As a Young Adult Volunteer there are many opportunities.
There are also challenges…

  • Understand that, as you are coming to a place where the history of Christianity predates that of yours, A.D. 52, and where much religious diversity is present, conversion is not the intention
  • Have a faith commitment, but be open to rediscovering the meaning of faith and living it out in the larger socio-political context


  • Realizing that this journey is more than a year-long commitment, but a gateway into a lifelong understanding of faith praxis
  • Be willing to be satisfied with exposure to unjust social and economic structures, rather than being involved in direct charitable activities that lead to immediate and visible results
  • Do not show off your affluence, but share in the richness of our poverty and participate in our life
  • Be ready to change your concepts of what makes for a happy life
  • Open your mind to the realities of poverty and exploitative structures that perpetuate it at macro and micro level
  • Live amongst families and communities as anyone else in the community, with the same privileges and the same restrictions
  • Eat new, different, and sometimes very spicy food
  • Bear the heat and humidity that is present all year long, but is especially difficult in the summer months of March, April, and May
  • Know that teaching conversational English is an important aspect of the work at each of the sites
  • To have a better understanding of India, please go through the books listed in “Suggested Readings.” The books are available new at Amazon.com or used at Half.com.