Students Make a Difference Through Immersion Program

The YISS middle school was excited to resume our Immersion Program this year with our thirteenth visit to Telunas Beach, Indonesia, during spring break. Immersion is a special program designed specifically for middle school students with focuses on spiritual growth and development, cultural immersion, and opportunities to serve others in various ways.

Our team of 8th grade students and teachers prepared for this trip for 3 months and finally set out to serve the people in Indonesia. From March 17-24, 21 students and six teachers flew from Seoul to Singapore for the first leg of the trip. From there, the team traveled to small islands in Indonesia called the Riau group where we stayed at  Telunas Beach Resort. 

While at Telunas Beach, students were involved in many activities including morning prayer and devotions, group team cultural games, a jungle hike, a low ropes challenge course, small group breakout times, swimming, and other beach activities. One night, we even enjoyed s’mores around the campfire and made pizzas cooked in a wood-fired oven. 

On top of the various activities at Telunas, our students found great satisfaction from sweating and exerting themselves to build something meaningful for others when they took part in a service project that involved mixing cement, shoveling, transporting bricks, and eventually building the first half of a storage room for a local school. A highlight for our students was interacting with a new culture, even learning some simple language skills and playing with children from the village. 

As a group, we enjoyed a special time of building new and deeper relationships with one another. This unique experience remains one of the highlights for YISS middle schoolers as an opportunity to serve and grow together.