GO-CORPS - MAY UPDATE

Having an afternoon adventure with our Goers!

Hello Valley Christian Church,

​I hope that you have enjoyed a great memorial day weekend and got some extra time with your family, friends and community!
 
GoWeek1
This week is an exciting week for the GoCorps staff team because it's GoWeek1! Yesterday, 19 Goers and 1 new GoCorps staff arrived into Minneapolis. They are coming from 14 different universities and are headed to 11 different tracks in 14 countries!  All this week, we’ll be learning about fundraising, praying and playing, learning and prepping for the next two years. Please pray for a great week together!

On-Site Goer Visits in Africa and Middle East - See pics below
I recently had a chance to visit 10 of our Goers on the field - 3 of them in East Africa and 7 in the Middle East. They’re all recent grads, on the front lines of the global refugee crisis, interacting daily with people displaced from Yemen, Syria, Iraq and many other places. They’re teaching English, doing advocacy work and sharing the good news! It was an encouraging trip for me as I heard the reports of what they’re learning, how they’re growing and changing, and how they’ve seen God at work in the lives of those that they are building relationships with and ministering to.  Some highlights:

• Getting 1 on 1 time with several of the Goers, and getting a chance to hear about their specific journey, their specific joys, their specific struggles.  
• Getting to do some snorkeling for an afternoon with the Goers and some of their team.
• Learning that, in an effort to make more relationships with locals, one of our Goers has started an ultimate frisbee pick-up game… the first of its kind in his country! 
• Meeting current and new team leaders and getting to worship and pray with one of the teams the Goers are serving with.  
• Having a couple meals with a friend of our Goers who has recently given his life to Christ.

A key reflection as I consider the Goers I got to visit: These Goers are not extraordinary people. They’re very ordinary in their backgrounds and abilities. But they are among the finest young men and women in their generation. They’ve chosen to get uncomfortable, to take a leap of faith and to work hard to love others. They’ve chosen to go beyond ordinary expectations and career path options. They’ve chosen a path less traveled, and they’re being stretched, and they’re experiencing some the best and some of the hardest that life in Christ promises us.

I hope you’re encouraged as you read this update!  Together, we’re helping students in this generation find their place in God’s global work.

All majors to all nations,
Paul Van Der Werf

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