What
REACHers Are Saying…
At the end of the fifth
week of REACH Discipleship Training School, each team went on a week-long
practicum. Here is what REACHers had to say:
Kenya Team:
Dustin
writes… “Team Kenya had an awesome time in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, on
practicum. We arrived in Ft. Wayne, Friday evening ready to go to bed, but
we discovered we were going to a Congolese pr-yer
meeting from 11-1, at our host home. So we were immediately thrown into the
African culture of pr-yer and w-rship. We also got to be in their w-rship service, where we got to sing in five different
languages. During the week, we did homework help with refugees, small work
projects, and volunteered at the International House, which is an
organization that helps refugees assimilate to America. Friday evening
before we left we had a cookout for people we met during the week. We had
an amazing time and will never forget it.”
Southeast Asia Team:
Rachel
shares… “For practicum, our team went to Washington D.C. and helped out at
two women's shelters, working the night shift from 10pm to 8am every night.
Some of our responsibilities included letting the residents in and out,
answering the phone, giving out medications, setting out and cleaning up
breakfast, and making sure they left at 8am. We had to tell someone to
leave when it was after 8am. It was a little intimidating to have to tell
these grown women what to do and some of them didn't like it. During the
day, we spent a lot of time at local parks. It was really hard to focus for
quiet times at first, because it certainly was not quiet around you, but by
the third day just being outside and meeting G-d in the midst of the bustle
and noise was amazing. Wednesday and Thursday we volunteered at another
organization, Martha's Table, from 10am to 1 pm. They have several
different things they do like food and clothing distribution, after-school
programs, and a preschool. We helped sort and wrap food to be given out,
sorted clothes for their thrift store, and cleaned in the school programs
building. That was a lot of fun, especially helping with the food. We had
to wear aprons, gloves, and hairnets. The whole week was full of
challenging and wonderful times. It was sometimes difficult to enjoy things
when I was tired, and I didn't always feel like being around so many
people. But I really enjoyed just being with my team and had a lot of fun
with them. Practicum made me more excited to be with my team in Southeast
Asia.”
Spain Team:
Sean
notes… “This past week all of our teams went on a little trip
called practicum. You may be asking yourself ‘What is practicum?’
Practicum is a time when a team goes on a seven-day m-ssions
trip in the U.S. or Canada. It’s really a time when we as a team can
grow closer together and practice what we have learned in training in
preparation for o-treach. For example we were
servants. Doing work we didn't enjoy but, doing it to glorify G-d and his
creation. So many times we are stuck thinking about what needs done and not
doing. It's a time when people are looking at us as Chr-stians and seeing us working hard wondering why. So
many times I see that spreading G-d's word
is not just by talking but by doing, G-d loves what we do as long as we glorify
him. So, all the time at practicum was good, learning,
seeing, telling all came into play. This is a great experience for anyone
and everyone.”
Himalaya Team:
Kristen
writes… “The Himalaya team spent the week of practicum working with World
Impact in St. Louis. We loved getting to know Andrew, our o-treach coordinator who kept us busy with all sorts
of work projects. The largest one was resurfacing the gym floor, which took
many hours of careful work. The final result made it worth all the effort!
Besides that, we did a lot of random odd jobs. All week we lived as a team
in an apartment on the fourth floor of the building. It was a lot of fun to
interact in a more personal environment--we all said one of the best parts
of the week was growing closer and becoming more like a
family.”
Thailand Team:
Rachel
shares… “Team Thailand went to an after-school program for 6th to 12th
graders called The Power House in New Haven, Indiana. The first
thing our team did was to participate in their Friday night B-ble study called Gap. We did a skit about how G-d's plan is always best, but sometimes we
have to wait. After Gap we helped with Glo,
which lasts from 8pm to 12am.to 12
a.m.d a skit about how Go It was a tiring night, but we had fun
hanging out with the kids. Throughout the week, we worked in the
morning and helped with Power Plant, the after-school
program in the afternoon. During which we would get the
kids snacks, or we would play games with them. The kids thought we
were staying forever and they were sad to hear we were leaving in four
days. I was asked numerous times if I was coming back in nine months to
stay forever. We gave hugs, took pictures, and left. It was hard to
say ‘goodbye’ to such awesome people.”
Middle East Team:
Jared
writes… “This year the Middle East team went to Canada! Saturday was our
first and last free day, so we could get familiar with the city.
We walked around for quite awhile. Sunday we helped the ch-rch with kid’s ministry. Monday was actually the
Canadian Thanksgiving so we got to help prepare food for
people from several different cultures. Tuesday and Wednesday we
helped at a refugee house doing odd jobs for them. Thursday we helped
with an o-treach to M-slims. Friday we went
to one of the biggest m-sque’s in the GTA (Greater
Toronto Area) with some people who have done this many other times.
Saturday we had a pr-yer time from 10am to 1pm at
a ch-rch whose main objective was to pr-y for
the Middle East. The rest of that day we went to Niagara Falls which was
very fun.”
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