Unity Community
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What is E-TEAM
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Host Tim DeCresie has a conversation with Terri DeCresie about their first hand experience leading and E-TEAM experience. What is it? What is E-TEAM's purpose. These questions and many more are answered in this edition of Unity Community!
Hello, and welcome to the Unity Community Podcast. This is a place where our church family can hear real stories of life change and discover how God is working through our ministries and missionaries, both here and around the world. From conversations with our staff and leaders and testimonies from our people, we're pulling back the curtain on what God is doing in and through Unity Country. Thanks for listening. Let's grow closer to the Lord as we grow closer one to another.
SPEAKER_01Welcome, I'm your host, Tim DeCreesty. Thanks for taking a moment to listen. Today's episode comes out of a recent conversation I had with Clint Morgan. If you've not had the opportunity to hear that episode, I would encourage you to go back and listen. It's a two-parter. He had a lot of good information about missions, but one of the things we talked about was E-Team. As part of that, he shared that E-Team was part of the larger vision to expose students to missions. And after that episode, several people asked the same question. What exactly is E-Team? That made it clear this was a conversation worth having, not just to explain what it is, but to share why it matters. So I invited Terry to share in the opportunity since uh in the past we've served as e-team leaders on multiple trips over the years, and we've also experienced it from another perspective as parents, watching our own kids step into that opportunity. So this isn't just something we've heard about, it's something we've lived. E-Team is a missions experience for high school students, but it's more than just a trip. It's often a moment where faith becomes personal, perspective shift, and God begins to work in ways that stay with students long after they return home. So today I'm joined with Terry to talk about e-Team, what it is, our first uh our firsthand experience, and the kind of impact it can have on the lives of students who take that step. So welcome, Terry. Glad you were willing to join me.
SPEAKER_02Thank you, Tim, for having me.
SPEAKER_01Um, well, um, like I said in the opening, we've had a lot of experience with e-Team, but I know the listeners want to hear less of me and they want to hear uh more intellectual feedback from you. So uh that's why I needed to bring you on board. So with that, why don't you just share what e-Team is?
SPEAKER_02Well, e-Team is an acronym, and I'll go through different letters of what e-Team stands for, but the E is named after a missionary for the Free Will Baptist denomination whose name is Kenneth Eagleton. And at some point um Kenneth realized that we're kind of missing an opportunity to um put students in a mission role. And uh if we wait until you know college or post-college to let people get on the mission field and then see what it's like and see God's calling on their life, then we've kind of can we just start that over again?
SPEAKER_01Okay. So Terry, why don't you share with us what is E-Team?
SPEAKER_02Well, e-Team is an acronym where the E stands for Kenneth Eagleton. And at some point, Kenneth realized that we might be missing an opportunity so that we can possibly get um people on the mission field earlier than you know, college age or post-college. And he proposed to the Free Will Baptist denomination that we do something with high school students, a very short-term mission trip. So the E is named after him, and it's for 10th graders and and up. The rest of the acronym of TEAM stands for Teens, Equipped and Active for Missions. And that's just a powerful acronym because uh having students not just know about missions, but having them equipped and active in missions, that's a pretty powerful goal. And so to f make that goal a reality, they have a a system set up in place where probably about a year out from e-team, which always happens in June, the missionaries are contacted and asked, you know, if they'd like to host an e-team. And then I think, you know, depending on how many say yes, they devise the number of teams that they're gonna have. I think this year there are 20 different teams, and some of them are stateside. Um, like we have four students from Unity that are attending e-Team right now as we speak. Um Lily Barnhill is gonna be heading to Hawaii soon, and Solomon Buchanan is gonna be heading to Chicago soon. So we know those are you know locations within the United States, but there's also locations in other countries where we have Free Will Baptist missionaries. So Dylan Cook is headed to El Salvador and Evan Kaminchek to Panama. So in this process, once the missionaries decide that they have the capacity to host an e-team for the summer, uh then the students get to apply, and through the application process they're assigned to you know the country or uh you know the location where they're gonna go, and then they do their fundraising, and then once it gets to uh right before June, the leaders who are selected to um lead the teams, they come to Welch for about two or three days and they do some training for just the leaders, and then after that, the students arrive to Welch and they train for a week. And it's all about you know learning how to become a team, um, making sure that you're you know as prepared as possible to be, you know, out of your comfort zone. They talk a lot about cross-cultural experiences and um how to minister to the the the place that they're gonna um be located in. They might prepare them if they're gonna do a carnival, they might have to learn how to do face painting or balloon animals. If they're gonna do a skit, they may learn, you know, the skit while they're have this week of training. If they're gonna they may learn some foreign language, they may learn songs that they're gonna sing. So whatever it is that they're gonna do on the field, they have that week to really plan for it. And then they have the two weeks that are in the field, and then when they come back, all the e-team students get back together at Welch and they they have a debrief where they just share, you know, their experiences and what happened. And I think there are a hundred students that are involved in e-team right now as we speak.
