Utah County, one of the least evangelized areas in the United States, is the destination of one of Union University’s upcoming GO Trips. A team of six students will partner with Union alums and their families in the area to minister to the large Mormon population through door-to-door and street evangelism and prayer walking in certain neighborhoods. They will also provide practical help for the partners by babysitting their children.
In order to prepare for the trip, the team is participating in weekly meetings that include discussions about how to approach the work they will doing, prayer walks and Skype meetings with their Utah partners.
Leah McGinnis, a freshman social work major, is a member of the 2019 Utah County GO Trip team.
“I’m so excited to be with the team that we’re going with, but also just being brought out of our comfort zones,” McGinnis said. “We are going to be knocking door to door, and that’s kind of crazy, just to see how God gives us the confidence and the faith and how he works through us to do that. I’m a very fearful person, and so just going on this trip is another opportunity to open my eyes to what ministry actually means and how it’s right here in the United States.”
McGinnis said that the team discussed the impact of street preaching and the fear of botching these opportunities.
“If we don’t make a good impression, then it’s not going to be very good, and that’s what a lot of people on our team have been talking about, having the perfect opportunity but either being too worried or just absolutely failing,” she said. “That’ll happen, and you just have to know, yeah, it could have been an awesome opportunity, but that’s another thing for [those being evangelized] to think about. You can’t be hard on yourself at the end of this.”
“I’m just super stoked to be out there,” said Austin Maddox, a senior public relations major and member of the team. “I am afraid that I’m going to go out there and be like ‘Alright, I’ve got to find a job in Utah.’”
