Walking on Holy Ground
This is part five in a series about the CRCNA’s work engaging young adults in mission. Read part one, part two, part three, part four, and subscribe to CRC News to read other engaging articles.
“I came to the Middle East having experienced quite a lot of loss. . . . I had a lot of healing to do—spiritually, emotionally, physically,” said Elena,* a Resonate Global Mission volunteer.
“God answered my prayers.”
Elena had been discerning a call to ministry for years, she said, but as she was finishing her undergraduate studies, she didn’t feel ready to start seminary right away.
“I felt I needed further spiritual formation . . . and wanted to find it in a diverse community where I could ask new questions about the way God is at work in the world and be challenged by the perspectives of those whose culture, language, and way of being the church is different from my own,” said Elena.
That’s when she learned about Cohort, a Resonate program for young adults to live in community, serve in a grassroots ministry, and engage in deep spiritual formation. With opportunities to serve in Central America, Detroit, Europe, and the Middle East, Resonate’s Cohort provides opportunities for young adults to get a better understanding of what it’s like to be a missionary or to work in cross-cultural ministry.
When Elena met with the Resonate missionary* who leads Cohort in the Middle East, she felt an instant connection to the ministry—it seemed like a good fit for what she sensed God was calling her to focus on.
Landing in the Middle East
“I had never done any international travel before in my life . . . so deciding to do a year-long experience like Cohort in a completely different culture, time zone, and community on my own was definitely a baptism of fire,” said Elena.
The transition was overwhelming at first, she said. She was grieving the death of a friend back home, and in her new surroundings she was plunged into new sights, sounds, and smells. Islamic daily calls to prayer reverberated throughout the city where she was now living, and crowds of people speaking Arabic swarmed around her.
Elena also struggled to understand what some of her fellow Cohort volunteers were saying. Cohort Middle East is intentionally diverse with volunteers from the Middle East, North America, and other regions of the world. But that was something Elena had been looking for—and a Resonate missionary helped to guide the group members as they worked hard to navigate their language and cultural barriers.
“In spite of ongoing grief, homesickness, and culture shock, it didn’t take long before I felt like I had a second family here,” said Elena.
“United in Worship”
As a participant in Cohort, Elena met with the group every week to engage in topics of spiritual formation. They ate together, read the Bible together, worshiped together, and asked tough questions together. They also visited various ministries and biblical sites. “[Many] events of Scripture took place in this region—it really is like walking on holy ground in some sense,” said Elena.
Among her favorite memories of her time with Cohort, she said, are those of gathering with the group in the living room of the missionary’s home.
“It’s a powerful thing to be united in worship—often in multiple languages with different worship styles represented. [We were able] to participate in a Revelation 7:9 kind of vision, and it's pretty remarkable,” said Elena.
The Cohort became Elena’s rock as she adjusted to a different culture and setting. Every Cohort volunteer serves with a grassroots ministry, and with Elena looking to pursue ministry in her future, the Resonate missionary wanted her to have a range of experiences to explore her gifts and passions. The group supported Elena as she worked with street-involved youth and their families, mentored third-culture kids through a member-care center Resonate had started, led a healing-through-storytelling program, and served with a local church that ministers with expatriates by planning retreats and leading worship.
“Each of these opportunities took me into a different kind of community, including locals, refugees, and the expat community. Even though I’ve remained in one nation in the Middle East for most of my time here, I feel like I’ve been exposed to such a broad vision of the body of Christ,” said Elena.
“These Are My People Now”
The Resonate missionary saw Elena’s gifts grow and asked her to stay on to help colead the next group before starting her seminary training.
“Elena came with open hands and an open heart to experience all that God had for her,” said the missionary. “I appreciated that she came wanting to know God, others, and herself on a new level. . . . Elena loves people with openness and abandon.”
Elena said yes—and she has spent the past six months helping the missionary to mentor new cohort volunteers and lead worship and discussions.
“[This] is my second home, and the people in my cohorts and broader community here are my second family. It’s really as simple as that. I can’t imagine leaving after just one year with Cohort. These are my people now, and it’s been such an honor to be invited back,” said Elena.
Through her experience of two seasons with Cohort, said Elena, God answered her prayers for healing and spiritual formation. She said God formed her in a way she may never have experienced at home.
“Not only can I locate my story within the story of this region, but Cohort teaches us to locate ourselves within the story of what God has done and is doing across the global church. We belong to Christ, and because of that we belong to each other,” said Elena.
“Knowing that—and not just abstractly but experientially and incarnationally through Cohort—” she said, “has changed not only how I understand myself, my faith, and my vocation in ministry but also what the body of Christ is and what it means that each believer is called to bring the fullness of Christ’s kingdom on earth.”
*Names changed or withheld to protect identity
