our 2018 team

Meet the members of our 2018 Australia team! Read their bios and testimonies below to learn more about them and how God used the trip to impact their lives.

Josh Ferrufino

Hello, my name is Josh Ferrufino. I am a senior Business Management and Accounting major at Pensacola Christian College who loves to play guitar and make others laugh. I was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. After years of living for myself, God put people in my life to grow me into more like what He wants me to be. He eventually led me to PCC. After graduation I plan to stay at PCC for another two years to complete a master’s of Bible Exposition to further serve God’s people back home. I am so excited to see what God will do through the Australia team and myself this summer!

Braxton Mitchell

Hi, I’m Braxton Mitchell. I’m a SUPER excited senior majoring in Pastoral Ministries with a minor in accounting. Upon graduation, I will be moving to southern Florida to work at a Christian school teaching Bible. Though it is outside my comfort zone I can’t wait to see what the Lord has in store for me. I hope to eventually to go to the Pacific Northwest to church plant, but that is many years down the road and many years of learning before then. I’m from a small town in central Illinois surrounded by corn and soy fields, but I love it. My heart is for the outdoors, having grown up huntin’, fishin’, and hikin’ (yes, we do that even if it is flat). I was always moving and always keeping busy seeing God’s green earth. I love working with people to be in a place of service that I can be used to bless others, and being able to go to Australia to minister to churches, youth, and the country. I’m excited to see what God has in store!

Danielle Paddock

Hello, my name is Danielle Paddock. I am 21 years old, and I am from Lafayette, Indiana. I am a Business Management and Accounting major at Pensacola Christian College. I have been blessed to grow up in a full house. I am the fifth of six children in my family, but my family consists of so much more than the eight of us. My parents have the gift of hospitality, and I grew up with multiple (unofficial) siblings coming to live with us throughout my childhood. A full house is an understatement; it was an overflowing home and I loved every minute of it. Growing up with people in and out of my house taught me the importance of showing God’s love to people. As I contemplated my summer, the last thought that came to my mind was a missions trip. However, recently God has changed that. He has laid a burden on my heart to go to Australia on a missions trip, and I am beyond excited. Even though Australia was not my plan, it was God’s and I know that His plans are far better than mine. I cannot wait to see what God has in store for me this summer in Australia!

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9

Lexi Thompson

How ya goin? (As we would say in Australia). My name is Lexi Thompson, and I am a Senior Biology/ Speech Education major with a Missions minor. I grew up in a small farming town in the beautiful state of colorful Colorado. I have always had a burden for missions and last summer the Lord opened the door for me to go with Team Outreach Australia. People always say that a mission’s trip will change your life, and that is an understatement to what the trip was! Through the trip, I was affirmed that we are so blessed! I had the opportunity to be God’s mouthpiece by planting the seed of salvation in children, adults, and those who have never heard the gospel before. Gaining new brothers and sisters in Christ is more satisfying than you could ever imagine! With much prayer and thought, I knew that it was the Lord’s will for me to go on a second missions trip to Australia! While in Australia one of the missionaries, Becky Heberle (pictured), expressed to me that we can have joy knowing that God knows our plans and future. Upon graduating in May, I’m praying for the Lord’s will and guidance in where He will have me teach or work. I ask that you please keep myself, our team, and the Aussie people in your prayers. I am thrilled to see what God has in store not only for the people we can touch, but how God will use the ministries to mold me into whatever He wills.

Psalm 16:11 says “Thou wilt show me the path of life in thy presence is fulness of joy; at they right hand there are pleasures for evermore.”

Kimberly Zacharias

Hi, my name is Kimberly Zacharias. I am from a small town in south Alabama. I am number four out of five children. I love being outdoors and seeing new places. I am a senior at Pensacola Christian College majoring in Youth Ministries with an Education emphasis. As I was preparing to step into college life, I decided to follow God’s leading to choose a major to better equip me to reach others and to share Christ’s love. I have always been interested in missions, but I continued to put off taking advantage of the missions trips available. Finally, I responded to God’s leading to go on a missions trip. I am very excited about this opportunity to serve in Australia. I never would have thought that I would be able to have this experience. As I graduate in May, I look forward to seeing how God will continue to lead me one step at a time.

