Eliana Fricke, at 20-years-old, is volunteering with a program called Youth with a Mission. She is currently stationed in Poipet, Cambodia. Fricke, who has a passion for travel and an intense desire to share her faith, said that she loves the assignment she’s been given and is learning more than she ever imagined. She is pictured on the right.
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Carleen Wild
It can be tough to really get to know someone half a world away, but Flandreau native Eliana Fricke is worth catching up with — especially as she grounds herself in a new volunteer mission assignment in Cambodia.
“I’m currently in Poipet,” the 20-year-old told the Moody County Enterprise. “The current plan is to stay here in Poipet until the beginning of October. After that, I’m unsure where God will call me to. I want to hold my future with my hands open, allowing Him to guide me wherever He leads to next.”
Fricke, the youngest of Keith and Becky Fricke’s four children, was homeschooled through high school graduation. She has since volunteered for different organizations and worked several jobs. But she said that was called to the work of Youth with a Mission, or YWAM this past year. “YWAM’s goal is to ‘Know God and make him known’”, she said. Her first three months with the program were spent in Kona, Hawaii, where studies were focused on the Bible and mission work.
The second part of the program is what is called the outreach phase. During this time, volunteers put into practice what they’ve learned, going across the globe to serve others.
“I am passionate about traveling and spreading God’s love to those who may not know Him…it’s been such a sweet experience and season of my life. The Lords taught me so much about his character and who I am as a daughter in Christ.”
In Cambodia, Fricke said that she’s had an incredible number of opportunities to see God work in and through the people. “It’s been such an honor,” she said. “We’ve been partnering with multiple ministries while we serve here including: orphanages, teaching English at schools, trash clean up, soccer ministry, and volunteering in nearby villages wherever we’re needed. Jesus has been showing me just how important it is to depend on Him fully and not on my own understanding of things. To walk out in obedience to Him, even when the path ahead looks frightening. In the Bible He promises that He will never leave us, so there’s no need to fear. Even if it doesn’t seem to make sense, just obey and allow Him to lead you fully. He will use you in so many beautiful ways.”
