I decided to serve in Denia because I wanted to live abroad in a beautiful place, meet other young Christians from all over the world, serve others in the church, and grow deeper in my Faith. Before finding out about Alfa & Omega, I knew I wanted to slow down for a bit after experiencing the constant rush of college. Alfa seemed to provide the opportunity to reflect on God through the simple tasks I would be performing for the church.

I met a lot of young Christians from all over the world. I roomed with two other American guys at the school, and lived and worked with volunteers from Germany, Austria, Cuba, Venezuela, Colombia, the Netherlands, and Brazil. At Alfa, going to the beach is always an option and I probably went about 3 or 4 times a week to swim in the clear Mediterranean sea and play beach volleyball with the locals. One weekend a group of us took a train to Madrid where we visited the Prado museum, the royal Parque del Retiro, and took in the incredible architecture. However, of all the specific fun experiences I had, what I liked and miss the most is doing the Lord's work every day with a team of other committed volunteers. Fernando, the groundskeeper of the school and the one responsible for delegating most tasks, was really fun to work with and made every day a blessing. The volunteers take pride in keeping the interior and exterior of the school campus clean, so sweeping is a common chore. I am also lucky to have made my mark at the school with a lot of the construction projects I took part in; I constructed furniture, mounted TVs, replaced windows, installed decorations, and refurbished an exterior wall among other tasks.

My relationship with God was strengthened in many ways in my time at Alfa. Every week a new volunteer would give their testimony at Tim and Bonnie's house and through this I was able to both take lessons from their experiences and find encouragement in the ways God was working in their lives. The fact that they are all in the same life stage as I am gave me more insight into how God is working in my own life. In my time at Denia I also gave my testimony for the first time. We spent a lot of time in Scripture as well, studying a new chapter of the Bible every week among the volunteers.

My time in Denia changed me in many ways. One was that spending time with the same people twenty-four hours a day let others see all aspects of my character, even the flaws. Since we were all Christians working towards the same purpose, the other volunteers felt comfortable telling me when I was falling short and would welcome criticism themselves. This allowed me to have a clearer view of my character flaws and work on them.

*Fernando surrounded by his volunteer helpers*

I would highly recommend volunteering at Alfa and Omega. Volunteers have the opportunity to better understand themselves and God in their time in Denia. What allows this to happen is that you are living with other Christians in a low-stress environment where there is still work to be done, but it is meaningful work done in the moment without worrying about tomorrow. It's a unique combination of things that I don't know where I would find elsewhere. After hearing about my time in Denia, my sister has decided to volunteer next summer as well.

Mason Payne

Wed, Sep 20, 6:04 PM