counter-culture

Concern for the young people and future of Burundi is what drives one young man, a World Challenge scholarship student at Summit.

I am from Bujumbura, the capital city* of Burundi in East Africa.

Raised in a non-Christian family, I started drinking when I was 6 years old. It’s not uncommon for people to start drinking at an early age with the traditions in our community.

Major challenges are facing the church in Peru as they look for ways to serve their society’s most vulnerable. 

This spring, Director of Mercy Ministries Mark Buzzetta traveled to Cusco, Peru to connect with a local church doing great work caring for widows.

The trip was eye-opening to Peru’s great natural beauty and local struggles, coming almost as often from floods of global tourists to their region as well as stifling animist traditions.

The callings of God on our lives can seem impossible, but one girl’s story is a testament to God laying out his path before us.

Back in 2017, I was napping and had a vision. It was so vivid, I don’t know what else to call it. I saw myself in front of a board meeting, and I was talking to them about kids and fund raising.

I woke up and quickly said, “God, that’s not me. That’s my brother.”

One World Challenge scholarship student shares how he went from a prospective architect to ministry leader.

I’m from Oregon City, outside Portland. Life was normal, going the usual route until this guy named Stan who was a Summit graduate married someone at my church. Whenever he was speaking, I noticed something different about him, so I finally approached him and said, “Hey, we should talk.”

Now one of MOG’s leaders and World Challenge’s potential partners, one young lady looks back on how God made himself real to her.

I was born in Mexico. When I was five, my parents divorced. My father had put us in a situation where my mom was frightened for our safety.

Burundi is called the heart of Africa, and when you look at it on a map, you can see why. The small country is shaped very much like our body’s most vital organ. 

Learning to Lead by Serving

When I was in school, I thought I would be a doctor because I was good in science.

Social innovator and World Challenge scholarship student Adewunmi is dreaming of bringing communities a clearer vision of who God is.

As a child in Nigeria, I always saw poverty. Maybe 2% of the population is living with a ridiculous amount of money, and the other 98% are spinning their wheels and going in circles even though there is enough for everyone to have enough. 

It’s just a fact of living there, though it shouldn’t have to be.

While many younger people are fleeing the Balkans, God is calling one World Challenge scholarship student and others like him back to their homeland.

I come from east Macedonia, and I was raised up in a Christian family. All of my life, I’ve known who God is. I was baptized in the Holy Spirit when I was eleven and then baptized in water when I was fifteen.