On TREK
Relationships that make a difference
When 22-year-old college students Andy and Tanner traveled halfway around the world for their grand missions adventure last summer, they met other believers whose faith blew them away—who embodied “risky faith in action.” In them, Andy and Tanner* found new role models for their lives.
These young men traveled to India as part of TREK7—an intensive summer outreach that’s part of EFCA ReachGlobal. With TREK7, small groups of young adults partner with missionaries in areas of the world that are hungry for the gospel. The students are trained to share the gospel in culturally appropriate ways, and their hands-on, energetic involvement helps cultivate relationships for long-term church planting.
TREK7 lasts only seven weeks (part of it spent in stateside training), but Andy and Tanner had been dreaming of India for so long that they purchased return tickets dated more than six months into the future. They planned to postpone the start of their senior year at Moody Bible Institute to see this dream come true, even though they weren’t sure what they would do when the TREK7 timeframe ended.
Back in Chicago, the two share housing with five other male students in an area known as Little India, where they encourage each other to reach out to their multiethnic community. They had learned about TREK7 when Dave Rofkhar, ReachGlobal’s executive director for recruiting, visited their campus. The experience, Andy and Tanner quickly realized, would meet their internship requirements and allow them to spend time in India.
“It definitely seemed to be a God-thing,” says Tanner, especially since neither young man was connected with the EFCA. “Some friends were going to India to teach English, but we both liked what we’d be doing with TREK7 in Calcutta—working alongside other organizations to reach women trapped in sex slavery, and learning from our Indian brothers and sisters.”
New friends in the faith
In Calcutta, Andy and Tanner helped a ministry with close ties to ReachGlobal staff members—where women leaving a life of prostitution are able to make a living. They also spent a lot of time with an Indian ministry partner named Pastor Purnendu and one of his disciples, a young man named Ravi. Together, they did outreach on the streets and at schools started by ReachGlobal partner ministries, and they practiced prayer walking around temples and even the red-light district.
Their team of seven young people bonded quickly and sensed that their time in India together would become a milestone in their lives. Many felt led to return to America and advocate for these women. One even intends to go to law school, to learn to fight human trafficking.
After the rest of the TREK7 team returned to the States, Andy and Tanner launched into five months of visiting and serving believers across India. They criss-crossed the country, meeting up with friends from Moody, with believers referred by TREK7 leaders, and with newfound Indian brothers and sisters. Their goal was to learn from these Indian Christians and be of service somehow.
“Something I really learned and appreciate,” Andy says, “is the way that the EFCA ministry is in partnership with people. It’s really easy to come into a situation and think, I know what to do. But the EFCA never says that; they say, ‘We’re going to come alongside those who are already doing good work and support them.’
“I love that model of ministry. We did that the rest of our trip: We’d say, ‘What are you doing? We want to learn from you.’ And that’s something we want to carry into the future.”
With that attitude, Andy and Tanner were warmly invited into people’s homes. For those five months, they taught English, helped construct buildings, played soccer with children, taught an Old Testament survey class at a Bible school, met passionate Korean Christians who modeled boldness in their faith, and even attended a conference for indigenous pastors as the guest of an EFC-India leader, who was one of their greatest encouragers.
At that conference, they were humbled to meet 21- and 22-year-old pastors who’d baptized hundreds of people the year before. “There are people overseas doing amazing work,” Tanner says, sounding a bit amazed himself. “We saw so many people our age with so much passion for the Lord.”
Now back home in the States, Andy and Tanner are already making plans to return to India sometime after graduating. And as they think of the believers whose lives challenged them in India, as well as all those who did the same while they were growing up, they’re considering how to increase their own impact on others.
“I’ve seen the way faith can be truly lived out,” Tanner says. “I’ve seen that there’s so much fruit in living a godly life.”
The world better get ready for the likes of Tanner and Andy, and the lives of others they touch along the way.
Something to think about: Your biggest spiritual influencers might not live in India. But is there someone nearby with whom God might want you to spend a bit more time—someone who might learn from or challenge you?
TREK7 teams will travel to five locations this summer: Berlin, Bangkok, Kolkata (Calcutta), Rio de Janeiro and Europe (Madrid, Lisbon and Rome). To learn more, visit the ReachGlobal website.
*Both men asked that their last names be withheld, to safeguard future missions travel into areas with security concerns.
On Trek
WHEN 22-YEAR-OLD COLLEGE STUDENTS Andy and Tanner traveled halfway around the world for their grand missions adventure last summer, they met other believers whose faith blew them away—who embodied “risky faith in action.” In them, Andy and Tanner* found new role models for their lives.
These young men traveled to India as part of TREK7—an intensive summer outreach that’s part of EFCA ReachGlobal. With TREK7, small groups of young adults partner with missionaries in areas of the world that are hungry for the gospel. The students are trained to share the gospel in culturally appropriate ways, and their hands-on, energetic involvement helps cultivate relationships for long-term church planting.
TREK7 lasts only seven weeks (part of it spent in stateside training), but Andy and Tanner had been dreaming of India for so long that they purchased return tickets dated more than six months into the future. They planned to postpone the start of their senior year at Moody Bible Institute to see this dream come true, even though they weren’t sure what they would do when the TREK7 timeframe ended.
Back in Chicago, the two share housing with five other male students in an area known as Little India, where they encourage each other to reach out to their multiethnic community. They had learned about TREK7 when Dave Rofkhar, ReachGlobal’s executive director for recruiting, visited their campus. The experience, Andy and Tanner quickly realized, would meet their internship requirements and allow them to spend time in India.
“It definitely seemed to be a God-thing,” says Tanner, especially since neither young man was connected with the EFCA. “Some friends were going to India to teach English, but we both liked what we’d be doing with TREK7 in Calcutta—working alongside other organizations to reach women trapped in sex slavery, and learning from our Indian brothers and sisters.”