Volunteering at English Camp | Crossroads Missions

English Camp is a week-long day camp hosted through the English House and our CrossRoads Mexico team. 2024 was the first camp they ever hosted, and it was such a success they decided to make it an annual event! With multiple interactive stations and kids of all ages, the staff asked for more volunteers to help run the week, such as Mikayla Williams.

“I served as a teacher of one of the rotations at English camp. I focused on teaching question words and reviewing some of the vocab from the other stations.” Mikayla elaborated, “The camp is set up so that kids travel with a small group to different areas of the CrossRoads site and focus on different English vocabulary in each place. It is incredibly interactive and hands-on! The large group of volunteers allows the adults and teachers at camp to really connect with students. We had so much fun!”

During the week Piedra Angular, the neighborhood CrossRoads built in Piedras Negras, was transformed into many colorful classrooms. Each day started with worship, and bible stories were shared as the children learned. Themed decorations hung on the walls of each station, games helped bring language learning to action, and even the kitchen turned into a classroom as kids learned to cook with English instructions!

Mikayla shared why this method is so important, “Language learning involves quite a bit of laughter because in order to progress one must first make a lot of mistakes. There were so many times we would laugh together as we learned.” Creating a welcoming and fun learning environment was instrumental in the camp’s success. This method also helped the teachers and volunteers develop relationships with the students.

One student in particular has stuck in Mikayla’s mind. A very shy girl had trouble opening up at the beginning of camp – on the first day she hardly spoke at all. Mikayla decided to spend some time with her, and by the end of the week, “her eyes would light up jumping out of the van, and she was so excited to get to learn. God calls us to have faith like children, and I think this picture of that student is exactly that. She came to know that she was safe and cared for at English Camp like we are safe and cared for by God.”

The volunteer teachers from English Camp 2024

Back at home, Mikayla is using her talent to serve her community: “I have served Hispanic communities/ministry for several years and as a bilingual teacher in Illinois, so serving in Mexico can often feel like an extension of what God has allowed me to do at home.” However, Mikayla is also adamant that knowledge of Spanish is not a requirement to serve.

“English Camp is an opportunity to bridge the gap of language. Because of the proximity to the border, what we in Education call translanguaging is an everyday reality. English mixes with Spanish, and even in broken conversation one begins to find how little we need to say in order to understand each other and feel a sense of connection. Stepping out in faith when my own abilities to communicate are limited has been one of the greatest blessings in my spiritual life. God is able to fill in the gaps when your words cannot. I invite you to lean into service in this way, and I am confident you will find yourself deeply blessed!”