Layla Gomez

I am a self motivated and determined 17 year old who is excited for growth in my life. I am organized and I like it that way. I gave my life to Christ four years ago and ever since, I have had dreams, visions and words spoken over me about my future. I have felt called to be in the mission field for Jesus. I was blessed to go on my first mission trip to THE MISSION in Tijuana, Mexico and when I learned they have a school, I couldn't stop talking about it. I know that leaving my family will not be easy, but I also know that when I am pushed out of my comfort zone, that is when I grow the most.

I hated reading as a child, but I wanted to read so bad. That's when we realized I was dyslexic and once we figured that out we found a program that would read to me while highlighting the words so I could follow along. After 4 years of that program it helped me to read on my own and now my favorite past time is reading. I love to read!!

I have never been a fan of tradition schooling. Maybe that is because my dyslexia made learning more difficult. I think more so, it had to do with, I wanted to learn about things I was truly interested in, instead of spending years on topics that aren't going to be of importance to me in my future goals. I have heard of places in different parts of the world that put kids in high school in programs that are directed to their "calling" instead of

main stream learning. I wish our world as a whole would focus more on the individual and their skill sets instead of training us all the same like Robots in a sense. I love to learn and grow in the areas I'm interested in and I can't wait to see what God has for me in my life.

I went to Treasure Mountain Bible Camp in Marble, Colorado 2021 as a camper and I fell in love with it. In 2022 I got to go as a counselor and that was great experience. One of the kids I had asked me questions about Christ and I had the joy of walking her through getting saved. The best part is that God clearly was the orchestrator because she was struggling with things I had previously struggled with myself and was able to talk to her about it.

After returning home from Treasure Mountain Bible Camp, I was invited to help out with VBS in Paonia Colorado from a friend of the Family who is the youth Pastor at Friends Church.

2023 I went to ENCOUNTER in Texas and went forward to get baptized again. I originally got baptized in 2021 but have had many ups and downs spiritually from 2021-2023. I just felt like it was the right time to get baptized as I completed understood the Gospel truly for the first time.

March 2023 a friend of mine reached out to me and asked If I would like to be apart of a mission group going to Tijuana, Mexico. I followed up, went to their first meeting and immediately knew I was going to go. After that first meeting I started writing letters to raise support for me to go. Less than a month later, I had all the funds to go plus extra to help out others in the group. June 20th we headed to THE MISSION in Tijuana where I fell in love with the orphanage, the kids, the staff and the communities. I hope that my next accomplishments will be around The School of Missions and that God uses me in ways I can only imagine right now.