What Difference Does a Volunteer Make?

Els, Girls' Camp 2014

Short-term teams--is that time and money well spent? Like most things, that all depends on what the team does, how they do it, how they connect with the local ministry, and how relationship- rather than result-oriented the team is. A team member from the Baptist churches in Arnhem, the Netherlands, has been going to a Roma village in Moldova for the past 4 years (see blog post, August 15, 2013, for instance).

Els with village guests, 2013

Els, Children's work, 2011

Today, October 2014, a doctor visited the children in this village because of the connections Els could make between the pastor, Petru Ciochina, and a Moldovan health outreach, Emmanuel Christian Medical Association. Well-child check-ups are not in the household budgets of most of the Roma families in the village. Els made a difference when she was in the village. She continues to make a difference even after going home.

Have you been part of a volunteer team?
What have your volunteer experiences been like?
And how might you make a lasting contribution?