Ages 18–30 are encouraged to apply for short- term mission in Curaçao
April 29, 2019
Jennifer Martin, CANACOM’s secretary for mission, leads a group of YAM work camp participants. (Photo by Sanya Beharry)
Young adults in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) ages 18–30 are invited to serve during a Young Adults in Mission (YAM) Work Camp July 23–31 on the island of Curaçao in the eastern Caribbean Sea. The eighth YAM Work Camp, sponsored by the Caribbean and North America Council for Mission (CANACOM), will bring together young people from a dozen Caribbean and North American countries to experience a Caribbean culture in mission, rather than as tourists.
“This opportunity only comes around every three years,” said Jo Ella Holman, World Mission’s regional liaison in the Caribbean. “CANACOM’s member churches, of which the PC(USA) is one, each choose two participants. It’s a fantastic opportunity for young people to get to know others from various churches in Caribbean countries, Canada and the U.S.
“These young people serve together in local projects, learn from one another, worship God in many languages and build community. Our PC(USA) participants have always come home enriched from sharing their gifts and receiving inspiration through the gifts shared by others.”
Young Adults in Mission work camp participants and friends as pictured in 2015. (Photo by Sanya Beharry)
Miguel Rosa Morales, a North American young adult representative on the YAM Work Camp planning team, served as a meeting services program assistant in the Office of the General Assembly during the 223rd General Assembly in St. Louis (2018). He said he always encourages young adults to expand their horizons culturally and theologically through ecumenical opportunities like this one.
Rosa Morales said the camp will be divided into three core parts: learning about the people and culture, taking part in mission work and reflecting on the impact of the mission experience in the lives of the participants. “The ecumenical movement is the place where we all come to the table regardless of our confessions and governance structures and profess that Jesus is our Savior. It’s where we profess that we are brothers and sisters regardless of our backgrounds,” he said. “These types of events create everlasting bonds with people who share similar core beliefs.”
Yammers will be asked to create action plans for projects to be implemented on their return home and to share their experience with their home churches.
The theme for this year’s camp is taken from Micah 6:8: What Does the Lord Require of Me? Current mission priorities are to promote church growth and renewal, eliminate gender-based violence, address the root causes of poverty and inequality and eliminate human trafficking.
Tammy Warren, Communications Associate, Presbyterian Mission Agency
Today’s Focus: Short-Term Mission in Curaçao
Let us join in prayer for:
PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Marjory Roth, FDN
Greg Rousos, FDN
Let us pray:
Creator God, thank you for the abundance you provide every day, in exactly the measure we need. Give us grace to take your good gifts and share them far and wide, so that all may come to know your abundant love. Amen.