Lindsay Blake
When Jenna signed up for her first-ever mission trip with Christ For the City International, she wasn’t sure what to expect. She imagined long days of dusty roads and constant spiritual mountaintops—but what she experienced was far deeper, and far more life-changing.
From the very beginning, God began surprising her. At a small school in the mountains, Jenna and her team were greeted by over a hundred children whose joy and affection overflowed before the first game even began.
“They just started bouncing around giving us all hugs, and my heart exploded,” Jenna recalls.
That moment, and so many others, became an unforgettable reminder of God’s love breaking through in simple yet powerful ways.
But it was on a small island off the coast of El Salvador where Jenna’s heart was changed forever. As the team delivered bags of food and prayed for families living in houses made of dirt floors and tin roofs, she saw something unexpected: joy.
“I thought they were missing out on things I had in life,” Jenna said. “But I realized they had something I didn’t fully have—unshakable faith and joy that transcended circumstances.”
That realization shifted her perspective. These families, though lacking clean water or electricity, overflowed with gratitude—not just for food, but for the prayers and presence of people they had never met. Their lives displayed what it means to depend completely on God, and their eyes shined with a light that Jenna says she will never forget.
Of course, the trip also came with challenges—long days, little sleep, last-minute changes, even racing through thunderstorms and nearly missing flights. But through it all, Jenna says, Jesus was present, moving, and teaching her to listen to His voice in new ways.
Her biggest takeaway? Expect the unexpected.
“God used the people of El Salvador to touch my heart as much as He used me to touch theirs,” Jenna said. “He was with us in every moment, and He was leading us.”
