347 Go Now student missionaries to serve “on co-mission with God” this summer

On May 25, 200 college students gathered in Pilgrim Chapel at Dallas Baptist University (DBU) to be commissioned for the missions they’ve been called to this summer. The service offered times of worship, prayer and celebration for both the students and their family and friends. 

A total of 347 students will serve on Go Now mission trips across Texas, the U.S. and around the world this summer. Several groups began serving prior to the commissioning service.

Being on co-mission with God 

Considering this year's Go Now Missions’ theme “Carry the Gospel Face to Face,” Chris Smith, Go Now Missions Sending Team chairman, encouraged the students that as they go and serve, they are “on co-mission with God.”

“[This summer], you get to be part of this thing called up at the commission with God. We aren’t meant to be solo travelers on our own. We're meant to go and walk alongside the king. And this summer, you're not going for God, you're going with God,” said Smith. 

He shared with students three key ideas to remember from the Great Commission (Matt. 28:18-20): his authority gives us confidence, his assignment gives purpose and his presence should give us strength. He reminded them that Jesus “begins and he finishes [the work].”

“He's sitting with [you] as a tour guide who knows the language, knows the heart, knows the brokenness, and he wants to use you to meet a need, to plant a seed,” said “I recognize that [throughout] this whole process, he gives me confidence, he gives me purpose, he gives me strength. But he's the one who began the work, and he will complete it on the day of Christ Jesus.” 

Smith said his hope is that the students walk away from their trips changed. 

“My hope is that you learn to walk with open arms [saying] ‘Lord, hold me and shape me to make me who you want me to be. Change my heart, O God, to love like you love, to live like you want me to live, to be who you want me to be… so when you come back after this summer… [God can] propel you for the gospel message to be on mission, co-mission with him.” 

Smith also took a moment to challenge the parents of Go Now missionaries to pray, encourage and commission them to go because “you trust they're going with the king” and that “he's going to do the work.”

A legacy of loving and serving God   

Augustina Lozano, a former Go Now Missions (formerly BSU Summer Missions) missionary, took Smith’s words to heart as she is sending her daughter, Gabriella Lozano, to serve with ZONA Camp Crew, a youth camp in Arizona and California this summer. 

“I feel like the mission that I had over 20 years ago as a student and a missionary is the same mission that Gabby has today with all of these young adults that are going out, that people need the Lord and that God has called us to serve,” said Augustina Lozano. “It's something that I knew then [that] was solidified more on the mission field, and to be able to see it today is incredible.” 

Gabriella Lozano is a junior at Sam Houston State University (SHSU) and a first-time Go Now missionary. She will be one of 50 college leaders from around the United States serving with ZONA Camp Crew. She said she is most excited about building relationships with the youth students she will be serving. 

“It wasn't too long ago [that] I was in high school, but I really do have a passion for youth, and I do want to be a teacher overseas when I'm older,” said Gabriella Lozano. “I think that there's just so much of a ministry there, and kids really just need one person to step in and just to see them.” 

Augustina Lozano was brought to “tears of joy” seeing Gabriella have a heart to be on co-mission with God. 

“It's what you hope for, right? That your children will grow up to love the Lord and to serve God,” said Augustina Lozano. “We are so blessed beyond measure to be able to experience this with her.”

A total of 347 Go Now missionaries will serve on mission trips across Texas, the U.S. and around the world this summer. Several groups began serving prior to the commissioning service. 

In 2025, 595 Go Now missionaries will serve on missions, including Christmas break, semester, summer, impact, special impact and campus missionaries. According to Go Now Missions consultant Brenda Sanders, “this is the largest group of collegiate missionaries Texas Baptists has sent out in one year.”

Go Now Missions is a ministry of Texas Baptists and is made possible, in part, by the Mary Hill Davis Offering. Local BSMs and individual students also raise funds to send students. To learn more, visit gonowmissions.com.