Bahamas Missions Trip Team!
Pastor Gary and Jhan Sauer
We are excited to bring students and others on a mission trip to the Bahamas! Our desire is two-fold: to continue discipleship with the college students we have been working with all year and to support the Mastins in their mission to reach Bahamian youth through sport. We look forward to seeing each person’s dependance on God increase as he or she is stretched spiritually, ourselves included. We are really looking forward to the unity and true fellowship that occurs when a group works together for a common goal. We are praying that this trip increases our faith and vision for ministry at home.
Emma Sargent
Hi! My name is Emma Sargent, and I was born and raised in Greenwood, SC. I am a gymnast and physics major at SUNY Brockport, graduating in May 2024. Ever since I accepted Christ in fifth grade, and even before then while I was learning about who God was, the Lord has blessed me in so many ways. He has provided me with gifts physically, academically, and with a heart that loves others deeply. I was able to use these gifts in 2021, when I served in the Bahamas with the Mastins and Athletes in Rochester for the first time. I am so excited for God to use me again to serve the Bahamian people and to grow closer to Him through this experience!
Erica Kabat
Hi, my name is Erica Kabat and I am from Rochester, NY. I graduated from Rochester Institute of Technology in 2020 with a degree in Biomedical Engineering and since have been working in Rochester as an engineer at Viomerse, Inc. I have played a variety of sports over the years and was a collegiate rower at RIT, but my passion has always been for soccer. When I heard that this trip to the Bahamas involved serving the Lord while coaching kids in the game of soccer, I could not pass up the opportunity to join in! Back in high school I went on a number of mission trips with my youth group to cities along the east coast of the U.S. and to Toronto, Canada. The experiences I had on those trips were not only some of the most memorable of my life, but also strengthened my faith and relationship with God in ways that I still hold on to today. The Bahamas will be the furthest away I have traveled for a mission trip and I am really excited to see the hand of God at work in both the lives of those we are serving and the lives of my fellow team members serving alongside me.
Gabrielle Kabat
Hello, my name is Gabrielle Kabat. I am originally from North Haven, Connecticut and moved to Rochester, NY for college around 9 years ago. In 2023 I graduated from Nazareth University with my Master’s degree in Inclusive Childhood Education. I am currently a 3rd grade general education teacher in the Rochester City School District. I am also a wife, a dog mom to a beautiful sheltie named Chase, and in my free time I love to play soccer and spend time outdoors. Soccer has been a part of my life for the last 20 years. When I think about this mission trip I couldn’t think of any better way to serve the Lord than by using my passion of soccer to reach students. This will be my first mission trip. I am so excited to see how God will use me to help serve in his glory. During this trip I know that I will continue to grow in my faith and that God has wonderful plans for me and those serving alongside of me.
Adam Schwartz
Greetings, my name is Adam Schwartz, and I am currently fifty-four years old. God has blessed with a variety of different experiences related to working with people. First, I have taught 5th and 2nd grade in the Canandaigua City School District. In addition, I was an assistant principal there! More recently, I moved into the chemical dependency field. I work for the Monroe County Sherrif’s Department in the jail downtown. I counsel incarcerated individuals with substance use disorders. Prior to working in the jail, I was an outpatient therapist at Huther Doyle for eight years. By the grace God, I continue to strive to be of service to Him and the human race. Gratefully, I have been blessed with the opportunity to serve God in the Bahamas. God has challenged me to take the next step in my faith journey, I can do nothing but honor His request.
Mara Briggs
My name is Mara Briggs and I graduated from SUNY Brockport in May of 2023! I currently work for Monroe County Child Protective. It is a hard job, I know- but God didn’t make me for easy! I went to the Dominican Republic last year with Gary Sauer and am very much looking forward to serving God again, this time in the Bahamas. I am excited to watch not only how God provides for me, but how God is going to grow and work through me. God Bless!
McKenzie Snitchler
Hello! My name is McKenzie Snitchler, and I am from Churchville, New York. I major in marketing at SUNY Brockport. I grew up going to church with my family and when I started high school, I joined Young Life. This is a Christian youth group that welcomes students all around the area from multiple school districts. I am now a Young Life leader for the Rochester area! I enjoy working with the students each year and watching them grow physically and spiritually, just as my leaders helped me grow. In winter 2020, I gave my life to Christ and chose to be baptized soon after. This is my first international missions’ trip, and I am looking forward to the opportunities to share the love of God and serve others outside of my community!
Colton and Natasha Hawkes
We are Colton and Natasha Hawkes, and we are so excited to be part of the team headed to Nassau, Bahamas in July! Colton is the missions director at First Bible Baptist Church, and both of us have always had a heart for missions. This will be our eighth and sixth missions trip, respectively, but our first one together as newlyweds! We are excited to be laborers together, we are grateful to be able to jump at the opportunity to share the Gospel to the ends of the earth, and we are expectant to see the Lord’s hand work in and through our whole team.
Sarah Zupanek
Hello, my name is Sarah Zupanek, I am from Youngstown Ohio. I am a gymnast on the Brockport gymnastics team. I am also a kinesiology major. I have been going to church for as long as I could remember but I never really knew who God was. In the summer of 2020, my heart came to know God and I started forming a relationship with Him, rather than just following a religion. I have been blessed with the chance to further my relationship and experience with God this summer on the Bahamas 2024 mission trip. This is my very first missions trip and I can’t wait to see God work through these kids as well as myself and my fellow missionaries.