Leaders on mission to encourage others to serve

By Mark Gonzales Published August 30, 2024

Business management senior and Missions team head leader Elle Mowbray talks to students about mission opportunities during a Welcome Week open house.

Photos by Ralph Freso

The impact of knocking on doors in Puerto Peñasco, Mexico, to inform residents of medical clinics in their neighborhood was not lost on Elle Mowbray less than two years ago.

Mowbray, a senior majoring in business management at Grand Canyon University, was delighted to see that the information she shared on a mission trip through the Honors College and Well Child International persuaded many locals to take advantage of those medical services.

“That was the most rewarding part of the whole trip,” said Mowbray, who shared her experiences with students Thursday during GCU’s Welcome Week Missions open house.

“It was such a full-circle moment of God bringing His people back, and He knew where they needed to be. So He called us to talk to them in the first place and brought them there again. It was all His doing, but it made it all worth it.”

Students kick off their year at GCU learning about becoming global citizen leaders.

The open house was an introduction to many new students to ways they can serve as short- or long-term missionaries throughout the world.

Part of the university's mission is to produce global citizen leaders, and as GCU celebrates its 75^th anniversary, its stature continues to grow in that global realm.

In July, 16 students and university leaders visited Israel with GCU Spiritual Life and delved into service projects in addition to visiting historical sites and learning about current events and conflict.

“It’s so special that I’m standing here, hosting the Missions open house just because I think the opportunities that GCU gives their students to go to fulfill God’s call to preach to nations is something that shouldn’t be taken for granted, and we have so many opportunities,” Mowbray said.

Nursing senior and Missions team student leader Erin Ball talks to students about her medical mission trips to Nicaragua.

“It’s so much more accessible than students may think, and there are more opportunities than the students may see on the face of it. I’m just so blessed to be in a position where I may be having a talk with somebody and just getting to know them, and they’ll spark interest in missions. And this is what I do, this is what I love to do, and then I can get them connected.”

Mowbray, along with three fellow team leaders, presented a slideshow of more than two dozen groups connected with GCU that facilitate missionary work around the world, with duties ranging from starting churches for people displaced from their homeland to teaching English, business and performing health services.

Global Outreach Manager Njenga Maina also added insight during a question-and-answer session.

“I felt like the Lord put it on my heart to become a missionary,” said freshman Larissa Mero. “Somehow. I’m not entirely sure what it’s going to be like.”

She served on a 10-day mission with her church to Ecuador and “loved it.”

“I just felt like I wanted to stay longer,” Mero said. “I definitely want to get into some kind of long-term mission. I’m majoring in engineering, so I’m going to see if I can combine those two things.”

Erin Ball, a senior nursing major, has meshed mission work with her medical skills. During her second of three trips to Nicaragua through Students International, Ball worked at medical and educational sites.

Elle Mowbray shares her mission work with interested students.

She has served as a leader and team member, once spending a month in Nicaragua.

Ball said she was not serious about her faith until someone invited her on a mission trip and brought her closer to the Lord, which sparked a desire to perform missionary work.

“The biggest thing was going because of the calling the Lord put on my heart,” Ball said. “We’re all called to serve in some capacity, whether that’s at home or across the nations. I felt a calling to go to Nicaragua to serve with the time I had available there, and I learned so much about the Lord through myself and other people just in the most beautiful ways.”

Mowbray, a native of Colorado, heard about mission trips through her local church but felt hindered by her age and lack of finances. But during her freshman year at GCU, her life group leader hyped all of the mission trips offered and the ministry events around campus.

“It seemed like something that could occupy my time. But since then, I feel God made it clear to me this is a calling more than something to fill my time,” Mowbray said.

She described her first mission trip with Global Outreach to Costa Rica as “the best week of my life.” Mowbray taught English classes, painted with children, shared the Gospel and learned about the local culture.

With a nursing background, Ball said there's a “constant desire” to live on a mission, regardless of the location.

“It just depends on what the Lord has in store and the opportunities that present themselves,” Ball said.

Students who did not attend the open house but have an interest in missions can attend the Global Outreach Missions Fair on Sept. 30 at the Promenade following Chapel.

GCU News Senior Writer Mark Gonzales can be reached at [email protected]

***

Related Welcome Week content:

GCU News: Welcome to the club, all 110 of them

GCU News: Freshman enjoys spirit of move-in during university's milestone 75th year

GCU News: 75th anniversary brings largest enrollment ever at Grand Canyon University

GCU News: Welcome Week operations mastermind helps keep things running smoothly

GCU News: Sports club creates own legacy with third female president

GCU News: Message to students at emotional commissioning: 'You are not alone'

GCU News: Campus celebrates 75 years with surprise at move-in

GCU News: Welcome Week is thrice as nice thanks to trio of big events

GCU News: GCU's Welcome Week spirit anchored by faith