Avery's Story of Art, Faith, and Mission in Ecuador
Episode 17 | 24 Minutes | April 25, 2025
In this episode, Avery Marstella shares his powerful experience serving in Ecuador—where a simple "yes" turned into a life-changing journey of faith, creativity, and community. From painting a mural alongside local leaders to preaching his very first sermon, Avery walks us through the highs, challenges, and holy moments that defined his week abroad. Hear how God used every part of the trip to deepen trust, spark transformation, and build lasting connections.
In this Episode:
Avery shares how saying "yes" to a mission trip to Ecuador led to unexpected growth in faith and leadership.
He reflects on the joy of collaborating with local community members through art and service.
A last-minute call to rewrite and deliver his testimony without notes became a powerful moment of trust in God.
The team formed deep, lasting friendships that continue to impact his life back home.
Avery encourages others to step out in faith and say yes to opportunities for global mission and connection.
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Avery Marstella is a passionate and thoughtful young leader whose heart for service and storytelling shines through his experiences. A college student at Olivet Nazarene University with a background in church life, Avery stepped into bold new territory during a short-term mission trip to Ecuador—sharing his testimony publicly for the first time, collaborating on a meaningful mural project, and building deep connections with both the local community and his fellow team members. His willingness to trust God in moments of uncertainty, from rewriting his message the night before speaking to navigating language barriers on stage, reflects a maturing faith grounded in humility and joy. Avery’s story is marked by creativity, courage, and a genuine desire to make an impact for the Kingdom.
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Brenna Carson: Hi, Avery. Thanks for being here.
Avery Marstella: Thank you for having me. I appreciate it.
Brenna Carson: Yeah, of course. Avery, can you tell our listeners a little bit about yourself? A little bit of an introduction—tell us where you go to school, what you’re studying, what year you are, and if you know what you want to do after graduation, tell us about that too.
Avery Marstella: So, I’m currently a freshman at Olivet Nazarene University in Illinois. I’m originally from Ohio but ended up here. I’m a double major in Communications and Intercultural Studies, and I have minors in Theology and Art—so a little bit of everything. I’m very passionate about the Lord. I also run cross country and track here, so I’m constantly busy.
After I graduate, I feel called to become a missionary and get into mission work. I’m super excited about that.Brenna Carson: That’s really cool. Have you felt this calling to be a missionary for a long time, or is this something new since coming to college?
Avery Marstella: I would say it’s been about two years now. I was praying for a long time about what God wanted me to do, and I wasn’t sure. Then I took my first international trip to Europe on a class tour. It wasn’t a mission trip, but while I was there, I felt God tugging on my sleeve, like, "What about this? What about traveling and becoming a missionary?"
The more I thought about it, the more I felt like that’s what I’m meant to be. I prayed about it, and I really believe it’s what God wants me to do.Brenna Carson: That’s awesome. So here you are in school, and you get this opportunity during spring break to go on an international team experience to Ecuador. How did you decide to go on that trip? Can you tell us a bit more about your experience?
Avery Marstella: I knew I wanted to go on a trip, but I didn’t know where. My school offered all kinds of trips, but South America stood out to me—I’d never been there. So, I signed up, prayed about it, and it all worked out. It was amazing. I think God specifically planned who was on the trip. We all had different gifts that we were able to use. By the end, we felt like family. None of us knew each other beforehand—we were just fellow students and followers of God. But when we came out of it, it was like we were family. It was truly amazing.
Brenna Carson: That’s incredible. You mentioned everyone had gifts they used—can you tell us more about what that looked like for you personally?
Avery Marstella: Yeah, I’m an art minor and I’ve always loved painting and drawing. I’d painted a couple murals before and always wanted to do one for a church. Near the end of the trip, we were at a church in Gualsaquí, and I had the idea—I wanted to paint a mural on one of their big white walls. I talked to Grace, our trip coordinator from One Collective, and she spoke to the pastor’s daughter. They told me to bring sketches. That night at the hotel, I started sketching away. The next morning, they were all in. We immediately started sanding the wall, and the group helped prep it. I had two days to finish. We were also doing VBS with the kids, and I had to miss out to paint. I was really torn. But I talked to my mom on the phone, and she said, “I think you should finish the mural.” So I stayed.
On the last day, the team left for VBS, and I stayed at the church painting. I was nervous I wouldn’t finish, but I kept working and finished just in time. When the team came back, the first thing they said was, “Let’s go see Avery’s mural!” They were so excited and blown away by it. That really touched me. It was a God moment. The kids loved it too—they pointed at it and touched it. The pastor, who had worked 20 years to build the church and had faced persecution, was so moved.
He told us he used to sleep in cornfields to avoid threats of his house being burned down. One story that really stuck was when people who knew he was against alcohol pinned him down and forced him to drink. Years later, they had a health clinic at the church, and one of the men who had attacked him was the first in line. That man eventually gave his life to Christ. Seeing God work in that transformation was powerful. We heard many stories like that during the week.
Brenna Carson: Wow. That’s powerful. So what was the mural like?
Avery Marstella: I wanted it to be meaningful for the church. It was a landscape with local scenery—cornfields, mountains, trees. There was a big yellow sun, and I had planned to paint the church’s logo inside it, but ran out of time. I included animals from around the church—chickens, turkeys, pigs, dogs (including one named Berlin hiding in the bushes), and plants we got to try. My favorite part was a tribute to the pastor. He always wore yellow rain boots and a brown hat during construction. I painted the boots leaning against a tree and the hat hanging on a branch. When he saw it, he almost cried. It really meant a lot to him—and to me.
Brenna Carson: That’s amazing. You mentioned you experienced God’s presence in the mural process. Can you talk more broadly about how this trip impacted your spiritual journey?
