When I was growing up, my mom would read mission stories to me. It was our family’s practice to read aloud from a book every evening. We didn’t have TV to watch, so we found our entertainment in the stories of missionaries. I would live through their experiences. From the age of five, I could imagine myself swinging a machete to clear a jungle trail. I dreamed of taking the Gospel to unreached villages eager to learn of Jesus. In my dreams, all the villagers would turn from their false gods and choose to follow the Lord.

Dreams are seeds of reality. 35 years ago, I never could have imagined how it actually feels to be preparing to launch our mission project in Papua New Guinea! I am so thankful those missionaries shared their experiences in print. Their stories influenced boys and girls all over the world to work for God. I want to have my experiences encourage others, too.

I met little Stephanie at camp meeting last summer. She was about 10 years old and wore a pink dress. She was so interested in all the artifacts from Papua New Guinea I was displaying. She wanted to touch everything, and she asked question after question about the Ama people. A few minutes later, she returned with a couple of her friends and excitedly repeated every detail I had told her about each item on the table. Again and again, she ran off and brought other kids to see our display. I like to think that Stephanie has begun to form missionary dreams of her own.

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