MS Immersion Provides Journey of Service and Growth

The YISS middle school was excited to return to Telunas Beach, Indonesia, for its fourteenth visit with the Immersion Program. Immersion is a unique spring break program designed specifically for middle school students that focuses on spiritual growth and development, cultural immersion, and opportunities to serve others.

Our team of 7th and 8th grade students and teachers prepared for this trip for three months and finally set out to serve the people in Indonesia during spring break. From March 22-28, thirty-two students and seven 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. All in all, the travel involved two buses, two boats, and one plane to get us to our final destination.

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, deck jumping, night shrimping, and many other beach activities. One night, we even enjoyed s’mores around the campfire and made pizzas cooked in a wood-fired oven. Another highlight was a very successful morning of fishing, during which several students caught multiple fish (and Mr. Krahn caught none for the second straight year...but he's not bitter).

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 sand and gravel, transporting water in wheelbarrows from the village well, and eventually building a retaining wall to protect the village from flooding. Another service project involved painting and constructing signs to educate villagers about the negative effects of littering. Highlights of the service part of the trip involved playing volleyball against some of the villagers, playing with the local children, and making a variety of crafts.

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.