wfn.org | ABCUSA: 'Xtreme Team' Mission Adventures Scheduled for Summer 2003

["SCHRAMM, Richard" <Richard.Schramm@abc-usa.org>]

American Baptist News Service (Valley Forge, Pa. 2/11/03)--Three "Xtreme
Team Mission Adventures," sponsored by American Baptist International
Ministries, will involve young adults on three continents this summer.

The 2003 experiences, set for June 29 to Aug. 9, will include a team from
the U.S. to Ghana, one from the U.S. to Japan, and one from South Africa to
the U.S.  Each team will include approximately eight participants and four
leaders and will begin with an orientation week at Judson College in Elgin,
Ill.  They will be on the field from July 6-30 and return to the U.S. for
debriefing at Ripon College in Ripon, Wis., July 30-Aug. 2.  The teams will
conclude their experiences Aug. 2-9 at the World Mission Conference in Green
Lake, Wis.

The Xtreme Team program was begun by American Baptist International
Ministries in 1998.  It seeks to provide American Baptist young adults with
interactive cross-cultural mission experiences in other parts of the world.
Over the past four years 68 participants, ages 19 to 29, have been involved
in Xtreme Team Mission Adventures. 

Each day of the experience team members "Xtract what they see, hear, feel,
taste and touch and relate those Xperiences to God's word and world" as well
as their own faith commitments and priorities. Participants are required to
keep a journal and share it with supporters and friends back home via the
Internet.  The Internet also is used to post photographs, interviews and
testimonies to keep American Baptist informed and to help develop a mission
education curriculum for youth.

For more information on the 2003 teams and on the Xtreme Team Mission
Adventure program contact Mike Buckles, Coordinator of Volunteer Missions,
International Ministries, P.O. Box 851, Valley Forge, PA 19482-0851;
1-800-ABC-3USA/x2367; mike.buckles@abc-usa.org; or visit the Xtreme Team Web
site: xtremeteamonline.org.

K/2003ABNS/03ABN21

American Baptist News Service: Office of Communication, American Baptist
Churches USA, P.O. Box 851, Valley Forge, PA 19482-0851; (800)ABC-3USA x2077
/ (610)768-2077; fax: (610)768-2320; www.abc-usa.org;
richard.schramm@abc-usa.org