Puja (second to the right), Kristen Maxwell (center), and other friends huddle up for a picture!
Written by Puja Gurung, Volunteer and 2019 Summer Intern
My name is Puja Gurung and I am a junior at Wyandotte High School. My journey with Mission Adelante began when I came to the United States in 2012. Ever since, Mission Adelante has reminded me of how important I am through every aspect of my life. It has given me long-lasting friendships and shown me the love of Jesus through people, especially Kristen Maxwell and Dani Hammond who discipled me and became friends with me. I remember my first time at Mission Adelante - it was a few days after I arrived in the United States. I started attending Bhutanese Kids Club on Tuesdays night. Here I grew up learning about God’s word and making a group of new friends who I am still close with now. I was also a part of L.I.T (Leaders in Training) when I was in eighth grade. This really helped me to be a better person and encouraged me to do better on my schoolwork.
I began volunteering at Refugee Youth Club in January 2019. Every Tuesday evening, we study passages from the Bible, do schoolwork, discuss our problems, and try to get to help and understand one another. I love being part of Refugee Youth Club! It has impacted my life in great ways - from meeting new people to discovering new things. I also did an internship with Mission Adelante this past summer. The internship inspired me to serve other people and be a leader in our community. Now I love to be around people and learn from them because during the internship I learned that we all have different gifts and talents to share. The internship encouraged me to volunteer in Arts Community. I help on Mondays evenings in the arts and crafts class because I love to see the younger kids creating and learning new things. Currently, I am volunteering in both Refugee Youth Club and Arts Community.
I am very grateful for all these experiences and the people that I met through Mission Adelante. They have celebrated the good times and stayed by my side through the tough times. They have also helped me to grow deeper in my faith journey with Jesus and showed me how important I am to Him - no matter where I am from.
Have you ever wondered what goes on at a typical night of programming at Mission Adelante? Adelante Arts Community, Refugee Kids Club, Refugee Youth Club, Citizenship Class, Latino ESL, Teens Adelante, and Kids Adelante have Observation Nights coming up! Visit www.missionadelante.org/observe to sign up!
CURRENT NEEDS:
Do you speak English? Many of our community members don’t but would love to learn and practice with you! We are in need of ESL volunteers for our spring trimester. Come make friends from other places and help them learn a new language! If you are interested in volunteering, please visit our website at http://www.missionadelante.org/esl