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Love in Action

LOVE IN ACTION Love in Action is how the Senior class spends their last weeks at Epiphany. Their classes and exams end at the beginning of May and they spend the rest of the tenure in service in the local community or abroad in Belize.

Rachel Nguyen's reflection speech upon her completion of Love in Action prior to her graduation in 2022:

Hey guys for those who don’t know me my name is Rachel Nguyen. I was one of the students who remained in New Bern for love in action. During my time of love in action I was at the Henderson campus, RCS, and the Filling Station. At the Henderson campus, my classmates and I helped repaint founders hall and the fifth grade deck, reorganized the library, and worked with first grade and kindergarten teachers. We also replaced a fence, and

C O M P A S S I O N

with the help of our leader Zach Leland’s critiques and advice we were able to stain the fence to the best of our abilities. Sarah Allan and I were also tasked with painting two murals around campus. The first mural we painted was in the kindergarten hallway. With the help of ideas from the teachers, we painted a colorful tree with a swing. The second mural we painted was next to the art room. Here we painted a tea plantation inspired by pictures taken by Sarah Allan during her trip to India. At RCS, my classmates and I helped to cook, prepare, and package food trays and organize RCS‘s warehouse. From this experience, I learned that my ability to cut cucumbers impresses others, Liz is amazing with eggs, we all love garlic bread, and old ladies like to call Ben “A tall drink of water” . At the Filling Station In Pollocksville, my classmates and I help to clean walls and windows and make cards for the nursing home. Sarah Allan and I were also tasked with painting a mural of the Filling stations logo. However, before painting the mural, the concrete surface had to be power washed, which took Pastor Kirk and I a while to figure out how to get the machine to actually work.

C O M P A S S I O N

Through this love and action experience I was able to learn very valuable lessons. In school, I have never enjoyed group projects because I always find them to more stressful, than doing the project alone. Love in action has taught me how to rely and trust in others. Also love an action has taught me that small tasks, although we may find to be irrelevant and unimportant, can really make an impact on someone else’s life.