Young Adults in Global Mission

You are invited to connect with and support the young adults who are serving a year of service (2018-2019) in Central Europe through the Young Adults in Global Mission (YAGM) program.

The Northeastern Iowa Synod sponsors the young adults serving in Hungary as part of our Companion Synod relationship with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Hungary. These young adults serve at schools, day-care centers, long-term care facilities, homeless shelters, programs that support the Roma community, and more.

Seven YAGM volunteers are serving in Hungary for the 2018-2019 year. Five other YAGM volunteers with connections to the Northeastern Iowa Synod are among the 80 YAGMS serving in 14 countries.

You can support these faithful young adults!

Congregations and individuals are invited to help support these YAGMs by following their blogs, subscribing to their newsletters, writing them letters, praying for them, and sponsoring them with financial assistance.

The full cost to support a YAGM for one year of service is $15,000. Each person serving as a YAGM commits to raising $5,000 to support his or her year of service. Other contributors to the ELCA help fund the remaining $10,000 per young adult in program costs.

Young Adults in Global Mission Resources

ELCA Young Adults in Global Mission Program
Fact Sheet about YAGMs in Hungary
YAGM Video (01:48 minutes)
ELCA Young Adults in Global Mission

Follow the YAGM volunteers serving in Hungary on Facebook —
YAGM Central Europe

YAGM Videos from Hungary

The YAGM Central Europe 2018-2019 group are introduced to their supporters worldwide, using the language from the country in which they are serving. (September 2018)

Greeting from YAGM Central Europe (June 2018)

Pastor Mark Anderson interviews the Young Adults in Global Mission serving in Hungary during his trip there in May 2017.

Thad’s Story while serving as a Young Adults in Global Mission in Hungary.

2018-19 YAGMs serving in Hungary

Join the Northeastern Iowa Synod in following these young adults during their year of service as Young Adults in Global Mission in Hungary. Read their newsletters and blogs and connect with them through Skype calls and emails. Consider supporting them through your prayers, letters and financial gifts.

Check this website for links to the YAGMs’ blogs, newsletters and more to learn about their experiences in Christian service.

Learn how you can support these YAGM volunteers.

To learn more about how you can support these Young Adults in Global Mission, call 319-352-1414 or email Rev. Mark Anderson.

How to Donate

Checks to support these Young Adults in Global Mission should be made payable to the Northeastern Iowa Synod with the memo indicating YAGM program.

Mail checks to:

Northeastern Iowa Synod
201 20th St. SW
PO Box 804
Waverly, IA 50677-0804.

Give Online

Callie Arednt
Szeged, Hungary

Callie will be hosted by the Lutheran Church in Szeged and serve with their congregational ministries, including youth groups, bible studies and worship services. Callie will also tutor in an afterschool program that offers academic and social support for Roma students (elementary and middle school aged) and help with an after-school activity center.

John Baynton
Piliscsaba, Hungary

John will serve with Piliscsabai Evangélikus Gyülekezet, the Lutheran Church in Piliscsaba. He will serve in the congregational ministries, assisting in community activities at a diaconal ministry that is a home for people living with disabilities, and helping with the children at the Lutheran pre-school. He will also assist with academic tutoring and activities in an after-school program for Roma young people.

Jonathan Banauch
Szarvas, Hungary

Jonathan will be hosted by a Lutheran congregation in Szarvas. In addition to assisting with English language classes in the Lutheran primary school and elementary school, he will also be present in the Roma culture classes of the local elementary school. In addition, Jonathan will serve with the congregational choir and the high school Lutheran youth group.

Sydney Ewing
Pilis, Hungary

Sydney will be hosted by the Lutheran congregation in Pilis and will serve with the diaconal ministries of the Lutheran Church in Hungary. She will serve alongside other teachers and care-takers at a home for orphans in the town, where at least half of the children are Roma. Sydney will also serve with a family shelter that provides social services for Roma and low-income families in the area.

Taylor Walker
Budapest, Hungary

Taylor will serve in Budapest with the (Deák Téri Evangélikus Gimnázium) Deák Tér High School as well as Phiren Amenca, which is a non-profit that seeks to build relationships between Roma and non-Roma young people through service learning and non-formal education and workshops. Other ministry possibilities include assisting with the activities of the Integration Services Center, a ministry of the Lutheran Church in Hungary that focuses on welcoming refugees and providing social work support, language classes, and community.

Tabby Sanderson & Tony Yang
Nyíregyháza, Hungary

Tabby and Tony are a recently married couple who will spend their first year of marriage serving in Nyíregyháza. They will find many opportunities to serve with the ministries of the Lutheran Churches and Lutheran Diaconal Ministries in Nyíregyháza. Some of these possibilities include serving with a local pastor and mentor, serving alongside the students of the Lutheran Roma College Program,

assisting with a religion education class at a bilingual Lutheran elementary school and high school, planning and leading activities for youth living in a transitional family home, serving food at the daily center that cares for people with addictions and the homeless, assisting in arts and crafts activities and worship time together with the Élim (a home for women living with disabilities), assisting in the weekly confirmation class, and singing in the church choir. Pastor Erzsébet Molnár, who has visited the Northeastern Iowa Synod, will be the mentor.