My Journey So Far - Andres' Story
Andres - a volunteer from Colombia talks about his time so far on the TfG programme in the UK. Read more to find out about Andres' experience.
My name is Andres Ricardo and I'm from Colombia. I arrived in the United Kingdom in September 2024 for a year of service through Time for God.
After a few months of thorough preparations with TfG time, I arrived at my placement - Holy Trinity Church, Combe Down in Bath where I started my role as a Youth and Community Volunteer.
The most exciting thing in my work is that no day is the same. I support multiple aspects of the church including administrative and financial, I support youth, toddlers, media and audio visual teams. I am also working on a project focused on people struggling with drug and alcohol issues and I also host and develop a weekly Podcast for the church.
My favourite thing about my placement is the diverse nature of work I get to do. Every day is educational for me, and I am grateful this is an environment where I can also bring my knowledge to the table. I enjoy being involved with the community in different activities and being able to learn and do multiple things at the same time which makes my time at my placement very exciting!
My favourite thing about the UK is how friendly, welcoming and approachable people are. I come from a warm culture, and I used to think British people were very reserved but since coming to the UK, my opinion has changed; people are very kind, generous and I feel so loved that I know I belong to a community here. I also love English puddings; I'm obsessed with Apple Crumble.
I want to get as many practical ways to serve and live the gospel as I can. My goal, which I think has been achieved, is to learn how to ‘wash the feet of people’ as Jesus did by serving in any possible way. I'm very happy to say that one of Holy Trinity’s core values is service to the community.
If anyone is thinking about doing a year of service in the UK, I would highly recommend doing it through TfG. The attention, support and level of detail poured into the process is not only assuring, but I felt like I was going to be joining a family. The conferences where I get to meet with other volunteers from all over the world are so special. I would like to believe I have made lifelong friendships through the TfG network of friends.