ROBERT PIERCE
• Leader & Times
Missionaries are often seen working in Third World countries across the globe, and this summer, a group of youth from Kansas, including one young lady from Liberal, got to do some mission work in the South American country of Peru.
Zoe Martin was just one of the teens from the Sunflower State who were part of the Assemblies of God of Kansas’s (AGK) 2026 Iquitos Aim Trip, and along with the young people, the group was joined by adults who preach at different churches in the state.
“We met up in the Wichita airport,” she said. “We went on a couple flights. We went to Lima, and we met up with a missionary who lives in the area of Peru area we were going to.”
The group then took a two-hour boat ride on the Amazon River to two jungle villages, including Iquitos, Peru. The students, who had all finished at least their freshmen year of high school, participated in relational outreach and ministry activities and supported local leaders as they served and shared the love of Christ in those communities.
“Whenever we got there, we were encouraged to engage with the people, talk with them, play with the kids, give them gifts, invite them to our services in the evening,” Martin said.
Martin’s mother is Misty Martin, director of Liberal’s Baker Arts Center, and like her mother, Zoe has developed a love of the arts. This inspired the gifts she shared with the Peru natives.
“Because I’ve always been really passionate about art, I brought little paints, canvases and different things for them to be able to do art so I could share something I enjoy with them,” Zoe said. “Some of the other kids brought soccer balls, nail polish, hair stuff.”
The group would visit plazas in the evenings after visiting villages during the days.
“We did a lot of prayer for people,” Zoe said. “At least one time or more, we’d each get to preach our own sermon or give our own testimony. We would talk and share with the people what we feel God said for us.”
The group departed for Peru July 18 and returned July 26, and in addition to the ministry work, the team had one free day for sightseeing in Iquitos, allowing students to experience local culture and landmarks.
This was Zoe’s first experience with missions, and she said the trip was quite unique.
“I had never done anything like that before,” she said. “I’ve gone to Europe before, but it was definitely eye opening how different it was, how life is there and how the people are.”
The team stayed in two cities during the trip, as is the case with many Third World urban areas, Zoe said these cities were packed with many people, but not much space.
“The villages we were in, the people in politics could paint campaigns on people’s houses they lived in,” she said. “The houses are usually very small, and usually, they ran a business out of their house if they could.”
Zoe said she became involved with the trip after taking part in a recent AGK youth conference and hearing from some of the presenters.
“They were talking about this mission trip to Peru and being called into mission,” she said. “I’ve always loved experiencing different culture. I prayed about it right at that moment. I decided that was what I meant to do. I was meant to go, and I was meant to serve God all over the world.”
Zoe said she had a great experience with both her team members and the Peru natives.
“It was fun to get to know the people I was on the trip with and to get to know the people of Peru and see how kind the people are,” she said.
For those considering mission trips, though, Zoe said preparation is a must.
“You definitely have to have a mindset for it,” she said. “If you can’t go without air conditioning, that’s probably not the trip for you.”
Zoe, however, is strongly considering more mission work in the future.
“I’ve been raised to be grateful and always keep in mind not everyone has the things that I have, but going some place where no one has what I’ve been blessed with, it’s really eye opening to how good it is to live the life I live and how good it is to be able to share that with others,” she said.
