Who We Are
Bio: Gary Weidenbach
Gary is the director of Macedonian Trips (Mac-trips). He and his wife Pam have been working in youth ministry for over 20 years, within the ABA work.
Married in 1981; they have two children, Joshua and Jessica Weidenbach, both currently in college. They have been members at Faith Missionary Baptist
Church in Concord, California since 1983, where Gary serves as a deacon. Gary graduated from Fresno State in 1981 with a BS in agronomy and obtained
his Masters from the University of San Francisco in counseling psychology in 2007.
Gary is currently on the board of Macedonian Missionary Service and has been working with MMS for a little over 3 years. Mac-Trips is a ministry of Macedonian Missionary Service. His first trip with MMS was to Romania with a team to help deliver a van to a local missionary. Mac-Trips is a vehicle that allows young people to receive hands-on experience in the foreign mission field. Having worked with High School and College age youth for so many years it is a natural transition to continue this work through mission travel. So far teams have been sent to Peru and Honduras, with future teams heading to Romania, Mexico, and Thailand.
Gary is sponsored and supported by FMBC, of Concord, CA.
Bio: Kerry Little
Kerry Little is Gary’s administrative assistant and an adult female chaperone for Macedonian Trips. She has been an active member of Faith
Missionary Baptist Church in Concord, California for over 25 years and has been involved in various ministries during that time. She received
her BA from Cal State East Bay in liberal studies/history in 2007 and is currently a full-time graduate student with a desire to be a full-time
history professor in the near future. In 2007, Kerry married her wonderful husband Ashith, who is very supportive of her ministry with
Mac-Trips. Her heart is for missions and she desires to help young adults realize their potential in the Lord and to learn to be servants
of Jesus at home and abroad. She has committed to going with Mac-Trips on at least two trips per year and helping Gary in-between with
paperwork and team building activities.
Our Mission
The vision of the Macedonian Trips teams is to allow a greater number of people the opportunity to participate on a mission trip. The idea is to give individuals a chance to experience a hands-on situation teaching and telling others about Christ. In the process of helping others, you will grow closer in your walk with the Lord. By allowing people the opportunity to experience a mission trip it may help them step out in a greater way in their own spiritual walk. We never know what we can do until we try. I want young people within our collective churches to have the opportunity to experience a real hands-on mission trip with students their own age. Team members will need to rely not only on each other, but also on the Lord. The idea is to have the team members help the locals in running their VBS, church camp, or evangelistic programs
What Can I expect as a team member?
Teams will be formed about six months in advance of the trip. There is a trip application that must be completed and submitted by each team member. It is the team member’s responsibility to make sure all paper work has been completed. You will also need to obtain a current passport and obtain all required immunization, which will all be explained in depth at a team meeting.
Each individual team member is expected to raise their own funds, including chaperones on the YOUTH TEAMS teams. This will be accomplished by both individual effort and group efforts. Mystery dinners and car washes are just two examples of team fund raising events.
The team will meet collectively several times before the trip to go over all the details of the trips. This will also be a time to talk about what is expected, what is anticipated, and what is hoped for on our adventure. We will learn about the country, the local people, and the missionary we are going to visit. We will do group devotionals. It is anticipated that each individual will lead in at least one devotional. We will also discuss and finalize what our responsibilities are going to be, as far as VBS, church camp, or whatever the job at hand will be on the trip. Team meetings are a place to answer questions, encourage each other, build friendships, and prepare for the trip at hand.
- You can expect to have a deeper relationship with other team members.
- You can expect that your outlook will change toward others.
- You can expect to find a love for people you never knew before.
- You can expect to find the same God we serve here working in another country.
- You can expect to see God’s people love you in a different way.
- You can expect for this trip to change your life.
- You can expect to develop a closer walk with the Lord.
- You can expect to have the adventure of your life.