(Oct. 1, 2015 - by Penny Hughes)  In a world where technology enables daily interactions with people worldwide, nothing compares to traveling abroad, engaging with people cross-culturally.

That’s what Reach Beyond interns Jacob Attwood and Chrissy Guglielmon found this summer as they spent four weeks in England, joining seven foreign students in a multicultural partnership. While all spoke English—participants came from the U.S., the United Kingdom., India and Germany—they represented highly diverse cultures.

“One reason you’d want to go overseas is because you have all these great experiences of interacting with people who come from different backgrounds and different cultures,” explained Guglielmon. “That helps you understand people more, [helping you to better] reach them for Christ.”

The interns, including a blind participant from England, worked alongside missionaries at Reach Beyond-UK which partners with Radio Worldwide via a radio broadcasting course. This summer’s training involved developing audio spots and doing live broadcasts after some intense classroom work followed by a short course on videography.

“It’s important to have people who have been in ministry for many years because they can tell you what ministry is actually like,” Attwood noted.

During the concentrated, two-week media training segment, the students developed and edited audio spots that aired live on radio.

The short features are five-minute recordings that aired locally at various times throughout the day. Due to the small size of this summer’s program, the students became especially close-knit while giving them plenty of airtime and one-on-one time with the instructors.

“One of the greatest benefits of this internship is that you have a whole host of mentors and teachers that help propel you into action,” Guglielmon related.

David, executive director of the Europe/Eurasia Region, commented that “the team really came together and served well. Every person brought their own talents to the table. I love it that this internship covered a wide range of media production.”

Already plans are being made for next year’s summer program in the U.K. “Every year is unique, and we’re excited to see what next year will look like,” David concluded.

To view a video produced by this summer’s interns in the U.K., visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDHCA1kLSgQ.

Source: Reach Beyond