We don’t have pictures to prove it, but we were loaded before 4:00 AM, Minnesota time. We prayed, found our places in the vans, and began the very long drive back to Guys Mills.

Every two to three hours, we made a quick pit stop. Many of us slept for hours. Driving through Chicago went super smoothly, with no delays.

We got to see the beautiful beaver full moon rising above the horizon. By 8:30 PM, Pennsylvania time, we were unloaded at the student parking lot, cleaning out the vans.

It had been 15.5 hours since we began in the morning. We are deeply grateful for a safe journey, alert drivers, and good spirits throughout. It was a very good apprenticing trip of 2025!

The day began as previous days have: breakfast together in the community dining room with our hosts, then ESL lessons with ladies in their homes and men in their classrooms.

We had lunch together at the Holy Land restaurant, a great place with generous servings. They gifted us with honey cake and big cups of black tea with fresh mint leaves before we left.

We formed a fairly efficient method for signing thank you cards for people who blessed us during this trip, then headed off to a mosque that Peter Wadel had arranged for us to visit.

Our Muslim contact was gracious and welcoming to us. He answered as many of our questions as he had time for before he left to teach a children’s class. We were allowed to observe the class.

We drove back across town in golden rush hour to Alight. Our friends arranged for ARC to use this space to host a meal made by an Afghan for Afghan friends and students of the ARC team. Over 25 adults and children joined us for the very special meal. Everyone seemed to have someone to talk with and it was difficult to tear ourselves away.

We had a wonderful breakfast in the dining room, and hit the road at 7:30. At the ARC base, two of the ladies met the ARC ladies and accompanied them for ESL classes with ladies in their homes. At the same time, three of the men went to the “Tea House” where the ARC men give ESL classes to men’s groups.

Meanwhile, the rest of our crew went back to Kim at Conexxions (where we’d been Saturday night) and helped her clean a room, sort clothes, and rake and bag leaves. Kim also regaled us with stories from her childhood in Vietnam before the end of the war.

We found lunch and shopping in Karmel Mall, a complex of four stories of Somalian shops and then we headed back to our hosts at the Altona Hutterite Colony. They gave us a tour of their compound where we met various people in their houses and places of work.

They served us a feast of rice and curry, and ended with a special treat of delectable homemade ice cream. After visiting around the tables, we sang together for an hour. As we sang, more community members came to join the circle. It was a great way to end the day!

   

 

Our hosts served us breakfast in their homes and we headed to Minneapolis and the house where the ARC team meets for church. We enjoyed the good singing and testimony time. Nathanael and Chadwin shared encouraging short sermons.

Everyone reconvened back at the Hive for a delicious meal of rice and beans and toppings. It was a fine day to be outside, so we walked around a mile down around the corner to the site of George Floyd’s death. We saw the mural and memorial and talked with a journalist and author who came up to talk with us.

For the rest of the afternoon, some took walks in the park, rested, or read. The ARC staff served another tasty meal, which we of course combined with hearty conversations. Afterward, Anita led a cross-cultural communication simulation for the group to participate in, and then we headed back to Altona. The colony youth invited us to join them for volleyball before calling it a day.

 

We gathered at the community dining room for a wonderful breakfast that Jewel made. Some of our hosts joined us and got acquainted.

One van load headed for the airport to pick up one student who was rejoining us, and the other van went to a Walmart to buy groceries for lunch. We converged at The Hive, the base for Anabaptist Refugee Committee, and ate lunch with the ARC team.

After lunch, Peter, the ARC administrator, gave us a presentation of ARC and their ministry that gives English classes for Afghan immigrants in the Minneapolis area.

In the late afternoon, we drove to Connexions.

There, Kim Voo Friesen met us and gave us a tour of the building and told us about her experience of coming to the US from Vietnam in the late 1960’s. She’s now retired and still active in teaching English across Zoom. She also organized the volunteers that helped host the international dinner in the evening.

We joined the gathering crowd of new friends and scattered among the tables to enjoy various ethnic foods and get to know each other. After the meal, our group sang two songs. Then we had everyone form a circle around the dining room and we taught them the song and motions for “Bind Us Together.”

We helped clean up the tables and dishes, then left for the hour commute back to our hosts at Altona.