SPEAKER_01So you've given us the big picture overview, and I can say, you know, that week at Welch, you know, really is the the foundation that makes um that whole e-team experience special. You know, the opportunity, like you said, they have the team building, they go to the classes. Um but another caveat to that is once they come in and they do the the welcome and they have that ceremony, they kiss their parents goodbye and um they they send them off and then it's just uh the people that are a part of e team. You know, the one of the first things the leaders will do is, you know, hand over your cell phone. And so the absence of that technology over the course of their whole e-team experience um really frames it in a way that the kids have to talk to each other and they have to depend on one another. And I think just being away from the world and all that other distractions allows them to focus in. Is that um you kind of agree with that experience or that um yeah, absolutely.
SPEAKER_02And it helps them bond because you know, God's already gone before them and prepared what they're gonna see, and they're gonna see it together as a team. So the whole idea of them preparing for this week is is just a a crucial component of why e team I think is very effective. Because when if not, then they would be going on the trip thinking about, okay, I gotta raise my funds and now I gotta pack. And those are things are very important. You can't go without your funds and you can't go without packing and preparing. But what you might forget is you gotta also prepare your heart and your mind, your skill set. There's a lot of preparation that happens during that week. They don't just show up on the mission field like, hey, I got my suitcase and you know, I've raised my money now, like what are we gonna do now? You know, they they spent a week preparing, and that preparation is crucial.
SPEAKER_01Well, share with us what has been your personal experience with e-Team.
SPEAKER_02Well, the first time I think you and I heard about e-Team was when Nelda and Bill Highsmith's daughter, Melody, was in the youth group. And I don't remember which country she was in. I f I feel like maybe it was Brazil, but I could be wrong about that. Um the youth pastor at the time was Kent Nelson, and he arranged for all the youth and the sponsors to have a night uh when Melody was on the field where we could see her live and in person. And this was before Zoom happened, so I don't know if he did it through Skype. I can't I can't really remember how he set it up, but um he he made it so exciting for us to see her because I remember him saying it's our very own uh Melody Highsmith right here, and we're gonna see her live and in the field. And so she talked to us about you know what she was doing, and we got to see, you know, a little bit of the area. Um definitely was exciting, I think, for the two of us, but for the students as well. And the next year some more students applied, and Miriam was one of those students, and she was selected to go to e-Team Puerto Rico, and so she got to minister with Ruth and Bud Biv Bivens, who are just two wonderful, godly people that you know I'm glad Miriam got to spend those two weeks with. Um, and so you know, since then lots of students from Unity have attended e-Team, and uh they've been to all lots of different places around the world via e-team.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and I can remember when Miriam went the next year, you know, we went there to drop her off. They had the opening ceremony, and you know, they call in each each team, Team Puerto Rico, and they come in with their flag and everybody's you know cheering for them, and um, and then you know, Team Japan and Team Uruguay, and you know, they just come up and they're walking through, and um it really gives me goosebumps just thinking about it now. But um, you know, during that time they had said something about you know they're always looking for team leaders, and so uh, you know, we talked about that and we threw our name into the hat, you know, since we were, you know, teachers, we had our summer free, so we decided, well, maybe this is something we can do, and um, you know, we got accepted to uh be team leaders in Mexico, and so that was very exciting. Um, and so yeah, as a result of Melody being involved, I can just look back over the many years in the number of kids that have been impacted um, you know, through that experience, it's just awesome to see God working in that way.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and you know, Matthew 28, 18 says, and Jesus came to them and said, All authority in heaven on earth has been given to me, go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them and teaching them. So, and I am with you always until the end of the age. So these, you know, e-Team has made a big impact on um sharing the gospel uh all over the world. Where we're we're at least where we have Free Will Baptist missionaries, those are the places where the e-Team has been.
