Nobody tells you that your first mission trip might involve scrubbing a stranger's bathroom. But there I was. On my knees with a scrub brush, cleaning a small work building in Kentucky, sleeping on the floor of a church at night, and somehow feeling more alive than I ever had in my life. That was my first trip. It was not in an exotic location. There was no dramatic rescue story. Just a bathroom, a scrub brush, and a team of peers who showed up because of whatever reason God told them. And it changed everything for me.

I think I felt called to missions long before I knew what to call it. I was just a little girl when Hurricane Katrina hit. I watched families standing on rooftops waiting to be rescued and something deep inside me wanted to be there. I was too young to go anywhere or even understand. But that pull never left my heart. Kentucky was the first time I got to answer it. After that came Peru. I turned seventeen in Lima, surrounded by bright textiles, music drifting through narrow streets, and a community that welcomed our group like family.

By senior year of high school I was so sure of where my life was headed that I had "Peace Corps" engraved on my class ring along with a pair of volunteer hands. A classmate signed my framed senior class photo with "the little foreign girl." I didn't understand it then. Mainly because I was born and fully raised in Northwest Ohio. Now I smile every time I think about it. God knows exactly what He is doing and His plans for His children.

Here is what I know now that I didn't know then. Mission work is for everyone. Not just the bold. Not just the ones who have it all figured out. Not just the people who grew up in missionary families or have seminary degrees or know exactly where God is calling them. It is also for the person sitting in the pew on Sunday watching the mission team get commissioned and thinking ‘I wish that was me’. But I wouldn't even know where to start. That person is exactly who I built Compass Missions for. Because the logistics of mission work: the timelines, the paperwork, the packing lists, the organization research, the preparation, that stuff is overwhelming. And it shouldn't be the reason someone never goes.

So, I became the person who handles all of that. The one who walks alongside you from "I feel called" to "I'm ready to go." I am a single mom of four. I work full time. I am finishing my second master's degree. I build this business in the evenings and on weekends in the margins of a very full life. And I do it because that bathroom in Kentucky taught me something I will never forget. Showing up matters. An extremely unremarkable act can have such a lasting impression on others. Even when it is unglamorous. Even when it is hard. Even when nobody sees it but God. If you have ever felt that pull toward something bigger than yourself. I would love to help you take the next step. That is why I do this. I love others and want to use my gifts for the good, because I love God, and I absolutely love people.

Olivia Tressler

Founder, Compass Missions