From Central Indiana, 15 Reformed Presbyterian student volunteers headed to southern Florida this past summer to help an international ministry, ECHO, in its efforts to increase agricultural productivity in Third World countries.

ECHO (Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization) is a non-profit, Christian organization designed to strengthen the ministry of missionaries and national churches as they work with rural farmers or urban gardeners. ECHO, located in Ft. Myers, Fla., is a growing net work for sharing information, ideas, seeds of useful food, and forage and agroforestry plants, with an experimental farm. (For more on ECHO, visit their home page at http://www.echonet.org.)

The work team left Indianapolis June 17 and returned July 1. The ages of the students ranged from 14-18, along with a cook, Caroline Shank, and three men from the Southside Reformed Presbyterian Church: John Hanson, Steve Elder, and Josh McEwen. We stopped in Selma, Ala., to visit and worship with the Reformed Presbyterian Church there. On Monday, we arrived in Ft. Myers, Fla.

A typical work day at ECHO: At 6:30, Mr. Hanson would walk down the hall way, opening doors, turning on lights, and singing a song. Our all-time favorite was “Rise and Shine.” Once Mr. Hanson finished singing, the countdown began. We had 10-15 minutes to get dressed, organize our sleeping quarters, and get in the van for a 20 minute drive from the Trinity Reformed Church to ECHO. \Ve ate breakfast, had personal devotions, and then had group Bible study. Around 8 am, we sang Psalms with the interns, received job assignments, and went to work.

One of the many projects that the team worked on was fencing in the new 15 acres of land. Many of the students worked on digging holes for the fenceposts, setting up the posts and filling the holes, hammering in the fencing, and clearing paths for roads. Some of the other jobs were weeding, mulching, transplanting, potting, planting and harvesting rice, cleaning the barn and the sheds, office work, fertilizing plants, and feeding the animals. A Bible verse that gave us encouragement and an extra boost of energy was Proverbs 19:17, “He who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward him for what he has done.”

Noon to 1:30 was set aside for supper and “relaxing.” Then back into the hot sun and dirt we went with new assignments. We worked till 5 p.m., took showers and ate a simple meal. The rest of the evening was free time. Lights were usually out around 11.

Carrie Filson, one of the team members, said. “I noticed that everyone on the trip had different convictions and views, but we all came together for one purpose, to bring glorv to God and to work to advance Christ’s kingdom.”

Ryan Cerbus added, “Mr. Hanson’s devotions about keeping Christ as the center of our lives really made me stop and think. I realized that I needed to he doing a better job of that.”

Christy Long has been on four of the past six ECHO trips: “I find it so amazing that even though each trip is very different than the last, with a new group of kids, our purpose and goal is always the same—to serve God and others, leaving an impression that would change and help people around the world.”

A verse that meant a lot to all of us on the trip was Galatians 6:9, “Let us not become weary in doing good for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”