SPEAKER_01So um why is something like e-Team important for students?
SPEAKER_02Well, on the International Missions um website, it describes e-Team as a life-changing short-term mission experience for students where they have the opportunities for their eyes to be open to cross-cultural ministry and the opportunities to um have their heart uh reaching out to the nations to hear the gospel. So i it's definitely set up to have a life-changing experience for the students. And and it may not mean that they eventually go on to the mission field. Um it may be that they just learn how to step outside of their comfort zone and how to witness to other people. Because whether we're you know, in a a lay job or whether we're in the ministry, we all have been given the great commission that we're all supposed to help make disciples. And so it's you know, it has an impact on these students because they really learn that to gain some confidence in themselves that that that God has Jesus has said, I'm I'm with you throughout this process. You're not doing it by yourself. I'm with you. Um and you can do it, you can make disciples. So I think that that's one of the many takeaways that this the students have as a result of e-team. Uh spiritually, they'll see growth uh in their spiritual life, they'll see growth of them personally where they'll learn to do things outside of the their comfort zone. Uh their perspective of the world will change based on what they see. Um and you just never know in in their faith how this might come to play, you know, ten, fifteen years later, something that happened on e-Team, how it might, you know, aff affect them. So I think the impact is huge on the students.
SPEAKER_01So you said it might change their world view. Do you have a um an example of that?
SPEAKER_02Well, at the Women Actor for Christ state meeting, uh it was about a month ago, they had some students come who are about to go on e-team or uh the college mission program, the c which is called CMP. It's just for college students, the same thing, but they go longer than the two weeks. And there was a student who was actually gonna go to Jamaica this summer, but he went to Panama last year. And he was talking about, you know, during that week of training at Welch, they talked about their schedule and what they were gonna do. And one of the things that they were supposed to do is to go to a nursing home in Panama, and they the kids were excited about it. They they felt like this would be a great great way to encourage the residents at the uh uh nursing home. I think they had some things planned, like some skits and songs and different things that they were gonna do. Well, when they got there, they were told that the nursing home was closed for the day because they were cleaning, which totally threw them for a loop. Like, why why do we plan all of this, have this on our schedule, only to get to the door and realize that we can't come in. And so they were a little defeated and uh they didn't give up though, and someone had the idea, well, maybe let's ask if we can do some yard work. And so the people who were managing the nursing home said, Yeah, sure, you know. And so they they had a lot of debris that they had to get rid of after they cleaned the yard. And this one student got to go in a truck with one of the Panamanians and drop off all this degree debris at the dump. And what he didn't realize about the dump is that he said it was like four miles long, and it was just you had these little paths that you drive through, and you find an open spot, you just dump whatever's in your trunk truck there. Um and it was four miles of just trash and debris and you know, fit you know, just filthy uh conditions. And as they got out of the truck, they saw people coming out of the trash heap, and he realized that the people were living in these this piles of trash. And then children came out and they were begging for food. And uh even a year later, the student that was retelling what he saw, he he just had to stop, you know, and gather himself together because it was still emotional even a a year later. So even though they had planned thoroughly, you know, for this trip, God had a different plan. For some reason, he wanted this particular student on this particular day to experience that. He'd gone before them and he'd set this divine appointment up. And I don't know the big picture and the way God's gonna use that in the student's life, but flexibility is key because God plan God's plans are always better, you know, than ours.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that uh that story, you know, reminds me of um you know just how different the poverty in America is compared to the poverty in other places around the world. Like when we went to Mexico, they had Canal Street, and it was a similar situation. Uh there was like a little water reservoir on one side, and then on the other side there was makeshift housing, you know, where they would use tarps for a roof or whatever spare um debris they could find to make walls or you know, whatever. But it was just um, you know, home after home right next to each other all along Canal Street, and you know, just driving the van by there, you just your heart breaks and thinking, wow, people are actually living in this these conditions. Um, you know, so in America we think we know what poverty is, but why it is just a different level in some of these other countries, and it's it's heartbreaking. And that's certainly something that will stay with the students um, you know, long after their trip is over.
