Yuriko Beltran doesn’t ask for much — just an opportunity to change the world. Which is exactly why the 23-year-old entered the PC(USA)’s Young Adult Volunteer program.
The 36-page Annual Report of the Presbyterian Mission Agency has been published online and can be seen here. The theme for this year’s report is “A year unlike all others … and we responded.”
Destini Hodges, associate for recruitment and relationships with the Presbyterian Church U.S.A.’s Young Adult Volunteer (YAV) Program, can see how, early on, her congregation provided opportunities for her to grow as a leader.
The Rev. Everdith (“Evie”) Landrau has been named the new coordinator of the Young Adult Volunteer program.
In late January, Daniel Pappas was riding in a van with his video equipment traveling toward the border of Burma (Myanmar). Most people don’t get that kind of opportunity, but to him it’s just another happy step on a path he didn’t know he was taking.
I began reforming my understanding of mission work when I participated in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Young Adult Volunteer program after I graduated from college in 2002. I served in England, where the PC(USA)’s church partner was running an after-school program for at-risk youth. I received the most profound impression that year from the YAV orientation and all that I learned from global partners in the community in which I was immersed — namely, that I had so much more to learn about the world around me.
When Quantisha (Tisha) Mason told her mother she wanted to experience South Korea for a year as a Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Young Adult Volunteer (YAV) she responded, “I don’t support you in this.” But worries over escalating tensions between South and North Korea and a desire to have her daughter near her as she explored post-college options were overcome by Tisha's resolve.
Monisha M. Smith has been named as the new Recruitment/Relationships Associate for the Young Adult Volunteer (YAV) program of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). She begins her ministry at the Presbyterian Mission Agency in Louisville, Kentucky, on December 3, 2012.