By Susie A. Wolfe
Six high school students from across Mississippi spent their Spring Break serving and sharing the gospel alongside International Mission Board (IMB) missionaries in Oaxaca, Mexico. The trip was part of the Mississippi Baptist Convention Board (MBCB)’s new EDGE (Equipping and Discipling the Next Generation in Evangelism) program.
The three Pelahatchie students who participated are Jensen Baker, an East Rankin Academy (ERA) senior; Mary Hannah Martin, an ERA senior; and Chase Parker, a Pelahatchie High School sophomore.
“My trip to Mexico was extremely impactful on my life,” Martin said. “Experiencing a new culture gave me a new outlook on life and helped me become more appreciative of what I have.”
“Teaching English to children my age showed me that they are just like us and were just as eager to get to know us as we were to get to know them,” she said. “I built meaningful friendships with both my team and the students we taught at the school. I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to have had this experience, and I would encourage others to go on mission trips when the opportunity arises. The Lord was clearly at work in Oaxaca, and I hope others get the chance to go and experience that as well.”
EDGE is a collaborative effort of the Missions Mobilization and Discipleship/Sunday School departments of the MBCB. The March 7-13 trip was led by Chad McCord, Director of Missions Mobilization; Zach DePriest, Student Ministries Consultant; and Mary Hamilton Bennett, a student at Mississippi College and Baptist Student Union (BSU) summer missionary.
Then EDGE program trains and sends students on cross-cultural missions. Prior to the trip, the students attended a weekend training on February 6-7. Bennett, who has served in Oaxaca multiple times, led a class on the culture of the area and explained its blend of Catholicism and animistic beliefs.
“A big part of our weekend was training this next generation to share the Gospel,” McCord said, “and to be able to do that not only in Mississippi but cross-culturally, as well.”
“God really taught me how present He can be in the little things,” ERA student Jenson Baker said. “Being able to start the high school English club was really exciting. Knowing God will be able to use that after we leave made me feel like we actually left an impact.”
“It’s really hard to share the Gospel when you have a translator and to prepare them for the language barrier so they would learn to keep their train of thought going,” McCord said.
Another daunting activity the students participated in was to hold up signs which read ‘Come practice English with us’ at a local park. Through these exchanges, the students were able to segue into deeper Gospel conversations with the help of their translators.
“Our hope is that this evangelistic engagement in Mexico will carry on into their evangelism here in Mississippi,” said McCord. “We want them to be evangelists in their schools, now and when they go to college, in their part-time jobs, and wherever they go.”
The Baptist Record writer concluded, “What began as a group of strangers, most of whom were nervous and reserved, became a tight-knit, talkative, and terrific team,” Lindsey Carraway wrote in the Mississippi Baptist Record. “Over the week, their confidence and camaraderie had increased through their training, their travel, and most of all, their trust in the Lord.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: Reprinted in part with permission by the Mississippi Baptist Record. Some quotes in this article are from an April 5, 2026, article by Lindsey Carraway.
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