YAV orientation is coming to Agua Prieta, Mexico!

Like many things in the church, there have been a lot of things that have changed in the Young Adult Volunteer program over the past couple of years. Some of the changes have not been easy, and we have had to say difficult goodbyes to some parts of the program we cherished and colleagues we loved. But as YAV staff and site coordinators, we needed to be open to the ways that the YAV program could change, as young adult volunteer service programs have seen a large drop in the number of U.S. applicants since the pandemic.

But as a church and people of hope, we know that God has been planting seeds that will help us become a fuller and more diverse representation of Christ’s body. My second year of YAV (’14–’15) in Tucson/Agua Prieta was the first official partnership for the YAV program to receive young adults from global partners who served with YAVs from the United States (although there were many individual YAVs from other countries and other amazing young adult programs that represented global partners priorly). I was fortunate to serve then with one of my best friends, Hanbyeol, who was a student at Hannam University in Daejeon, South Korea. And I know that my YAV experience and community were greatly enriched by learning and serving together with Hanbyeol and the rest of our fellow YAVs (Grace, Emily and Allie) on the U.S./Mexico border.

But it has not always been apparent that these seeds of a global Young Adult Volunteer program would take root in the future of the program. At times, the financial challenges and strict immigration barriers to receiving young adults outside the United States have prevented these seeds from growing. But I also believe that the many seeds that were planted over time and envisioned in past partnerships are now becoming the future of the YAV program. There are certainly a lot more uncertainties and factors to consider in a young adult volunteer program that consists of YAVs from various countries, languages and cultures, but there is a lot more the YAV program can also offer to all young adults about how to live out their faith when their YAV community better reflects the diversity of people in the kin-dom of God.

It is for this reason that the YAV program, for the first time, will be having the YAV orientation on the U.S./Mexico border with our PC(USA) partners at Frontera de Cristo in Agua Prieta, Mexico. For the past few years, as the number of YAVs from communities in Latin America has grown, they have only attended orientations virtually separated by the United States border and from the rest of the YAV community. And so, we are excited to take another step forward toward becoming a YAV community that is more influenced by the kin-dom of God than by systems of immigration and white privilege. It will be these questions of how to live as a community of faith defined by the kin-dom of God that YAVs will learn from the church and ministry partners on the U.S./Mexico border. And they will learn from local pastors (the Revs. Jocabed Gallegos, Mark Adams and Pedro Ramos Goycolea) about how a year of service is an opportunity for us to confront and become aware of the narratives and systems that are trying to tell us that we are better off as a church that is separated and unequal from each other. So, please pray for the YAVs as they embark on a year of service in ’24–’25 for a lifetime of change from those lies and narratives toward hope and justice!

Rev. James Martin

(Borderlands YAV Site Coordinator)

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Hodges guest on podcast

YAV coordinator Destini Hodges was the feature guest on a recent “Between 2 Pulpits” podcast. She celebrated the more than 1,900 YAV alums who have served over the past three decades.

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Registration open for youth advocacy conference

October 18-20 marks the “Jesus and Justice” gathering – PC(USA)’s next Young Adult Advocacy Conference held on the Charlotte, North Carolina campus of Union Presbyterian Seminary. The conference is free to attend; topics to be addressed include racial justice, poverty, hunger and homelessness, LGBTQIA+ rights and more. Register here.

Apply to be a YAV

Applications for the 2024-25 in-person service year are open. If you’re between the ages of 19-30 (or know someone who is) and want to engage in world issues, commit to self-reflection, listen to the marginalized and learn in a new way, consider “a year of service for a lifetime of change.” Learn more about the process here.

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Financial support for the YAV program

Please consider giving to the YAV program through a monthly or one-time gift to care for young adults engaged in “a year of service for a lifetime of change.”

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YAV on Youtube

The Young Adult Volunteer program, a ministry of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), is an ecumenical, one-year service opportunity for young adults ages 19 to 30. For nearly three decades, YAVs have listened for God’s call in their lives, while serving alongside partners at sites in the United States and around the world. YAVs live in intentional Christian communities developing and deepening their faith through service. Learn more about this transformative year at youngadultvolunteers.org.

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Spreading the Vision of Matthew 25 across the Church

Matthew 25 is a living translation of Jesus Christ — strengthening relationships, transforming your church, and bringing alive your commitment to those who are marginalized or in need in your community and the world around us. Make no mistake, Jesus is calling us to perform ordinary acts of compassion in daily life. But we have also been called to consider the factors that led to these conditions, to confront the causes of inequality, to confess the sin of greed and to correct the problem of poverty — whether in our own nation and neighborhood, or around the world.

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