September 7, 2010

CHICAGO – Four Lutheran young adults started a three-month road trip Aug. 27 to recruit people their age to consider a year of work overseas. Stephanie Anderson, Nathan Berkas, Sara Higgins and Elliot Williams are visiting congregations, college campuses and other areas where young people hang out to share how international service can be life-changing. They returned from their service four weeks ago.

Traveling overseas "you quickly see the differences in language, culture, music and food," said Anderson. "But after living alongside people for a year, you realize that people everywhere are looking for the same things – love, support, friendship and encouragement. There are a lot more similarities among us than we often realize," she said.

Anderson, Berkas, Higgins and Williams participated in the Young Adults in Global Mission (YAGM) program of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).

Young adults in the program, ranging in age from 19 to 29, are appointed to serve in Argentina and Uruguay, Jerusalem and the West Bank, Mexico, Slovakia and Hungary, South Africa and the United Kingdom. Service opportunities range from teaching English to tutoring children, caring for the elderly to community development. Participants receive a stipend to support a simple lifestyle and are expected to work full time at their placement.

Anderson served in Cape Town, South Africa. There she taught music and art at a primary school, lead youth programs and taught Sunday school at Grassy Park Lutheran Church, and worked at a nonprofit organization called "Africa Jam," an after-school and summer camp program for children.

"The experience really impacted my trust in God," she said.

Anderson is a member of Roseville Lutheran Church, an ELCA congregation in Roseville, Minn. She is meeting with young adults in Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, North and South Dakota, Missouri, Montana and Nebraska.

Berkas served in five Lutheran congregations in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, and worked at a juvenile detention center there.

"What I came to realize, and I guess it's kind of silly because I've always known, but I came to realize that God is at work in the lives of people all over the world," said Berkas.

"For the majority of my life I've lived in Minnesota, and I've been able to see God at work in Minnesota. Being able to go to South Africa, I saw how God is at work in the lives of people there, too, which was an incredible faith-growing opportunity," he said.

A member of Roseville Lutheran, Berkas is traveling to Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Higgins learned about the importance of "being rather than doing, a foreign concept for a recent college graduate." During her service in Cuernavaca, Mexico, where she worked at a community center for seniors, Higgins said she discovered that listening to people builds empowering relationships.

"When I arrived I remember being so bored, sitting with all of these old people. So I started begging them to teach me to knit or sew," said Higgins. "And when I learned how, I made tortilla napkins and dog buckets made out of felt. These were silly projects, but I was really proud of them. And what I noticed was the look of pride on the faces of those who taught me to do these things. They were empowered."

Higgins is traveling to meet young people in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Texas and Washington. She is a member of Trinity Lutheran Church, an ELCA congregation in Marshalltown, Iowa.

Williams served in Johannesburg, South Africa. He lived in Alexandra, "a poor township north of Johannesburg. More than 2 million people, although no one is sure exactly how many people, live in the township that's only 1.5 square miles," he said.

Williams worked at an orphanage where he met "Lizzy, the lady who runs the orphanage." He said Lizzy "comes from a rough upbringing. Hearing her tell her story and how she (continues) to grow in faith is inspiring. She's trying to help the kids in the area not have the same experiences she had. She praises God for the smallest things and the biggest things."

Traveling to "New York and Florida and everywhere in between," Williams is a member of Grace Lutheran Church, an ELCA congregation in Henderson, N.C. During his travel, Williams plans to tell young adults that "you can read stuff in books all you want. But until you put practical experience behind something, whether or not it has anything to do with your major, your knowledge about the world and the people in it will only deepen."

Information about the ELCA Young Adults in Global Mission is at http://www.ELCA.org/yagm/, on the ELCA's website.

ELCA News Service