Every year dozens of young people from North America strike out on their own to find out what life and mission are all about. This year was no exception. The two-week extreme adventure—Ultimate Workout—is designed to challenge teens to build up their spiritual muscles with high energy service projects, and an intense spiritual experience. The 16th annual Ultimate Workout for teenagers was a smashing success in Chiclayo, Peru.

The experienced leadership team from Maranatha Volunteers International, and a time-tested system, allows young adults 14–18 years old to independently take a step toward spirituality and mission on their own terms. And the results might surprise you.

Erin Houda from Glen Ellyn, Ill., saw the life-changing power of reaching out to others. “We are sharing Christ with others,” she said. “So we’re helping spread the Word faster. We’re kindling a new faith here. Maybe we’ll start something new, and maybe when we leave things will change. We’re making a difference, that’s what we’re doing. We’re making a difference.”

Courtney Tait from South Lyon, Mich., agrees that her experience at the Ultimate Workout changed her more than she thought it would. “It makes you more willing to do things for other people because you know how good it’s going to make you feel.”

This year the adventure began as kids came off separate planes to a rowdy Ultimate Workout greeting party in the airport. Teens boarded five travel buses for the 12-hour overnight ride to their respective towns. Groups started in as soon as possible, mixing mortar and laying brick for the church structure.

Each of the sites had a special spiritual leader as well as the site leader, construction superintendent, and other support staff. The teens at all five sites learned to see God, themselves, and the world in a new way. “I love sharing God with others,” says Houda. “I mean, this is what I want to do, and this is amazing for me. I can’t wait to go home and tell all my friends and have them come next year.”

The coastal area around Chiclayo gained five brand new churches, built by 182 Maranatha volunteers from Canada, Peru, and the United States. The five groups lived in varying conditions, but all were roughing it! Some slept on concrete floors, others in tents under the stars. The days consisted of building, cooking, cleaning, medical clinics, Vacation Bible Schools, free shoeshine stands, passing out literature, singing in the streets, hugging kids, playing soccer, and much more.

The projects attracted a lot of attention in town. Women watched, children teased, and some men even volunteered to help out with the construction. Many of the Ultimate Workout volunteers were able to make friends and connect even without speaking Spanish!

“On Saturday, we went out and did outreach in the community,” said Tait. Church members have an added advantage to their outreach with the conspicuous group of teenagers at their new church site. “They get to bring people in from the community because we’re here, and we publicize it.”

Five communities received a church, a dignified house of God. But their influence on the young missionaries was worth just as much. Lives were radically changed.

Houda said, “Everything that I’ve seen in pictures and books is real. You see pictures of little kids on the street, you know. You see all their ribs and things, and you don’t understand that it’s actually real until you see it. It shouldn’t take that, to see it, to believe it. But that’s what it took for me. And I believe it now. I want to be a missionary now when I grow up because of all this. I want to come to different countries, and I want to share Christ with others. I want to help and build churches and fix homes and do everything, I mean it’s changed my life [dramatically].”

The Ultimate Workout has been challenging teenagers to take a real look at spirituality and the world for 16 years. The 2007 Ultimate Workout experience will be in Ecuador, July 17–30. Contact Maranatha Volunteers International today for your application. For more information, visit www.maranatha.org or call 916-920-1900.

The Ultimate Workout is a mission project especially for teens that challenges them toward a more mature and dynamic relationship with Christ.

Carrie Purkeypile, communication specialist for Maranatha Volunteers International