Apr 4, 2018 Can One Trip Change Your Life?

A lot of people are nervous to take time off work or school to go on a mission trip. It can be really tough to get away. Jay Coon, the Vice Principal for Growth and Development at Auburn Adventist Academy (AAA), was no exception.

However, he decided to he needed to take the leap and go. As usually happens when you create time to serve God, he discovered something incredible. When Jay joined us on a QHM mission, he discovered his life passion: introducing young people to mission service!

When Jay, his family and a few friends went to Pagudpud, Philippines, he didn’t know what was in store. But it was this small, rice farming and fishing town that changed his life. Seeing 75 people baptized, Jay was so moved that it his entire perspective was altered.

When he returned to the states, he began sharing stories of all the ways he had seen God working in the Philippines with his students at AAA. His passion and enthusiasm was palpable! Soon, students started asking him to take them with him when he went back to Pagudpud. This was the start of Jay’s life mission to do missions.

He decided he did need to return, branching out into his own mission projects, and bringing his students with him. Over the years, Jay has taken 475 students to Pagudpud. His teams have built six churches and a medical clinic that sees around 900 patients a month.

It’s not just his AAA students that he’s inspired, though! Jay has also recruited college students from Andrews, La Sierra, Southern, Southwestern, Walla Walla and PUC.

The work of the church is very disconnected from kids today, shares Jay. They don’t see what our message has to do with them or other people. Going out and doing mission work allows them to connect with God and our message in a real way.

Jay’s life was transformed after his first mission with QHM, and he has changed the lives of many young people as a result. When they come back from a mission,” says, Jay. “Kids start apologizing to their parents for their old attitudes and parents ask me, ‘What have you done to our kids?'”

About his own experience, Jay says, I never dreamed, before I went on that first trip, that I would return so many times. But I love doing this!

If you’ve ever considered going on a mission trip, Jay would tell you to take the plunge and do it! Many people are looking to do worthwhile things in their life,” he says. “And this is the perfect way. Missions is the heartbeat of the gospel.