GenSend–10 years of equipping students to live on mission

More than 2,000 students have spent a summer serving in 25+ cities across North America seeing the gospel change countless lives

Stephen Frerichs
GenSend Team: 2016 Portland, Oregon
“My experience with GenSend clarified that daily interactions are opportunities to minister to overlooked people, whether that’s an employee at the grocery store, a coworker at a new job or a reserved first-time guest at church. As our team spent six weeks in the Pacific Northwest, the Lord showed me that especially in mundane moments, He sovereignly guides us toward the people He wants to reach.”
FAST FORWARD: Today, Stephen serves on the deacon team of Providence Church in Raleigh, North Carolina, connecting first-time guests to the church body. He and his wife, Lauren, also lead a small group for young adults.

Matthew Hembree
GenSend Team: 2021 New Orleans, Louisiana
“GenSend taught me that effective evangelism is built upon a relationship with God and with others. I learned how to build relationships with my community that lead to gospel conversations. I use this every day as I work with local homeowners and seek to build relationships with them, praying that they would hear and receive the good news of the gospel.”
FAST FORWARD: Matthew serves as a Journeyman missionary with Send Relief in Puerto Rico,
where he leads mission teams in construction projects for families whose homes have been damaged by natural disasters.

Trip Bumgarner
GenSend Team: 2021 Ogden, Utah
“As our team of seven went around the Ogden community building relationships, sharing the gospel, praying with people, listening to their stories and sharing our own, the Lord began to wreck my heart for the Latter Day Saints.”
FAST FORWARD: After graduating college, Trip chose to find a full-time job in Ogden, where he serves at Redemption Church and disciples a small group of young men.

Emily Kitts
GenSend Team: 2021 Denver, Colorado
“GenSend helped me understand what it truly means to live on mission in your city and to serve the people right in your backyard.”
FAST FORWARD: During her summer as a GenSender in Colorado, Emily fell in love with serving refugees and those in need. She is now a Journeyman missionary in Denver.

Collin Whitney
GenSend Team: 2017 Toronto, Ontario
“My experience with GenSend equipped me with practical experience and inspiration to live on mission in a metropolitan context. Daily, I use skills and insights I learned as I reach couples and families in Memphis with the hope of the gospel.”
Fast Forward: Collin and Josiah are now teammates at Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, Tennessee, where Collin serves as Pastor of Groups for young couples and families and Josiah is the Director of Home Groups and Equip.

Josiah Gwyn
GenSend Team: 2017 Toronto, Ontario
GenSend equipped me to live out God’s mission in a metropolitan area, one neighborhood at a time, with a passion for creating strong Christian communities that reach the lost.”

Tali Graham
GenSend Team: 2021 Boston, Massachusetts
“My summer of GenSend taught me how to go meet people where they are when seeking to evangelize, like Jesus did with the woman at the well, instead of expecting them to come to me.”
Fast Forward: Tali acutely saw Boston’s need for the gospel after spending the summer with GenSend. Today, she works as the Assistant Director of GenSend Boston, mobilizing college students to live and serve in the city of Boston.

Christian and Laura Rowland
GenSend Team: 2016 Vancouver, British Columbia
“During the summer of 2016, we served on Vancouver Island as part of the GenSend program. That’s when we both sensed God calling us to plant a church in metro Vancouver.”
Fast Forward: Christian and Lauren got married after serving together with GenSend. In 2018, they planted New Song Community Church, a multiethnic church in Vancouver, and continue to serve there today.

Register for GenSend Summer at GenSend.org/summer.


Published January 24, 2023