This year there are three Young Adults in Global Mission serving around the world from the Southeastern Iowa Synod. This is part two of our three part series on their ministry. See Part One here…
About Young Adults in Global Mission (YAGM)
The ELCA Young Adults in Global Mission program invites ELCA young adults ages 21-29 into a transformative, year-long journey in international service. As they offer themselves in service, ELCA young adults are shaped by the witness of our global neighbors. They share in the journeys of companion churches and organizations in one of nine countries around the world.
A year of service through the Young Adults in Global Mission program invites young adults to become the hands and feet of Jesus in the world, providing critical support to ministries and projects in communities of need. It also invites volunteers into a journey of self-reflection, providing space to consider their sense of identity, God’s work in the world, and their place within it all.
Southeastern Iowa YAGM, Haley Toresdahl
Haley Toresdahl grew up in West Des Moines, Iowa as a member of Windsor Heights Lutheran Church, Windsor Heights. She attended Roanoke College in Salem, VA; graduating in December of 2014. She is serving in Kampong Speu Province, Cambodia 
While in Cambodia Haley will be working with an NGO called Life With Dignity on various community based projects that may include water, nutrition, and good governance. She will also be teaching English at a local secondary school (grades 7-9).
She notes that she decided to apply for YAGM and eventually accept the call to Cambodia because, “I wanted to spend a year in a meaningful, intentional way in a new community after finishing college. I was specifically interested in the YAGM program because of the emphasis on accompaniment and living intentionally in a community focused on building relationships.”
Haley notes that she has seen God working in this process already she writes, “There have been a few situations while here a short time where I have had to trust in the unknown and be supported by others in my group and by Cambodians I have just met. God is present in our interactions. God is present in our adjustments to our new home. God is present in each of us.”
There are several ways to pray for the ministry happening in Cambodia, pray for the Lutheran Church in Cambodia, the staff of Life With Dignity. Haley and her fellow Cambodia YAGMs and their country coordinators. Courage, patience, and trust as they begin to accompany our respective communities.
You can follow her travels and ministry online at haleytoresdahl.wordpress.com