Joshua Zacharias

G’day mates! I’m Joshua Zacharias. I grew up in the small town of Elberta, AL and attended Berean Baptist Church there. At Berean, I was able to be involved in various ministry opportunities such as door-to-door, choir, children’s church, and the bus ministry. My parents homeschooled my siblings and me, and my dad kept my brothers and me busy helping him with his painting and window cleaning businesses. After high school, l enrolled at Pensacola Christian College where I studied Pastoral Ministries. In 2015, I began working at Pensacola Christian College as a Residence Manager and taking seminary classes at Pensacola Theological Seminary to prepare for vocational ministry. Having accepted new life in Christ, I want to spend my life telling others how they too can have new life in Christ! I’m excited to get a chance to spend the summer ministering in both the Philippines and Australia! Please pray that God will work in our team so that we can accomplish His will on this trip this summer!

our team Testimonies

Before coming on this trip I felt guilty not staying home and helping my family with needs, but through the encouragement of my team members and getting involved in different ministries God helped me to be fully engaged in the mission trip. Since the team is smaller than it has been in previous years, the amount of activities and responsibilities that were on our schedule seemed daunting. The experience I gained from all the ministries and people that we came across allowed me to understand where my strengths and weaknesses lie in ministry. I was able to see the great importance in reaching the youth and children as the gospel isn’t just for teens and adults. One of the ministries that helped me realize this was with our time with the Heberles when we ran a Holiday Kid’s Club for Aboriginal children that hardly have any exposure to the Bible. One important fact that was reinforced during this trip is that missions and spreading the gospel isn’t just for a third world country—it is a desperate need for people everywhere, especially for those who have much and do not think they need anything. Overall this trip has been an incredible experience and God definitely has used it to grow me and the team closer to Him. I’m extremely grateful for the Cirones as they navigated us throughout Australia and as they showed their heart for the ministry and the people of Australia!

Josh Ferrufino

I heard great things about this trip from team members from previous years that built an expectation of the ministries and the opportunities to take part of on the trip. Honestly, my expectations were completely blown away. Every ministry was so different from the one before it, and every city had a different feel to it than the one before it. But the expectation that completely caught me off guard was the reminder God gave me. The reminder He gave me was a reminder of my purpose. When I was first called to ministry, I remember it was to work with youth, but as time went on my purpose became clouded with other great ministries, but were not what God was calling me to. While at Ankara Camp in Walker Flat, South Australia, and while in the Outback in Western Queensland, God refocused me to the purpose He has for me. It was at these two ministries I was able to work with young people of all ages to point them to God! Whether it was for the first time ever having to hear about God or having to encourage a young man wanting to follow after God, in both instances the way of interaction was very different but both focused on God. I know this trip was a great opportunity to meet more of His family, but it was a chance to see God work in young people’s lives that will last a lifetime.

Braxton Mitchell

I am so thankful for the opportunity that the Lord gave me to go to Australia. It was such a blessing to see and be apart of the different ministries in Australia. Each ministry was precious in its own way because the Lord had placed a special burden on the hearts of the individuals involved. Whether it be to the Australian Jews, the Outback, or children in the local area, God is using these individual’s burdens to reach the people of Australia. During this trip, I was asked to do several things that were out of my comfort zone and seemed far out of my capabilities to fulfill. However, the Lord always helped me accomplish it. God was always showing His strength, and reminding me that if He brought me to it then He would bring me through it. Also, I loved watching God answer many different prayers. I would often ask people back home to pray for our ministry that day. It was amazing to see God answer the prayers of those individuals. I am so grateful that the Lord allowed me to be apart of spreading the Gospel to the Australian people for a season.