SPEAKER_02Well, I'm talking to some of the ladies that went to Guatemala, one thing that really resonated with a a few that I talked to is that some of the people they they went to the grocery store and they bought um groceries and then they delivered them like to these kind of remote areas and they made it clear that you know God has provided this food for you. And these people who were Guatemalan poor, not like you know, the you know, they well, there was one family who hadn't eaten, I think, in two days, and um there was so much joy and thankfulness in their heart for that food that God had provided. And so when you see something like that, you realize that joy in the Lord is not linked to material things. Although in America we're very accustomed to m to our material things, you know, we want them, we we want the finer things in in life. Um, but that's not what brings us joy. It is the Lord Himself and what he provides. And so sometimes God has these divine appointments where you see exactly that. And it's a takeaway for you when you when you come back home.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and I don't want to get too far, but this is kind of related to that, you know, when the students are on the field during e-team, they are, you know, there's activities they plan, whether that's a carnival or vacation Bible school, uh, you know, things like that, that they're trying to do a community outreach. So I remember one time we were when we were in Mexico, we had a community outreach that we did. We were gonna have a soccer camp. We were gonna come in and uh, you know, teach these high school students how to play soccer, or you know, not really teach them, but just play soccer, and then after that have some hot dogs, and uh then there would be a time of worship and you know, sharing the um plan of salvation. So we probably played soccer for three or four hours. We had this makeshift goal that we built out of PVC pipe and put some netting in, and uh it was not fancy at all, and the kids were a little concerned. I mean, I was too like, is this gonna be enough? All we really have is a soccer ball and two nets, and then we're gonna feed them later. And we played soccer three or four hours. I mean, we had a great time, and then when it was time to uh do the plan of salvation, we just wanted it to be done in Spanish. We didn't want to do the translating and make it twice as long. So we went to another room and we were gonna pray. But uh as we got in that other room, we started debriefing and the kids were wow, we are so spoiled. We would not let our youth pastor get away with what we just did. And it wasn't that we did anything, you know, bad. It just was not fancy. But it was, you know, those kids loved it. And it for them, the E Team students were just Wow, we just we have so much. Um we just need to take make joy, I guess, in this in the simple things.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it was definitely a moment that affected the students um and gave them a realization of how much they have and how much they expect and um again putting a lot of focus on tangible things. Um I I but I I also want to talk about the impact the e-team, you know obviously it has an impact on the students, but you know, it also has a impact on the leaders. There are some e-team leaders who have gone on to be missionaries. I think the one of the missionaries now in Hawaii were meet uh e-team leaders. Um so it's a great way for leaders to also have this these life-changing um cross-cultural experiences and to get a glimpse of what ministry is like because really in two weeks that's that's what you're doing. You're just kinda getting a glimpse of ministry and what the missionaries go through twenty-four-seven. But, you know, uh e team also has an impact on the missionaries and their families. You know, some of these missionary families, the children go to school and there are no other Christians. And then they go to church and there may be just their family, or there may be their family plus a couple of families. And so the amount of people that they know who are Christians is is not very large. Unlike what we have uh here at Unity, thank the Lord, you know, our church is just growing, and we've got uh, you know, a vibrant uh y youth ministry and you know, um elementary ministry, uh nursery. Like there's a lot of Christian families that we have here in our church, and we can find comfort in each other, we can rely on each other, we can make connections and hold each other accountable. But when you're in a school and you're the only Christian there, sometimes that can be very isolating. And uh so that two weeks of having high school students who have all this energy and love for the Lord, um, that can make a huge impact on the missionaries and their families. And it also makes a huge impact on the church members because they are trying to do their very best to grow the church and to fulfill the Great Commission just like we are. And so if they have a very small church and e-team could come in and help to generate excitement or have a carnival or you know, go door to door and invite people, and then new people come. Well, hey, that's new people that that that church might not have had if e-team wasn't there. So the benefits definitely are for the there's definitely an impact on the students, but it goes way beyond the students too, to the leaders and the missionary families and then the whole community as well.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I would say overall the the impact is positive across the board, you know, for all involved in that, you know, whether it's the students, the um the sent the people that are sending, the people that are receiving, it's it's blessings all the way around. So we've you know covered a lot of things, but what is something you would say to a student or a parent who is considering e-team?
