Each year when the school year comes to a close and the “beautiful” summer weather comes upon us at FIRM, we look forward to hosting mission teams from throughout the country. We began the summer with three young ladies from Wisconsin (who have been on 8 mission trips together) who were excited for a cultural experience. Even though they were from Wisconsin, which also has a high population of Southeast Asian refugees, they had not ever learned about the refugee journey. The experience for the team was eye-opening and challenging! It was powerful to see three college students give up a week of their summer to serve the Lord at FIRM.
We just said goodbye to our second team, which was from the Community Church of Sebastopol (United Church of Christ). This was a team of junior high students and their leaders who came for a weekend mission trip experience. This team learned about the refugee journey from Laos and also attended a church service at The House of the Gospel (one of our partner churches), which was in the Russian language. They also served at FIRM helping with the community room update project! We cannot forget that many of the students also enjoyed pho for the very first time!
We are looking forward to our last confirmed mission teams coming for the week of July 27 who are from Lake Grove Presbyterian Church (Oregon) and Cornerstone Church of Silicon Valley (Los Altos, CA). Both teams came last summer and we have stayed in close contact with them throughout the year. We will keep you updated as to all the wonderful work that will be accomplished and relationships that will be strengthened!
Would you like to bring a team from your church to serve at FIRM? Please contact Executive Director, Zachary Darrah.