The Global Volunteer Program (GVP) is an opportunity for dedicated men and women to learn and grow together: to learn what it means to be a part of God’s work in the world and to grow in their response to His Spirit’s invitation to be deeply and truly changed for the better.
To Grace, the Global Volunteer Program sounded like an exciting and enriching opportunity to deepen her perspective on what community means and explore new ways to use the gifts God has given her.
“My heart for missions began from a young age as I followed my parents around the mission field and eventually became involved in community service work in middle and high school,” explained Grace, who grew up in India as the child of career missionaries and spent her school years in boarding school.“I am passionate about justice, especially in health care, and long to see a world where men, women, and children, regardless of their socio-economic background, can have access to good quality health care. I am equally passionate about community development.”
In early 2014, Grace's Global Volunteer journey began. She traveled to Kenya to spend two and a half months serving and learning alongside World Renew's partner staff in eastern Africa.
“Doing Public Health programs and medical work with communities in Kenya gives me so much joy and life. I believe God was showing me that this is the kind of work He is calling me to do." – Grace
While in Kenya, Grace was able to attend project review meetings with doctors, public-health experts, and community-development workers. She went on home visits to the beneficiaries of health programs and participated in community-based training to design a behavior-change framework.
Building relationships of mutual appreciation and shared learning was a huge highlight of this experience.
“As a missionary kid who has constantly moved around, the phrase ‘home is where the heart is’ holds a lot of truth for me,” Grade said. “It's hard to explain just how much care and love my supervisors, colleagues, and their families poured out on me. I am infinitely grateful that I now have another ‘home’ and family in Kenya.”
Grace also returned home with a new sense of affirmation and fresh confidence about her vocational path—even if she did not know where, exactly, she would go next.
“Working with communities and doing Public Health programs and medical work with communities in Kenya gives me so much joy and life,” She said. “I believe God was showing me that this is the kind of work He is calling me to do. I am humbled because the reluctant, half-hearted trust I put in God when I started this journey pales against His incredible faithfulness. I have not only completed my internship, but have experienced things beyond my imagination.”
To learn more about Grace’s experience as World Renew Global Volunteer, watch the video below. You can also visit her blog at The Giant Baobab.
To explore your own faith journey and learn more about the Global Volunteer Program, please visit worldrenew.net/globalvolunteerprogram.
