By 2011, one-sixth of the people alive will be living in an urban slum. By 2030, that number is expected to double. Imagine, a third of our world living in a slum village somewhere around the world.

As more people move from rural villages of our world into dense cityscapes, they face many challenges while seeking the life-giving opportunities that a city can afford them. Where will they find work? Where will they find food? Where will they sleep?

SIFAT invites you to experience how millions in the world are living today. They have names. They have faces. They are real. Their stories are much like ours…we are just in different places…until now.

Your youth or college group can spend 48 hours in our urban slum on Jan. 15-17, 2011 (MLK, Jr. holiday weekend). The retreat costs $48 per person and includes a t-shirt. For more information or to register your group, please e-mail Mary MacInnis at learnandserve@sifat.org.

Connect with Comments: Did you attend 48: A Slum Experience last year? If so, how did it impact you? What parts of the experience stood out the most?

Our current intern in Ixiamas, Bolivia, is 2008 Practicum graduate Becky Forrest. Becky served on short-term mission trips in 2007 and 2008 in Ixiamas. She is now in her second year as an intern.

Much has happened since my last post. First of all, I am now home, and I will not be returning to work at the internado next year. Leaving was very hard and emotional since the staff and kids had become my family. However I feel God is leading me somewhere else yet to be revealed. The last two years have been a remarkable experience for me. I went to Ixiamas thinking I was going to help the children of the Internado, but as with most missions experiences, I have received so much more than I gave. There is no better way to increase your faith than to step out of the box — living in Ixiamas for two years was a giant leap for me. I just can’t thank God enough for giving me the courage even though there have been moments when I cried, “Lord what am I doing here?”. Now, I will try to highlight some of the events since my last post.

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