Whether you realize it or not, the context in which you live shapes the way you think. Culture shapes the way you see the world. Culture can be defined as the social behavior and norms of a group of people.

One night our team was praying in our apartment. We took a minute of silence to listen to whatever God was trying to tell us. I started feeling really convicted that I needed to share the gospel with my friend Samir. I had kind of written him off as uninterested. All he ever seemed to want to do is goof off.

The missions world can be complex and quite confusing. There are long lists of questions, endless applications, hundreds of organizations. How do you know where to begin? Where do you get started?

Meet "Ryan"… (Gotta use code names). He’s a friend of ours that we met at the basketball courts. One day after playing, we were sitting waiting on someone and I just starting asking what we call "invasive questions" to start some religious conversation. I was asking what he believes, why, how he feels about it… all kinds of things.

Moving overseas as a single male or female is scary.

There are fears of loneliness and endless questions that can never truly be answered this side of the pond.

Will I fit in with my team? Will I feel like a burden to the families that are there? Am I giving up on my chance to be married?  How will I make friends when I’m there? Will I be treated differently because I’m single?

Six years ago, the Lord moved me and my husband to North Africa to join Cafe 1040's work mobilizing  this next generation to go and tell the story of Jesus where it’s never been told before.  In those six years, we have been honored to be a part of the lives of 85 students.  

"I have been thinking about this boy. I think about him so often. I don't want to see him anymore though because I don't want to miss him again...it hurts too much. I don't think he's real. I have never met him. I don't know his name. I saw him in my dream. I just saw his eyes. When I saw his eyes I could see everything.

I left an empty seat this month at my dear friend's wedding. She called me over Skype at 5:30 a.m., the musical traffic of Southeast Asia already singing in the background. At that early hour, I exchanged excited words with a glowing bride a few minutes before she walked down the aisle.

‘Just shut your eyes. He can’t actually see you. Turn around. You don't have to keep wasting your time. Walk away. There’s no one stopping you. What difference does it really make if I choose not to follow Him?’

What would happen if we prioritized our lives around this promise of God? How would our careers be different? Where would we prioritize our time and energy? Why would we live where we live and go where we go?

The last word Jesus gave His followers was to go and make disciples of all nations. He did not suggest we only share his teachings with people who are not too different and not too set in their ways.

What Makes A Good Missionary?

As an organization that seeks to mobilize the next generation of missionaries, this frequently asked question is the topic of many conversations.

Is a good candidate for missionary work someone who has the ability to learn a new language? Is it flexibility? Is it a combination of many different things?

As much as we try to provide answers and stories of what Cafe 1040 does, it is the students who have been through the program who provide the best insights.

Every student that goes through our overseas mentorship has a unique story of how God led him or her to Cafe 1040.

Find out how God moved in Bryan to be a part of our South Asia summer program.

In the year before I left for Southeast Asia, I researched everything I should expect during my first months as a missionary. I studied culture shock charts, looked at line graphs of stress levels overseas, asked for advice about how to endure the life of a single missionary, stockpiled my anti-diarrhea medicine, and braced my supporters for a life-altering transition.

Over the years, we have sat down with numerous mothers, fathers, friends, cousins and coworkers talking about international missions. Inevitably by the end of the conversation, we have ventured onto the question of safety.

Is missions safe? Is where you are living safe? Do you feel safe overseas? Will my son or daughter be safe in your program?

The question comes in many forms but the heart of the question remains the same.

Sam grew up as a self-proclaimed redneck mountain man. In the hills of West Virginia, he was always outside learning about the land. While studying agriculture and irrigation in his college years, Sam was drawn to Cafe 1040's mentorship program and spent a semester in North Africa, where he clearly felt God calling him into missions. But he wasn’t sure where. Or how.

Have you ever looked closely at an optical illusion?  There’s one in particular that comes to mind.  You have probably seen it. It looks like an image of a vase.  It’s an illusion because the image of the vase is actually the space between two faces, but most people only notice the vase. It doesn’t matter how long you stare at the picture before you figure it out.  Once you notice the faces, they can never be unseen.

What is the number one reason missionaries pick up, pack up their bags and head back to their home country? Surprisingly, it has nothing to do with finances, homesickness or cultural exhaustion.

Are you curious about what an overseas missions mentorship is like? We could explain the different features of what you will experience but there’s really no better way to learn than from the students themselves.