My Experience with the Ten2 Project

• SA Engages

April 15, 2020

A season of service may sound daunting or just straight up awful to some of you, but for me it was one of the best decisions I ever made. I encourage you all to consider taking a week or even a few months to serve your community or abroad. I guarantee you will learn more about yourself than you ever thought you would, and you might even end up benefiting more than the people you serve. 

Last summer, I decided to take a leap of faith and journey to Europe with Ten2 Project. Ten2 Project is inspired by Luke 10:2, which says, “He told them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field’”. There are many different locations you can serve on this project including: Greece, Germany, Spain, Wales, England, Romania, Macedonia, and France. The way you serve looks very different based on your location, but they are equally important and geared towards what you are gifted in. I was placed to serve in Romania so I could work in a special needs orphanage and I learned so much while I was there. Ten2 Project wants to help you “experience life in Europe as you learn the language, stay with locals and embrace the culture, and learn how to share the gospel across Europe in creative ways like art, summer camps and coffee shop outreach!” (Ten2project.org).

I think a season of service teaches you that there are more important things than yourself, that the world is bigger than the bubble you live in, and how to live out our purpose that God has set before us. Here are a few things I’ve learned:

First, you realize that the world is not there to please you. I know this can be a little bit of a rude awakening, but it is so important to learn at an early age. We live in a society that makes us believe that we belong at the center of everything because that’s what we deserve. However, when you serve and volunteer you start to actually see that the world doesn’t revolve around you. You also learn quickly that what society teaches you is opposite of what the Bible teaches us. Philippians 2:3-4 says, “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others”. When you serve, you learn that we are to look out for others more than ourselves and that we should be serving others more than ourselves.

Second, you start to grasp how big the world actually is and how little your bubble is. By being in Europe this past summer I quickly learned that America’s culture is very different from Romanian culture. This may seem like a very simple realization, but it was a hard thing to get used to. Once I grasped it, I was able to see how beautiful and unique their culture was. I learned through this how naive my thinking was and how worldview reflected that. I was able to deepen my cultural awareness and my love of God’s people from every nation and tribe.

Third, when you serve, you are actively living out God’s purpose for us which is to love God, love people, and to share the great news of the gospel. We are given the opportunity to be a co-laborer for Christ, which is one of the greatest honors we could receive as Christians. Mark 10:45 states, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many”. We are made in the image of God and we are commanded to be like Christ, and this is one way to model Christ in our actions. God does not call us to live a life of comfort, but rather of adventure and faith. How exciting it is that we are able to step fully into this and serve our amazing God knowing whole-heartedly that He loves us and has His best interest in mind for us! Service trips are so important and necessary. According to IMB, “Engaging in these trips can alter perspectives and change lives, exposing believers to the unreached and personalizing the desperate need of the lost” (International Mission Board, 2018).

Overall, words cannot fully describe everything I learned from my three months of serving with Ten2 Project, but I do know how much it changed my life. I want everyone to experience what life is like serving and the joy that comes with it. If you want more information on the Ten2 Project, check out their website www.ten2project.org or their Instagram @ten2project.

Sources

Davis, G. (2018, December 13). Mission Trips Matter: Here’s Why. Retrieved from https://www.imb.org/2018/08/31/short-term-trips/

Missions in Europe. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.ten2project.org/

The Holy Bible: New International Version. Zondervan, 2005.

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