IMMEDIATE
RELEASE

Jacob
Kramer,
CRWRC
Disaster
Response
and
Rehabilitation
Director,
905‐336‐
2920

Bill
Adams,
CRWRC
Disaster
Response
Services
Director,
cell
616‐560‐2782

Beth
DeGraff,
CRWRC
Media
Contact,
1‐800‐55‐CRWRC
or
cell
616‐6478‐7821

Teens
transformed
by
five­week
African
service
learning
project


SEPTEMBER
4,
2009—Twelve
teenagers
lived
their
faith
to
the
fullest
during
five

weeks
of
service
and
learning
in
Mozambique,
Rwanda,
and
Malawi
this
past

summer.
Selected
for
the
Christian
Reformed
World
Relief
Committee
(CRWRC)

Youth
To
Youth
program,
the
teens
from
Canada,
United
States,
and
Uganda
lived

and
breathed
the
program’s
goals,
“to
love
mercy
by
building
relationships,
act

justly
by
serving,
and
walk
humbly
through
fellowship.”

Because
the
team
was
made
up
of
Ugandans
as
well
as
North
Americans,
the
teens

truly
benefited
from
a
cross‐cultural
learning
experience.
“I
learned
a
lot
from
the

Ugandan
youth
and
I
feel
privileged
to
have
served
alongside
them,”
said
a
16‐year‐
old
participant
from
Dundas,
Ontario,
Canada.
“Although
there
was
some
minor

cultural
tension,
overall
the
team
functioned
amazingly
well
together
and
our

differences
were
overcome
through
perseverance
and
grace
with
each
other.”

After
a
full
year
of
preparation
that
included
study,
journaling,
fund
raising,
and

spending
time
with
mentors,
the
youth
began
with
a
three‐day
orientation
in

Lilongwe,
the
capital
city
of
Malawi.
While
in
Malawi
and
Mozambique,
they
worked

alongside
Save
Orphans
Ministries
and
Nkhoma
Relief
and
Development
staff
in

young
child
clinics,
on
farms,
in
youth
groups,
on
an
orphan
care
center’s
maize

garden,
and
in
adult
literacy
classes.

A
two‐day
side
trip
to
Kilgali,
Rwanda,
brought
the
youth
face
to
face
with
the

horror
of
the
1994
Rwandan
genocide.
They
visited
two
churches
where
15,000

Rwandans
had
been
massacred.
The
victims’
bones,
clothing,
and
even
blood
stains

remain
as
a
powerful
witness
to
the
horrible
attack.
In
her
blog
entry
for
the
day,

group
leader
Bekah
Schipper
wrote,
“I
can't
describe
everything
that
I
saw
in
that

sanctuary,
but
hanging
on
a
coffin
in
the
front
of
the
sanctuary
was
a
banner
that

stated,
‘If
you
knew
me
and
you
knew
who
you
are,
you
would
not
have
killed
me.’”

The
teens
wrapped
up
their
adventure
with
a
safari
and
debriefing
at
Okapi

Gardens,
outside
of
Kampala,
Uganda.


Members
of
the
press
wishing
to
arrange
an
interview
with
Youth
to
Youth
Program

participants
can
call
Beth
DeGraff
at
cell
616‐648‐7821.
Blogs,
photos
and
stories

about
the
Youth
to
Youth
tour
are
available
online
at

www.crwrc.org/news.cfm?detailid=3556&newsid=1497.

CRWRC
is
a
non‐profit
agency
of
the
Christian
Reformed
Church
in
North
America,

ministering
to
people
in
need
around
the
world
with
relief,
development,
and
justice

since
1963.