Avery Marstella: The biggest thing for our group was the joy we saw in the people there. It’s not something you think about until you experience it. They had very little—no power tools, very limited resources—but they were so joyful and grateful to be working for God and their community.We visited homes in the mountains and prayed with families. One mother had a baby and three kids. She couldn’t afford formula or school fees. The church stepped in and helped. She was overwhelmed with joy and gratitude, even though the baby had health issues doctors couldn’t diagnose. Her trust in God despite the worry was powerful. She wept, but also trusted fully. That joyful trust is something I’ll never forget. Working with the construction team and seeing how happy everyone was to just be there, serving, was incredible. Many weren’t getting paid—they were just serving because they loved God. That was inspiring.
Brenna Carson: That’s so cool. I love that phrase you used—"a joyful trust in God." Because so often, we’re like, “Well… I guess I’ll trust God,” right? It’s hesitant. But that phrase—joyful trust—is something deeper. It’s not just, “I’ll trust Him,” it’s, “I find joy in knowing He holds every part of my life in His hands.”
Avery Marstella: Yeah, exactly.
Brenna Carson: And it sounds like you also experienced the joy of collaboration—working alongside people who were already serving their community, already doing the work of transformation. What a gift to get to partner with that.
Now, I know one of the things you mentioned earlier is that you had the chance to share your testimony at the church. Is that right?
Avery Marstella: Yes, yeah.
Brenna Carson: What was that experience like? Did you know in advance you’d be speaking, or was it a spur-of-the-moment thing? And how was it—sharing your story publicly?
Avery Marstella: It was kind of crazy, honestly. I found out maybe two or three weeks before we left that I’d be sharing my testimony at the church. I had prepared a whole message, written everything down, took a lot of notes, and felt ready going into it.
It was a volunteer thing—our leaders asked if anyone wanted to share, and I raised my hand. Even though I’ve grown up in church, I’d never really preached before or stood on stage to speak alone, so it was totally new for me.
The night before, while I was sketching for the mural and feeling pretty stressed, I felt God put it on my heart to completely rewrite what I had planned. Originally, I was going to speak on the Sermon on the Mount, but I felt Him leading me toward the story of Jesus being tempted in the wilderness—Matthew 4.
So I stayed up, rewrote everything in my journal, practiced it, then went to bed. The next day was super busy, and I was set to speak that evening. But sometime between morning and 3 p.m.—I lost my journal. Like, completely gone. I still don’t know how it disappeared.
They did end up finding it later and said they’d mail it back, but for that night—and the rest of the trip—I didn’t have any of my notes.
So I had to get up there and speak from memory. No notes. No prep. Just faith. On top of that, the church was Spanish-speaking, and I only know a little Spanish. Grace, who works with One Collective, translated for me line-by-line as I spoke. That added a whole other layer of challenge because I had to pause every sentence, and sometimes she’d have to stop and ask, “Wait, what did you say?”
It felt messy, and I was definitely nervous, but I got through it. And even though I felt unsure about how it went, the congregation responded really well. The pastor—who I’d gotten to know a bit over the week—got up afterward and shared how proud he was, how he’d felt personally impacted, and how my story resonated with him. I had shared some really vulnerable parts of my journey through high school and how God brought me through a lot.
It was just one of those moments where you know it wasn’t you—it was God speaking through you. I came off that stage just overwhelmed by how He showed up.
Brenna Carson: The Lord absolutely uses our fumbling attempts, right? Even when we doubt ourselves or question if we’re saying the right thing, He’s sovereign over all of it.
Avery Marstella: For sure. Definitely.
Brenna Carson: So now that you’ve been back in the States for a few weeks, how has this trip stuck with you? Do you see it impacting your daily life or your relationships?
Avery Marstella: Yeah, definitely. I actually have two examples—one physical and one more relational.
Physically, I still wear this bracelet I got on the last day. It says “Ecuador.” Some of the little girls at the church came up to us, gave us hugs, and tied these bracelets around our wrists. Then Pastor Luis came over and tied one on my wrist and prayed over me.
I haven’t taken it off since. It’s such a simple thing, but it’s this constant reminder of the love we felt from that community and the work we got to be a part of. It reminds me to keep praying for them and remembering what we built together.
The second thing is our team. We still have a group chat, and even though we’re all back at school, we hang out, grab food, and stay connected. We even have a running game of “phone tag” on campus—snapping sneaky pics of each other and sending them in the group chat. It’s silly, but it keeps us close.
We didn’t know each other before the trip, but now we’re like family. Truly. I think these friendships will last a long time.
And more than that, I’ve come back with a whole new sense of gratitude. I’ve become more aware of just how blessed I am—with education, with community, with opportunity. And I’m more intentional now about how I steward what I have.
The work we did didn’t end when we left. We helped open doors in communities the church had struggled to reach—especially with kids. And now they’re stepping into those places and continuing the ministry. That’s what makes it all so special.
Brenna Carson: That’s beautiful. So what would you say to someone who’s thinking about going on a short-term trip like this, but maybe feels unsure or nervous?
Avery Marstella: I’d say 100% go. Wherever it is—go. As believers, we’re called to go and love people like Jesus did. If you have the opportunity, take it.
People often worry about money, but I can honestly say, God provided for my trip. If He wants you to go, He’ll make a way. And the experience? It’s worth every second.
We had so much fun. One day we were running through the streets for Carnival—getting sprayed with foam, throwing water balloons. Just fully immersed in the culture. And then we had these powerful, life-changing moments serving and worshipping together.
It’s a trip I’ll remember for the rest of my life, and I don’t think you can put a price on that.
Brenna Carson: I love that. Thank you, Avery. I loved hearing about how you experienced joyful trust, how you got to use your gifts, and how much can happen in just one week. The Lord really does use every moment.
Thank you for being here and for sharing your story.