From July 2–14, 28 volunteers participated in Caleb Mission in Cusco, Peru, as part of a project of the Seventh-day Adventist Church's Youth Ministry. The mission mobilizes young people to serve communities through social and evangelistic efforts while on school breaks. The initiative brought together volunteers from Brazil and Peru, who carried out activities across different parts of the city.

The missionary effort was organized by the Seventh-day Adventist Church through the North Paraná Conference (ANP) and the Central South Riograndense Conference. The teams were coordinated by Jederson Zukovski and Wagner Willyam.

Bianca Novoli and Danielle Pallone, two of the volunteers, discovered that God had prepared people to help them share the message of hope.

Maria Madera Vargas and her son, Jeimy Roque, volunteered to translate each of the services held by Mission Caleb. Thanks to their support, volunteers were able to communicate with the local community in their language and carry out evangelistic activities.

"With great dedication and love for the mission, she helped us and involved her son every day in translating each of the services so that people could be reached by the Word shared in their own language. It was impossible not to recognize the hand of God guiding every detail," Novoli recalls.

During their stay in Cusco, volunteers carried out missionary visits, praise and evangelism programs, and social actions such as the revitalization of plazas and other public spaces.

For Vinicius Nogueira, another participant in the group, bringing the love of Christ to a place with different customs and languages ​​strengthened his sense of mission and his bond with his brothers and sisters in faith. “I will take with me every moment of learning, both from my fellow believers and from Peruvian culture. It was an experience that taught me a lot and showed me how much we can learn when we encounter different people and realities,” he says. 

Zukovski, director of the ANP Youth Ministry, had the support of the local pastor throughout the Caleb Mission trip. He emphasized that involving young people in cross-cultural projects produces profound results in their spiritual development. 

“The experience of speaking about God’s love in another language shows us that the message of hope is for everyone. It also demonstrates that the challenges young people face exist everywhere but reaffirms that God acts in the same way. It was very enriching to see the young people working on each activity; they returned more energized and with many experiences to share,” said Zukovski. 

The mission in Cusco is part of an initiative led by the Adventist Youth Ministries in southern Brazil. Each year, they send teams of volunteers to different mission areas within and outside the country. In previous years, participants served in communities in the Amazon, Santiago, Chile, and Montevideo.

Novoli, Pallone, and the other volunteers prepared for this experience through the Send Me Mission School, a program of the Adventist Volunteer Service (AVS) that trains young people to participate in evangelism and humanitarian action projects in different parts of the world.

At the end of the mission, the participants expressed gratitude for the experiences they had and for the people they reached.

"This mission further strengthened my faith because I was able to see how God prepares people, places, and every opportunity beforehand, even before we arrive. It reminds me that I am merely an instrument in His hands when I allow Him to use me. I will never forget the lives reconciled with God during the evangelistic nights, nor each brother who served as a bridge of God's incomparable love and care for us missionaries," Pallone said.

The original article was published on the South American Division news site.