SPEAKER_02Well, uh it's really hard to do and it's easy to say, but we do have to learn as parents to to let go of our kids a little bit and let God do his work and our kids' lives. Um you know, if if your child is interested, not just in e-team, but teamwork missions or CMP or Truth and Peace, you know, d it's it's not like they have to feel a calling to be a missionary to participate in any of these opportunities. Because we all uh have on our job description as Christians, you know, uh our roles and responsibility. Uh it's the Great Commission. We're all supposed to be doing that. Um and so e team, Truth and Peace, Teamwork Mission, CMP, all of these different organizations are are designed to help students to fulfill the Great Commission and to grow in their faith and to learn how to disciple others and uh while they're also growing personally. So I would just say to a parent, you know, if your child is interested and feels led, you know, try to let 'em go and if if they if they end up being a missionary someday, great. If they end up not being a missionary, great. It it doesn't really matter uh what they do, it's um are they doing what God wants them to do? Are they fulfilling the purpose that God has for them for their lives? And you can be a missionary teaching school, you can be a missionary while you're at the bank, you can be a missionary in your own neighborhood as you're talking to your neighbors, you know. Um so there are lots of different ways that e-team can help a student to grow spiritually that will impact them, you know, in the re for really for the rest of their lives.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and I would say it's an investment, you know, it's a well-worth investment. You know, I can think back when um, you know, Daniel did e-team and he turned around and did Truth and Peace, you know, and the amount of money they had to raise, and you know, thinking, wow, we're just school teachers, how are we gonna even come up with that money? But you know, God found a way.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and Unity is so generous, and there's so many people that give to the fundraisers and buy t-shirts and car washes and all those things. Uh so man, thank it's such a blessing to be a part of Unity because one way or another as a a community, you know, if if if students want to participate in stuff like that, like this, you know, Unity finds a way to help them get there. And so it is definitely, you know, a a blessing to ha to raise a family here at Unity and uh to have the kind of support that you know you're not trying to just raise this, you know, three thousand or however much dollars by yourself, you know. We're in it together with you.
SPEAKER_01Right. And so this seems like a perfect time to do a public service announcement. So as you may have heard in the services, you know, once a month we're trying to do a missions lunch. And the proceeds from that mission lunch goes to support like the students that were doing e-team, the the other missions trips we have planned, like to the Philippines and Japan. And so um teamwork missions. Teamwork missions. So, you know, that idea kind of came from we have we're much more of a sending church now, and so we didn't want, you know, fifty different things coming at you of how to, you know, people had to raise money, so let's do these mission lunches. And so really all we're asking within those mission lunches is if you're gonna go to Chick-fil-A or you're gonna go to Chick-fil-A on Sunday, but okay. Uh true. So uh if you're gonna go out to eat after church on a Sunday, so like June 28th, we're gonna have our mission lunch. If you're going to eat somewhere, you know, just eat here at Unity. You know, and if you only budgeted $50 to go out to eat that afternoon, then just give $50. We're not we don't want you to give $300. Well, we would love for you to give $300, but that's not the purpose of it. It's um, you know, we want you to support missions on the those days that we have mission lunches. We don't want you to spend more than what you can afford, but you know, if you're gonna spend ten dollars at Bojangles, then spend ten dollars at Unity and uh have lunch with us. So that's kind of our public service announcement as we go through the rest of this year and we have those mission lunches, that money goes right back into the people that we are sending uh so they can you know do what God is calling them to do. So with that, um, we both agree that e-team is a positive experience and we we want your kids to go. Um but all that underlies, you know, their experience with prayer. And so as you mentioned earlier, we have four of our students that are participating, uh Evan, Lily, Solomon, and Dylan, who are all part of e-team. And so we certainly want to pray for them as we close out this episode. Um But before we do that, Terry, I want to thank you so much. And is there any other things that maybe we didn't cover that you want to share?