This summer, July 17-27 (maybe a day on either side for travel), ACV Youth has the unique opportunity to travel to Senegal and work with their Envision site. This trip will be led by Pastor Glen and Katie Folkestad. Envision Senegal is one of the Alliance's newest sites and has only just recently launched. Envision Senegal strives to cast a vision for people in need to visiting teams and interns. Through discipleship and working alongside other C&MA missions organizations, including CAMA, Marketplace Ministries, and aXcess partners. By utilizing medical, sports, agricultural, and teaching English opportunities, Envision Senegal ensures people will have the chance to hear about Jesus, make that decision, become mature followers of Christ, and God's church will be built.
We are looking for students who love Jesus and are passionate about seeing the gospel spread to the ends of the earth. Prior experience is not required for this trip, but a willingness to work hard, learn, and get out of your comfort zone is.
Fun fact, because the site is so new that as of the booking of the trip, we will actually be the first teenage team they have hosted in Senegal! The culture in Senegal is not one of planning ahead, which, paired with us being amongst the first teams to go, leads to an interesting time planning for what we will do to say the least. Their best bet is that we will be involved in sports, boys clubs, agriculture, and teaching English. We could even end up running a VBS or something. This will definitely be a unique experience, but God can work in the moment just as much as He can work in the planned. I assure you, whatever the trip ends up involving will be exactly what God wanted from us.
Senegal is a country on the coast of West Africa, and its capital city is Dakar, where we will fly in and out of. When we get there in July, it will be the beginning of their wet season, so prepare for rain! They speak French primarily, and while it is not a requirement to know the language, I would encourage you to start learning some of the basics. It is a very safe place to travel and is rated a level 1 by the US Department of State, which is the safest score a place can receive. They have a population of 18.5 million people. Here’s the fact that should hit you the hardest: only 3-5% of the population is Christian, and approximately 95% is muslim. When we go, we have the amazing opportunity to share the gospel with a nation that has never heard it before.
The cost of this trip is going to be about $3,000. This includes a couple of prices set in stone, including our envision costs and our travel insurance, but the largest cost we will have is flights, which vary depending on when they are purchased and which airline works with our schedule. We will have a couple of church fundraisers, and you will be responsible for sending support letters to friends, family, neighbors, etc., as well as looking for jobs and setting aside money you earn for the trip. What you pay out of pocket will directly represent how much effort you put into support raising. The harder you work, the less you pay. However, I would expect that if I were you, I would be paying for part of this trip out of pocket. Some of you have money leftover from LIFE, and you can roll it into the trip. Ask Glen how much you have.
Does this trip sound like something God may be calling you to? Fill out the application on this page and begin the interview process! The applications will close on October 15th, and the interview process and team will be selected by November 1st, so we can lock in prices and start training and prepping for the trip. We will only be able to take 8 students + 2 leaders (Katie and me). This trip is for students in high school this year (9th-12th) and will have an application and interview process to be accepted on the team. Because it is such a small group, there likely will be some students who don’t make the team. This doesn’t speak poorly of your student; it just means this isn’t the trip for them, and they will potentially have other opportunities in the future.
God is sure to do some amazing things on this trip! Please be praying as we prepare to go!