Mission possible: SPC student going overseas for God

by Isa Torres, staff writer

A lot of stories from amazing people have a sad story behind them.

Nonetheless, there are also stories of people who don’t face anything terrible until they decide to make a difference for other people in the world. Chad Moore was born in Lubbock in 1987. He was raised in Anton, Texas, a small town located about 45 minutes from Levelland.

“I liked living in Anton, but I didn’t like to go to school in Anton,” said Moore. “I didn’t like the whole high school thing. It was just a bunch of drama.”

Moore said that one of the things that he really liked was his youth group from church.
“That’s where I got most of my encouragement,” said Moore.

During his senior year, Moore worked with “World Changers” on a mission trip that went to Lubbock and did construction work. The project came seven years after he accepted Christ as his personal savior.

Moore says that coming to South Plains College has made a big impact on his life. He started working at the Baptist Student Ministries with Arlano Funderburk. That same semester he went on a mission trip to Mexico organized by the BSM in December 2005, and then he went back to Mexico the next summer in 2006.

“The biggest change from those trips is that I just went and served,” said Moore. “I just learned love, and that’s what matters.”

During his fist semester at SPC, Moore says he was really shy.

“I hardly talked to anyone,” he explains.

He says that what really got him over that is having to talk to people at the dorms, which is part of the BSM’s ministries on campus.

“The first time, I was really scared, but after the fifth dorm I got over it,” recalls Moore.

This summer Moore has decided to work with “Go Now Missions,” on a trip to Africa.

“Going through the process of applying for missions, I really have to depend on God,” says Moore. “I haven’t been worried about anything really, but I have to put my trust that stuff will happen, and things will come through.”

For Moore to be able to go to Africa, the BSM and Moore had to look for financial resources that would make the trip possible. They organized various work days and raised more than $5,000.

Moore will be working with kids from Senegal and helping run sports camps.

“I know general things (about the trip)” says Moore. “I know we are going to be running sports camps in Africa, mainly soccer and basketball. We are going to be teaching them the basics of sports, and witnessing while doing that.”

Funderburk had a great influence on Moore’s decision to go to Africa. He tried to convince Moore to work with “Go Now Missions” since the first semester that Moore arrived at SPC.

“Arlano is the biggest reason why I am where I am right now,” says Moore. “He has helped me to grow more than anybody else ever has, in all kinds of ways.”

Moore wasn’t expecting the opportunity to go somewhere outside the country, but then came the opportunity to go to Africa.

“I didn’t really think I was going to go to Africa,” Moore says. “I thought it was going to be somewhere in the U.S. But things worked out, and I am going to Africa for two months.”

Moore says he trusts that God will prepare everything for whenever he gets there.

“I’m not scared of going over there,” says Moore.

After the summer, Moore says that he plans to come back to SPC for one more semester, and then transfer to Texas Tech in the spring to continue his studies to become a medical doctor.

Nobody knows what is going to happen in the future, and it takes a lot of boldness to accept the challenge to do something that is so out of his or her comfort zone.
Moore has accepted the challenge to go somewhere outside the country, to a place where not too many people would like to go. The impressive part is that Moore has chosen to follow the purposes of someone else, the purposes of God.

“Anything that is good that comes from me, is not of me,” says Moore. “I don’t consider myself good; it’s Him, who is in me.”

Moore hasn’t faced too many bad situations, but now he has decided to stop living his own life and live a life for God

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