Sharp mountain peaks, glacial lakes, and a tiny village at the edge of the wilderness — that was the backdrop for the summer that changed how I understood ministry. In 2022, I served with A Christian Ministry in the National Parks in St. Mary at Glacier National Park, not yet realizing how far the impact of that season would reach. 

Many of the coworkers my team and I befriended were international students. Long shifts and shared hikes turned strangers into close friends. They were curious about what we were doing with ACMNP, and many of them began attending our services. In fact, most of the people sitting in those gatherings were our international friends. What started as simple invitations often turned into thoughtful spiritual conversations — the kind that grow naturally out of trust and genuine friendship. 

There were so many meaningful moments that summer, but one of the most impactful happened after the season ended. 

This past summer, I had the opportunity to travel to Japan and stay with the family of one of the coworkers I met at Glacier. It felt surreal to continue our friendship on the other side of the world. During one conversation, she casually mentioned that she now has a Christian music playlist. It all started with one Christian song she heard playing in my teammate’s car while we were working in Glacier. Attending our ACMNP service had been one of her only exposures to Christianity. While she does not yet have a personal relationship with Christ, it was incredibly encouraging to see that her heart remains open and curious. A single song. A single invitation. Seeds planted in Montana, still growing in Japan. 

Since my season at Glacier, I’ve graduated from undergrad and am now in graduate school pursuing optometry. Life in grad school looks very different from seasonal work in a national park, but I’ve been surprised by how transferable those ministry rhythms have been. At Glacier, I fell in love with relational ministry — building deep friendships through shared work, long hikes, and everyday conversations. In grad school, my small cohort spends countless hours studying and attending class together. That same closeness creates space for encouragement, vulnerability, and spiritual conversations. The setting has changed, but the heart of ministry hasn’t. 

ACMNP felt like a beautiful intersection of the things I love most: God, deep relationships, and the outdoors. Before that summer, it had never occurred to me that my love for nature could be woven so seamlessly into ministry. While I’m pursuing optometry as a career, my dream is to one day live near a national park and support ACMNP team members in some capacity. 

More than anything, my season at Glacier taught me that God is always moving — across cultures, across continents, across seasons of life. My role is not to control the outcome, but simply to be available and willing to follow wherever He leads next. 

Leanna C., Glacier National Park, 2022