Over the summer, HPU student Hannah Hinshaw had the opportunity to serve in Bobbio Pellice, Italy, with Go Now Missions. She spent two weeks working with students attending sports camp, many of them having never heard the gospel or regularly attended church.

Hannah is a junior from Weatherford and is pursuing a major in Christian Education with a minor in Worship Ministry. She learned about the opportunity to serve with Go Now through a friend who had served with Go Now in 2022. Go Now Missions is a ministry of Texas Baptists that mobilizes Texas university students to share the love of Christ across the world.

“As soon as I met with the woman leading the group to Italy at the Go Now Discovery Weekend,” said Hannah, “I knew that was where God was calling me this summer. I just had to wait for the email to confirm it!”

The first two days of Hannah’s trip in Italy were spent getting to know the people she would work with, as well as the culture and the city. They toured a Valdesian church and a cave and rock formation on the side of a mountain. The following morning, they went to a market in a nearby town and then had group orientation that evening. On Sunday, the team split up and went to four different churches in the area. Hannah’s group went to a local church where members of her group were able to share their testimonies.

“It was such a cool experience to see different nationalities worship,” she said. “We sang ‘Awesome God,’ and the Italians knew it and sang with us.”

Camp consisted of over 150 students, 60 adult volunteers and 40 junior coaches. Each group was made up of two Italian speakers, two junior coaches and a handful of English speakers. One of Hannah’s roles throughout the week was to help lead music, which involved translating the songs from English to Italian. Each day began with a few dances and then a skit in both English and Italian.

“My favorite part of the whole camp,” she said, “was seeing their faces when we were singing and doing the motions to the worship music. There’s something special when you see the fruits of the ministry.”

Every night, after camp, the leaders would have a time of prayer and a devotional. On the last day of camp, they invited the student’s parents to join for a celebration. The parents brought snacks and drinks and celebrated with their kids.

“The campers were excited to see their parents dancing with them,” she said. “It has been a blessing to meet the volunteers from all over the world, the two missionary families that live there, and the new friends I’ve made. I hope to go back and visit those friends.”

Bryan Pate, director of HPU’s BSM expressed his excitement for Hannah and her opportunity to serve overseas with Go Now.

“We were so excited to hear that Hannah was able to spend some time in Italy over the summer as she has so much to offer through her ministry and mission experience,” he said. “Go Now has been an essential part of Texas BSM’s mission strategy for the past 25 years. It’s such a great opportunity for students to be involved in the work that God is doing, whether that be through statewide, national, or international mission trips.”