I had it all worked out when I was ten. I was going to be a missionary and serve God! In the mind of a ten year old, that was it. I never thought about where I would go or what I would do once I got there; I was just sure about the missionary part. As I got older and went on a few international mission trips, I realized that there is a little more that goes into getting to the mission field.

I’ve known for several years that the Lord was calling me into full-time international missions. But, that doesn’t mean that I’m automatically prepared! I remember sitting in team devotions day one of my first Global Encounters trip and suddenly thinking “what in the world am I doing?!” Here I was with 23 strangers to spend three weeks in a strange country far away from all my family and friends. Was I crazy?!

Amy Cook is packing suitcases today to start a new type of trip for her. After many short-term international mission trips, tomorrow she is heading out of the country for the entire summer. First stop: Chiapas...