Danielle Paddock

Each day, you are given 1,140 minutes….Where will you use your minutes and how? Throughout this month of July, I can honestly say that it was not about my time but God’s time. God led our team through various ministries in Australia, whether it’s ministering in churches, leading camps, hosting rallies, conducting clubs, and even through distributing tracts. Each ministry held various opportunities as well as new and familiar fellowship. Each church was different but alike in the way that they all had one goal in mind…to reach and encourage others through Jesus Christ. As I return home I will get asked the question ‘was it worth your time and effort’ and I can honestly say YES! God has shown me that the need for the gospel is pressing and time is dwindling. There is no greater joy than seeing someone who is lost get found! As Christians, we can often get into the routine of just going to church, teaching a Sunday school, or doing a specific ministry when in reality we don’t know the heart of an individual, only God does. Even when times get tough and we think our efforts are worthless, we need to remember that God is working behind the scenes. There are places that need to hear it!…One opportunity I had was to go to a church in the Outback and teach children a Bible Story (Feeding the Five Thousand) and when I saw on their faces that they had never heard that story before, they lit up in amazement and asked, ‘how could God do that?’. Another opportunity I had was, I got to go to an Aboriginal Community where 80+ kids showed up for Kid’s Club with whatever belongings they had just to see who these unknown visitors were and to hear about the Gospel….There is a need, people just need to take a step of faith and go! God invented time and is not constrained by it. He gave us time to go and tell others about Him. The Bible tells us we are to serve God and rejoice in Him, plus we need to submit to His will and have faith He will take us where He wants us to go. I know that there is never a right time to do things, rather it’s always a good time. In Psalm 16:11 it states that God will show us the path in our lives if we are willing to take it…Committing to come on this trip again, I didn’t see how God could use me more than last year but was I wrong! God showed me that the need for the Gospel is great and there are still people that have never heard it. Whether its door knocking, letter-boxing, or witnessing: we just need to take the time to tell others about this good news we possess (Jesus’s death on the cross). So, get on board with God’s time table, because God has a time and a place for everything and it may involve God using you!

Lexi Thompson

The Australia 2018 missions trip has been one of the greatest steps of spiritual growth in my life. From stepping out in faith last December, I have seen God provide for me. I am so grateful for the overwhelming support from my church family and friends. God has used this trip to grow me and to show me that I can’t but He can. When asked to do something outside of my “comfort zone,” God always gave me the grace I needed to perform the task. I was blessed to be able to serve in so many aspects of the ministry. We were able help with Holiday Kid’s Clubs, youth camp, youth rallies, and church services. The Lord has really burdened me about the lack of a strong Christian presence in Australia. In Australia, Christian colleges are non-existent and good, Bible-believing churches are sparse. I have been blessed to be able to attend a Christian college and to have a wonderful church. I was greatly encouraged and inspired by the missionaries and pastors who are keeping the faith and persevering even if there doesn’t seem to be much fruit. God has used this trip to grow me in so many ways in my life and I can’t wait to see how He will grow me in the future. Who knows, maybe it will be another trip to Australia.

Kim Zacharias

The trip was a great experience for me. I got to experience the great land of Australia for the first time! It is a beautiful country with friendly people. I really enjoyed my stay in the country. The experiences I had meeting the different missionaries, pastors, and church members were a blessing as well! We had many laughs and good times together. I very much appreciate their friendliness and hospitality. It was encouraging to meet fellow believers who live half-way around the world and to see how God is working through them in Australia. The experience of being able to be a part of God’s work in Australia was humbly and exciting. I was able to participate in a wide variety of ministries such as preaching, song-leading, running a youth rally, and team-leading in a Holiday Kids Club. In addition, I was given several team responsibilities throughout the trip that were designed to develop and broaden my skills. I am thankful to the Cirones for those opportunities and for the chance to learn from their leadership. Through all of these opportunities, I gained a lot of great practical ministry experience. I am extremely grateful to everyone who prayed, gave, and supported my trip in any way this summer. It was a great summer for me. To God be the glory!

Joshua Zacharias

team 2018 photos

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