Peace of Christ above all
By Sarah Lynch
June 29, 2026
I’m grateful to have been a part of Vagabond for five years. I’ve gotten to see God at work in the lives of young people through their openness, questions, and transformations. Being in ministry for so long, it is easy to become desensitized to the everyday miracles, especially when my job for the last two years involved gathering interviews and glory stories. The stories I hear are the same theme, just a different flavor: without Vagabond Missions, young people would be wasting away on screens inside their houses bereft of a vibrant relationship with God. The influx of these similar comments reinforces the need for these programs to continue.
This past July, I visited the mission sites in Indianapolis and Baton Rouge, which showed me the joys of mission in different environments. I will admit, it was hard because it takes me a while to feel at ease around a new group of people. Interiorly, I felt bad for not being as outgoing because in Wichita, where I had served for five years, I had become very comfortable with the young people and missionaries alike. I had to remind myself that, for three days, I can simply fill the role of a healthy mentor. After taking a bunch of pictures at Baton Rouge’s open gym, one of the guys came over to me after the basketball game and asked, “Sarah, did I play good?” It was so sweet how I could be a person that the young people looked up to, even just for this one visit.
Not only did I get to strengthen my creative muscles by taking photos and gathering interviews, but I got to see how the missionaries and young people interacted with each other in their own unique ways. I watched Area Director Catherine casually hold her phone above water while splashing around in the pool so she could make sure a young person’s mother could join us. I witnessed the camaraderie between the guys in Baton Rouge as they both played basketball together and prayed in an empty church. When Kendrick added in his interview that “We might get Heaven on Earth by the time these guys are 40,” after describing the young people choosing peace over fighting, it solidified for me that we can’t stop in our quest to save souls.
Saying that it is important that the mission keeps going may sound ironic coming from someone like me that has discerned to end their full-time work with Vagabond, but it is vital that the mission keeps going even though not everyone may be called to be a Vagabond missionary for the rest of their lives. Come the end of July, I might not have a Vagabond email address or be on the payroll anymore, but my desire for mentorship that I have uncovered while working for Vagabond will continue on. Do we desire more holy relationships in the world with less crime? That starts with Vagabond. Every city deserves an Underground.