 

Thursday morning, October 30, we savored our last delicious breakfast at Sowers Harvest Cafe, then circled up with Bryan and Bryant for a prayer of blessing. Then our two big vans headed north for Chicago. Traveling went super smoothly, especially after we drove out of the rain. We reached our hotel on the north side of Chicago with time for some of us to hang out in the dining room.

Friday, we had the morning to find rest and solitude in and around the hotel. At noon, we sat around the table in the board room and each one shared a high, low, and buffalo from the trip so far. We headed north again, this time for the Altona Hutterite Community in Henderson, MN. We arrived there at 8:30. Our friend Jewel welcomed us to her living room and served us tea. Our hosts gathered there with us then took us to their various places scattered around the compound.

We dined at Sowers for breakfast and three of our group stayed at the cafe to assist and experience the work of busy food service.

The rest of us spent the morning on Penn State campus again, engaging in various conversations with students from many different places.

In the afternoon, Bryant gave us a presentation about All Nations Bible Translators, and we finished with prayer in the prayer garden.

We helped with various work projects around the property. At 6:00 we gathered at Sowers for an international potluck hosted by LifeQuest staff. We ate delicious food from various ethnic backgrounds, visited with new friends, played games, and had a delightful time in general.

Three of our group left early to begin the day with the crew that operates Sowers Harvest Cafe. We joined them when the cafe opened at 8:00, and enjoyed tasty coffees and breakfast foods.

Leaving the cafe volunteers behind, the rest of us headed to the HUB on Penn State campus. We prayed for divine appointments and courage, and scattered for the rest of the morning, in search of people who were willing to engage in conversations with us. If we chose, we could ask them questions to survey students’ spiritual interest. LifeQuest will use data to connect with those who want further contact.

At noon, we joined the LifeQuest team in a room on campus where they serve lunch every Tuesday to international students and scholars. We had a very enjoyable time talking with the various people from many different countries.

Back at the hill, Ernest finished his presentation about LifeQuest, and then we broke into small groups to split wood, clean, stuff newsletter envelopes, and prepare supper. After a delicious meal of stew, salad, garlic bread, and dessert, we headed to Sowers for an evening of socializing and singing.

At first, we visited and/or played games with guests, then at 7:00, more guests joined us and we reconfigured the room to accommodate a hymn singing. This was the first event of its kind at Sowers and the organizers were unsure what to expect, but the room filled up and the singing was glorious!

 

After breakfast at our separate places, we gathered at the base to meet Ernest and Truman Eby, who introduced us to the organization they work with: LifeQuest. They seek to befriend and support international students and their families. Truman introduced us to surveys that our group will conduct in the next days on Penn State campus, in effort to engage in conversations with people and introduce them to LifeQuest.

Everyone had a chance to practice asking and answering survey questions, then we drove ten minutes to campus. We divided into smaller groups to find lunch, then reconvened for Truman to lead us on a tour of the very large, beautiful Penn State University campus.

 

Back at the hill, Bryant met us to tell us about Sowers Harvest Cafe, and the way it provides meaningful connection with local people. Some of our group will shadow their team the next few days.

For an hour, we divided into groups to help with various practical jobs around the place we’re staying. People helped spit wood, cleaned windows, stuffed envelopes, and went grocery shopping.

All Nations kindly provided a delicious meal of Indian takeout. We enjoyed eating with Ernest and Cathy Eby and William and his young family from China.

 

After the meal, William told us about growing up in China and his zigzag search for meaning in life. He finds believing in and following Jesus the best rational answer to life’s questions as well as the best way to peace. We were glad to hear his story!

We gathered at 10:30 for prayer and brief review of goals for this trip. After packing our lunches and loading the two vans, we headed for State College.

We enjoyed eating our packed lunches in Franklin’s scenic park.

By 3:15, we arrived at “The Hill” which is the headquarters of All Nations Bible Translators and our base for these days. Bryant Martin directed us to our accommodations in various buildings on the hill and we settled in.

Followers of Jesus welcomed us warmly to a fellowship meal at 4:30. They meet in the afternoon and evening every Sunday at the local Quaker meeting house. After the meal, we attended their service. The church ended the evening with a special prayer of benediction for Shawn and Amy Miller’s young family, who are headed to Bangladesh for  the next five years.

Back at the hill, we dispersed for the night before very late.