughout the course, they stepped onto the mission field with a shared purpose. Together, they partnered with local churches to teach believers how to make disciples; then they carried those lessons into the surrounding communities—sharing the Gospel in neighborhoods, schools, and even a prison of around 400 men.
“Everyone on my team was so invested in their personal relationship with the Lord,” Ava said. “They all shared the Gospel with such passionate intentionality. We were all clearly called to be there.”
For Ava, the greatest transformation wasn’t found in a single moment overseas. It was the confidence God had been building in her all along.
“Before Send Out Training, I really struggled with sharing the Gospel,” Ava said. “I didn’t know when or how or why to do it, and I was terrified.”
In Kenya, she realized sharing the Gospel wasn’t about having all the right words. It was about trusting God to work through willing hearts.
“I think we overcomplicate it so much,” Ava said. “Once you’re constantly sharing the Gospel, you realize it’s not as hard as you thought. God’s got you.”
That confidence didn’t stay in Kenya. Since returning home, Ava has continued praying for opportunities to share the Gospel and has seen God faithfully provide them.
Looking back, she’s grateful for a church that equips believers not only to serve around the world but to faithfully live on mission wherever God has placed them.
“If you can’t share the Gospel in Memphis, you can’t share it across the world,” Ava said. “The harvest is definitely plenty in Memphis.”
Are you ready to be equipped for wherever God sends you? Click here to learn more about Send Out Training!