My name is Steve Hammonds and I am the most recent addition to the Adventures in Missions family! I will be serving full time in the Field Support department helping to recruit, train, equip, deploy, and support the next generation of world changers who are interested in leading short term mission trips!
A little over 6 months ago, I took a team of college students to Haiti for a week. I had been serving them as their college group leader for the past year and a half, and was really looking forward to taking this trip with them. What nobody on the trip knew at the time was that I was burned out of ministry and feeling very discouraged in continuing my calling into full time ministry. I had made a decision to walk away from ministry upon the completion of the trip in order to focus on school, work, and other things. During my time in Haiti God got a hold of me in a new and passionate way. In essence, God broke me, and He captivated my heart speaking truth and love directly into me. Over the course of 7 days, I felt God’s presence and heard His voice more clearly than I ever had before! God ignited something in me and spoke directly to me about the calling He had created for me. I was to continue pursuing ministry full time. I was to become bolder in my faith. I was to trust Him with everything. These are things we all assume we are to do as Christians, but God made it clear that He was not finished with me. I needed to become obedient. I recommitted my life to Him on that trip and was baptized in the ocean waters surrounding Haiti.
When I returned home, I still tried to make sense of the things I'd heard God saying to me in Haiti. Over the next couple months, God told me I was to die to myself and pursue Him with everything I had. He was calling me out of my comfort zone and into the mission field. He confirmed this repeatedly. I felt a strong calling to return to Haiti once again and continue pressing into Him. So, over the holiday season I flew back to Haiti and spent another week there as I led a group of high school students. During this week, God once again confirmed that I was to drop everything I knew, everything I was familiar with, and seek Him with all I had! When I got home from that trip I raised the annual financial support I would need and took the biggest leap of faith I have ever known! I left my job, my friends, my family, and everything familiar to me in order to move across the country to join the team at AIM.
This is where God wants me to be and this is the work He needs me to be doing! God has gifted me with compassion and a desire to invest into people in a very relational way. It is the perfect gifting to be working in Field Support.
I am excited to be here, and I look forward to working with and getting to know each of you as leaders! The ministry that you provide by leading these trips is bringing glory to the Kingdom and is an incredible blessing to the lives of those we serve! If there is anything I can do to serve you, please don’t hesitate to call on me.
In Christ,
Steve
Welcome! I love iy when people listen to the Lord!
Steve! It’s great to have you as part of the team. So many things about you scream… This is where you are to be. Your gift of managing details, love of prayer and ability to care and build relationships will be put to great use in furthering the Kingdom! Welcome!
Steve, I loved reading your testimony here and thank you for being so open and honest about what you were really thinking on the trip. I’ve never come across this blog until today and it was after applying to be an Ambassador’s leader…to Haiti of all places. Lord willing I’ll get to meet you in person at a training or the next time I’m in Gainesville. Welcome to the field support team. So blessed to know a brother like you is there to guide in the new recruits!
With blessing,
Issa