People Over Projects When we arrived at La Iglesia Familia, we were greeted by Diane and Ed, who gave us a great overview of what our week might be like. From the very first meeting with them, we knew that God was guiding us in our work for the week. Our group really wanted to be able to make connections within the community. We had been praying for this before and during our trip, and our prayers were answered ten-fold. We had so many opportunities to talk with, pray with, and learn from people in the community. Every day was a different experience and we really got to live out the "people over projects" approach of mission. This, to me, is so important and I'm glad we were able to take part in this mission experience.

Trust in the Lord, Lean not on your own understanding From my experience, EM leaves a lot of the responsibility up to the participants, so the trip is kind of what you make of it. If you are a person that needs structure this could be a challenge for you. If you are free flowing and looking for adventure you might enjoy it more. I believe if you are willing and able to turn every day over to the Lord and let him work through you and around you this trip can have a great impact for the communities you visit and your own life—just don’t expect that impact to come through EM or their resources.

Count the Cost. It’s Still Worth It. The Lord used this time to point out areas of my life that needed to change. Being surrounded by imperfect but committed believers in a new environment is a bigger blessing than you can imagine. I hope that if you read this, that you choose to set aside time to break from the rush of American life. It’s worth it. I promise.

Parts of the program are very good Parts of the program are very good, some others need a little polishing. My students and I enjoyed being able to mix them up in the their groups each day as to who was working together. The particular site we were on wasn't extremely organized and there were a few frustrations along the way. I'd spoken with other youth leaders prior who had had very good experiences other places, so might have been a rarity. Admin staff prior to the trip was excellent!

Keep the main thing the main thing Overall immersion is a wonderful program and it truly does work. An experience is what you make it, if you are focused on all the negatives you will miss everything else. It’s important to remember that you are there to serve the Lord. It’s not about you it’s about Him. Keep the Main thing the Main thing and you will be blessed beyond your wildest dreams.