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and I just want to say we did this on e-Team because that's what we were familiar with. But when the students come back, we hope that they'll be able to tell their stories of how God worked in their lives. I don't know very much about teamwork missions, but I do know that Caleb Congleton, Lacey Tugwell, Peyton Warren are participating in that, and it's going on right now as we speak. I follow them on Facebook, and I mean it is just it touches my heart to see what they're doing and how they're spending their summer. Uh e-Team is also on Facebook. You can follow them there for Truth and Peace, which happens around the time of the Free Will Baptist National Convention. Evan Kaminchek is doing that. And then, you know, we have students from our high school youth group that are going on a mission trip and they're going to camp, and we have elementary school students that are going to camp. All these wonderful opportunities for students to grow in their faith over the summer. And it's heartwarming to see how many students are taking their this opportunity to do these types of activities over the summer. Um, and so just you know, pray for them, lift them up in prayer, and then another suggestion is when they come back, maybe volunteer, ask if they'd like to go to lunch with you, or go get coffee at Awaken or some do something with just you know one or two of them, or however many you want, and ask them, well, tell me about your trip, you know, how did you see God move? You know, what's what are your takeaways? I mean, you could probably ask them one question and then they could talk, you know, for an hour or so. So, you know, no matter what your age is, whether you really know the students well or not, this will be a great opportunity to get to know them, to connect with them, to hear their stories, and then you'd know also how to pray for them. And that that uh that's not just for Lily, Solomon, Dylan, and Evan who are on E-Team, but you know, the teamwork missions and Truth and Peace and the students who are on all of these other mission-related trips and church camp over the summer, you know, God uh can go before all of these young people and have some divine appointments already set up for them. And they they're just stepping into it. They have no idea what what awaits for them. So let's pray for them while they go, and let's pray for them when they return, that God will use what they've seen uh to help them to continue to grow closer to Him and to grow His kingdom.
SPEAKER_01Thank you for sharing that. I'm glad you brought that up, you know, that uh there are so many stories they're gonna want to tell. And um, you know, you just ask how it went, they're gonna they're gonna want to tell you a lot. So, you know, make time to hear it because it's it's good stuff. It's gonna be good stuff. Good stuff. So with that, let's just go ahead and uh close in prayer. Dearly Father, we just thank you so much for the way that you call your people, especially young people, to step out in faith and be part of your work. Thank you for opportunities like e-Team and the other mission uh programs we talked about that allow students to see the world differently, to serve others, and to grow in their relationship with you. We pray for the students who will go. Please give them courage, humility, and open hearts to see you working in their lives. We pray for the leaders and those guiding them, give them wisdom and strength, and we pray that through experiences like this, lives would be changed, not just for the for the moment, but for a lifetime. We just thank you for all that you do for us and that you always go before us, you provide for us and protect us and and love us, Lord. In thy name I pray. Amen.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and lives will be changed, not just for a lifetime, Tim, but for for all eternity.
SPEAKER_01That is true.
SPEAKER_02And you know what I thought? You and I are not getting any younger, so um these students are going to be our next church leaders. So how exciting of the things that they're learning and doing, how God's working in their lives as they come back and, you know, lead.
SPEAKER_01That's right. And so whether you go on a foreign mission field or you just uh serve here in uh the Pitt County community, uh, as God is writing the story in your life, go and tell.
SPEAKER_00Thanks so much for listening to the Unity Community Podcast. If today's conversation encouraged you, we'd love for you to take one or more next steps. Join us this Sunday morning for worship at 9 or 10 30. Get connected to a life group andor find a place to serve. You can learn more about Unity and how to get plugged in by visiting the links in the show notes. So until next time, let's grow closer to the Lord as we grow closer one to another.