International Young Adults Serve

This past March, four young people from the international church community traveled to Independence, Missouri, to undergo training as volunteers for the WorldService Corps international guides program. During this time they also worked with Temple and Auditorium Guide Services, International Services, and the Children’s Peace Pavilion. The volunteers—who hail from Australia, the Netherlands, Ukraine, and Fiji—were also afforded the opportunity to participate in the International Leaders Meeting, World Conference, and the International Young Adult Event. The four then split into pairs that spent a month each at Kirtland and Nauvoo to serve as guides for these historic sites. At the end of May the group reconvened in Nauvoo for another two months of service as guides.

Although their cultures and backgrounds are varied, they all share some common threads in their reasons for joining the WSC international guides program. Michelle De Mol is from Sydney, Australia, where she attends the Kingsgrove Community of Christ congregation. A love for travel and having her eyes opened to new experiences in part drew her to the WSC program. On completion of the international guides program, Michelle plans to return to Australia where she will begin an Australian Service Corps program on the Mid North Coast.

Iryna Chloni-Ediger is originally from Ukraine, but has been living in Germany with her husband, Nikolai, since 2003, where she studies at the University of Koblenz-Landau. She enjoys reading and travel, and finds that her understanding of God is strengthened by spending time in nature. She likes learning about new cultures and sharing her experiences with God with new people.

Joe Tukutukuwaga, from Fiji, felt called to the international guide program after his family hosted two WSC volunteers and his sister returned from participating in the international guide program last year. He looks forward to experiencing other cultures and representing God’s love to others for the benefit of all involved. He has previously participated in the Ministerial Education and Discipleship Studies (MEADS) program in India.

Erik Olijnsma is from the Netherlands and has been attending church all his life. After taking a break from attending church for his parents’ sake, he found himself going on his own initiative. He grew more interested in Community of Christ itself and now desires to learn more of its history in order to understand its current embodiment and where he fits into that.

After their second two-month term as volunteer guides at Nauvoo, the four attended SPECTACULAR in Lamoni, Iowa, before returning to International Headquarters to take part in a program debriefing and then to their respective homes.

—Tom Anderson reporting