Elgin church youths help out in Ecuador
From Staff Reports September 20, 2011 12:48PM
The Redefined Student Ministry of Church in the Word returned from Ecuador last month, where their team of Jr. High and High School students partnered with a local church to serve and share the love of Christ with some of the people living in Ecuador's Amazon Rainforest. Eight students, and three adult ministry leaders, gave up two weeks of their summer vacations to organize and host a Vacation Bible School program in one of the villages, minister door-to-door, perform gospel-based dramas on city street corners, clean and repaint a village school building, and pray for the sick.
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Updated: November 10, 2011 10:13AM
ELGIN — The Redefined Student Ministry of Church in the Word returned from Ecuador last month, where its team of junior and senior high school students partnered with a local church to serve and share the love of Christ with some of the people living in Ecuador’s Amazon rainforest.
Eight students and three adult ministry leaders gave up two weeks of their summer vacations to organize and host a Vacation Bible School program in one of the villages, minister door-to-door, perform gospel-based dramas on city street corners, clean and repaint a village school building, and pray for the sick.
“We had eight students who raised enough money and survived all the paperwork and actually got on a plane to Ecuador,” said Alexis Wisniewski, who co-leads Redefined with her husband, “but our whole group made this happen. Many of the students who stayed behind helped fund-raise and were really praying for their friends.”
This is the fifth time the Redefined Student Ministry has taken a group of students overseas with the gospel, and it won’t be the last. Previous summer trips have taken teenagers from Guatemala to India, and each group has reported seeing God work miracles when the gospel is shared. Students and leaders alike already are looking ahead to the summer of 2013.
“It’s hard, but we will never stop doing this,” Wisniewski said. “We go, first, because we’re told to go, because everyone should have the chance to choose Jesus for himself, and because the transformation that comes to peoples’ lives when they say, ‘Yes’ to God is astounding.
“We also go for our students. They never come back the same. Initially, they’re deeply grateful for things like showers and toilet paper. A week or two later, though, when asked about the trip, the first thing most of them will say is something like, ‘I never really knew how good I have it.’ It is a wake-up call that they will never forget.”
For more information on the Redefined Student Ministry, or to watch a short video of their trip, visit ImRedefined.com, or email LexW@ChurchInTheWord.com.
Church in the Word is at 430 Airport Road, Elgin.
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