Story Of The Week: Going Global - A Full Circle Adventure
From Kids Camp ten years ago, right up to today, Mae’s story continues to be one of faith and service.
In 2015, seven-year-old Mae Magoon was a precocious grade-schooler with a big heart for sharing the hope of Jesus. During her week at Woodmen Kids Camp, Mae eagerly contributed to the global missions offering. Through chores for friends and neighbors, she raised $300 dollars to help provide treatment for children with club feet.
This year, we reconnected with Mae. Her enthusiasm for Jesus is just as strong and contagious. Today, as a high-schooler, Mae is eagerly preparing to go on her second international mission trip. She’ll join other Woodmen students to love well in Zambia.
A LEGACY OF LOVE
Mae’s eagerness to help others has deep roots. From an early age, her parents, Jewel and Christian Magoon, fostered a love for service, encouraging Mae to serve in a variety of ways. Whether it was participating in Woodmen Kids Camp, Summer Serve, or helping at a local food pantry, Mae always showed up with enthusiasm.
Each time she served, Mae left feeling more relaxed and refreshed — fueled by the joy she received knowing her work helped lighten the load of a neighbor. Mae’s heart for the world continues to grow each year, as these opportunities shape her passion for caring for others.
“Mae’s always had a huge heart,” Jewel says. “Woodmen gave her healthy outlets to put that into action through the years.”
Two years ago, Mae joined her first Woodmen summer trip, serving at Proclamation Church in Nashville. Jewel smiles. “It’s been wonderful to see the seeds that were planted in her life all those years ago at kids camp continue to grow year after year.”
LOST AND FOUND
Last summer, Mae carried that same zeal to Chiapas, Mexico, where the Woodmen team partnered with Lost and Found International. Together they served through work projects and children’s programs, sharing the love of Christ through it all.
The experience she had in Mexico was one of the most spiritual of her life. The team went out to villages and prayed for the needs of the people. “We met a man who said his knees hurt so bad he wasn’t able to walk or go to church. To bring the church to him was one of those cool moments,” Mae recalls.
“I played with two little kids on the playground. I didn’t speak Spanish, they didn’t speak English. But I helped them on swing and it was a really sweet connection.”
LIGHT SHINES THROUGH
At home, Mae seeks to be a light by simply being faithful in the little things. She strives to love people by offering a warm smile to those around her and having intentional conversations with those who cross her path.
After her trip to Mexico, Mae was eager to step out on another international trip. After praying about the student mission opportunities available, and discussing it with her parents, she landed on Zambia. This July, she’ll join the team serving at the CURE International hospital there.
The Zambia trip will be a full-circle journey for Mae. “I’m excited about it, she says. When I was little, I was raising money for clubfoot surgeries, and now I actually get to go to a CURE hospital.”
Mae’s prayer for her trip — and for all the student trips this summer — is that God would be at the center. From the Student Missions Auction in March, to the travel, and most of all through the ministry on the ground, Mae is lifting it all up in prayer: “I want to see God work and speak how He wants to through us, no matter what country we’re in or who we’re talking to.”
STEPS OF FAITH
Mae’s Zambia trip has a full-circle feeling for Jewel as well. On a mission trip to Africa in her college years, Jewel contracted Malaria. She received substandard medical treatment while traveling. It nearly cost Jewel her life and has negatively impacted her health for decades.
“My trip to Africa made a lifelong impact on my faith,” Jewel shares. “I witnessed the power of prayer and God’s divine intervention. Despite the sickness and not knowing if I’d see my 21st birthday, I would do it all over again knowing how much it changed my relationship with God.”
Jewel continues, “I’m so excited for Mae to experience the warmth of the African people and grow in her dependence on God. It’s a joy for me to have her go on the trip.”
Mae’s desire right now is to walk confidently in her faith and identity as a child of God — wherever life takes her. When she’s afraid or uncertain, she reminds herself of the apostle Paul’s words in his second letter to Timothy: “God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”
From Kids Camp ten years ago, right up to today, Mae’s story continues to be one of faith and service. When asked what she’d say to her seven-year-old self, Mae smiles and says, “Be confident in yourself and in your identity as a Child of God, knowing that He goes before you and will always be with you.”
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