Volunteer Spotlight

Amy Gartke

“When I heard that Team Up was taking a group of students to Paraguay and Peru to serve in various communities, I didn’t have to think twice about signing up. This past February, I had the opportunity to spend time in both of these countries on a 15-day trip with a group of university athletes, my third time doing this trip. While in the different communities, we got to serve in a variety of ways, as we helped build a classroom, launch a soccer academy, and play with kids. I would love to share an impactful story with you. It was a hot day in the afternoon, and our team had been painting a classroom in rural Paraguay. As we started to finish up, I was just about to put my paintbrush in a bucket of water when a girl no older than seven years old gently took my hand. At first, I wasn’t sure where she was leading me to, or what was going on.

I found myself being led to a small sink, with the girl hiding a quiet smile on her face. She reached to take my hand and ran the cool water over my skin, proceeding to smoothly rub the paint off my hands with an old cloth. I had to pause in this moment to take it all in. Seeing this act of love allowed me to see the way God uses children to breakthrough hearts. What resonated with me was the fact that this child had demonstrated kindness to a stranger, and I was convicted of my own hardened heart that struggled to love people I called friends. Not only were my eyes opened to the joy and love of these people, but my teammates were affected as well, and we continue to see the fruit of these projects impacting university students, as well as the communities we partner with. “

- Amy Gartke | TeamUp Trip Participant