This fall, Rosedale International commissioned two short-term interns to support the work in the Mediterranean Region. Jared, Director of Short-Term Programs, reflects on the trajectory of these former REACHers and celebrates the work God is doing in and through them. Names and locations have been changed or omitted for security.
In the early spring months of 2024, I had the privilege of representing Rosedale International (RI) at Greenwood Mennonite School. Following my presentation, a shy young lady approached me. Her first words to me, after some prompting from a teacher, were: “I think that I could do that, but I have some questions.” She was inquiring about the REACH program, a nine-month cross-cultural ministry experience for young adults.
“I think that I could do that, but I have some questions.”
A few months earlier at the Rosedale International Center (RIC), I’d met a young man named Elliot. His youth group had come to experience City Challenge, a five-day local missions program our team hosts in the city of Columbus. Elliot’s experience had sparked an interest in missions; as Madeline approached me with her questions about REACH, he was also wondering if he “could do that.”
Over the last two years, I’ve had the pleasure of watching these two discover how much they can truly do. Madeline spent two REACH terms in the Mediterranean Region, working alongside long-term workers David and Emily. She faithfully served with their family by caring for their children, assisting in their education, and building relationships with local women. In 2024, she traveled to the Mediterranean as a participant; in 2025, far from the shy girl I’d met the year before, she returned to the region in a team leader capacity. At the same time, Elliot spent two REACH terms leading a trekking team, first in the Himalayas and then in the Mediterranean Region. He and his teams put in countless miles as they traveled to remote villages, built relationships with locals, and shared the gospel with them.
The Short-Term Programs team witnessed tremendous growth and transformation in their lives as a result of God’s movement in and through them while in our care. Here is what I noticed most: both Elliot and Madeline fully embraced the sacrificial lifestyle that we invite our participants to live out during REACH. While their outreach experiences looked very different, their heart was the same: to love God while loving people.
During re-entry at the conclusion of their REACH terms, it was evident that God was building within each of them a heart for missions and a desire to do more for all nations. In conversations about potentially continuing down the path of mission work, they both voiced the thought they’d had while considering REACH: “I think I could do that.”
What they are doing now is exactly what we hope and pray for when students take the big step of choosing REACH.
Today, we are celebrating the next step in their journey with Rosedale International as both Madeline and Elliot return to the Mediterranean! They go as short-term interns, serving alongside RI’s long-term workers in the region. Madeline will return to the role she held as a REACHer, providing childcare and home education support for David, Emily, and their three precious daughters. Elliot will continue his ministry efforts in the south, devoting his time to earthquake relief efforts, trekking, and sharing the gospel with locals.
What they are doing now is exactly what we hope and pray for when students take the big step of choosing REACH. Our prayer is that participants will catch a vision for what long-term missions could look like for them personally. I celebrate what our staff does every single day to train and equip these young adults to go into the world and preach the gospel—sometimes in word, sometimes in action, but always with the motivation to take Jesus to the world, and the world to Jesus.