Greetings Everyone,
Currently I am in the third month of my year of mission work partnering with Young Adults in Global Mission. These last couple of months have truly been life changing. I am volunteering at Bethany Christian Trust, which is located in Edinburgh Scotland. Bethany Christian Trust is an organization that it is focused on ending homelessness one person at a time. Bethany's core values are love, serve, and value. There are plenty of verses in the bible that discuss helping people. For example, Isaiah 58:7 reads “Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter when you see the naked, clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?” This verse expresses Bethany’s core values. Bethany has many different projects all over Scotland. I am currently working in Bethany house. Bethany house is an emergency resettlement unit. The unit contains twenty-four men and four women in six cluster flats; known in the United States as apartments. Within the flats each resident has a bedroom and shares a living room, bathroom, and kitchen. Bethany House provides all meals and these meals are cooked by the staff. The role I play at Bethany House is an assistant project worker. This experience is truly amazing. Everyday is different and I never quite know what the day has in store for me when I walk into work. Faith and Christian beliefs are extremely important in the everyday running of Bethany House. When you walk through the doors you can see and feel the warmth, compassion and positive energy that all the staff bring to work each and everyday. For me, this opportunity is much more meaningful when I know that the staff are genuinely trying to help the residence. This could involve helping them with their mental health, addiction, physical health, or just helping them get a full-time residential housing unit. This genuine care demonstrated positively changes my interactions with the clients. The staff is very accommodating and really cares about the outcome in these residence lives. Everyday of volunteering I am learning something new. Furthermore, II am learning what compassion means and putting someone else's needs before your own. The bible says in Philippians 2:3-4 “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of others.” I want to represent that verse throughout my volunteer experience. I want to strive to put others needs and interests ahead of my own. The volunteer work I have completed has been extremely rewarding and I cannot wait to see what the rest of the year has in store for me. Thank you for following and keeping up with my newsletters and blogs and I wish you all the best. I will write again soon.