t.e.a.m. players

by Alicia Bunch

E-TEAM BRAZIL 2005 MEMBERS: (L to R) Elizabeth Pool, Halie Garrison, Daryl Burger, Tahnee Thielemier.

E-TEAM HAS UNDERGONE SOME CHANGES since I participated in 1998— including the name: Eagleton-Teens Equipped and Active in Missions. The name Eagleton was added to honor Kenneth Eagleton, founder of TEAM, following his death. Another change is the number of students who participate annually. In 1998, 20 students volunteered for TEAM. This year, nearly 100 students traveled around the globe.

Lugging my heavy suitcase around is a fond memory of my TEAM training. By
the end of the week, I learned to pack only the necessities. And for some of us, necessity was redefined. Today, each student receives a duffle bag, and he or she can take only what fits in the bag.

While there have been changes in the E-TEAM program, some things have not changed. E-TEAM allows young people to see what God is accomplishing globally.
Christ’s kingdom has expanded because hundreds of students have given their summers to see what God is accomplishing around the world. Not only do students see what God is doing, but they become directly involved in the work. E-TEAM provides many opportunities for hands-on missions experience. Students learn to use drama, music, and testimonies to share Christ.

God is calling students to serve Him. In the three years I participated in TEAM, my burden for the lost deepened. I experienced the joy of seeing desperate people give their lives to Christ. While visiting national churches, I experienced
the love shared by believers around the world. Every evaluation received from
participants of E-TEAM 2005 stated the student wanted to serve as a future missionary or be involved in sending others overseas. This speaks volumes about
the impact E-TEAM has on students! Former E-TEAM members are serving Christ today.

In July 1998, I returned from Cuba with a confirmed call to the mission field. In 1999, I brought back a deeper understanding of spiritual warfare and the difficulties confronting the church in Spain. In 2000, I came home from Brazil encouraged by the growth of the Brazilian church, yet with a burden for street children. Currently,
E-TEAM alumni are serving as missionaries with Free Will Baptist International Missions. Others are preparing to be missionaries. Large numbers serve their local churches. E-TEAM is designed to help students gain a vision for a lost world, but E-TEAM also equips young people to fulfill God’s call on their lives.

What impact will E-TEAM 2006 have? How will students be changed? Will the program continue to foster a burden for the lost world? Will your church send
young people? What about you? Will you go? We need TEAM players!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Alicia Bunch, a missionary kid from Panama, currently serves as student missions coordinator for International Missions. In time, she hopes to serve Christ in a restricted access country.

TO FIND OUT MORE about E-TEAM or Free Will Baptist International Missions, visit www.fwbgo.com.