American interns aim to make a difference in Ryde
Christian interns from America have moved to the Isle of Wight as part of a project to rejuvenate local C of E churches.
They arrived from the US state of Georgia are now living in a vicarage in Ryde and getting involved with local churches and communities.
Married couple Ashton and Cody Wood are heading up a team of young believers who have relocated to the Island to help make a difference.
The four young people they are leading aim to kickstart a project to increase congregation sizes and engage more effectively with the community.
The interns are all part of the 'Ministry Development Year', which enables young Christians to get a taste of working with a church as they consider it as a possible future career.
They arrived in November and will be on the Island until August – after which a second cohort will be recruited.
It's all part of the project to rejuvenate the five Church of England churches in and around Ryde, which includes creating several new congregations and expanding their work with schools and community groups.
Makensley Wyatt, 19, is focussing on working with children and their parents in her Ministry Development Year.
She's involved with the weekly toddler group at All Saints Church, and its Sunday groups for children.
Alec Mumpower, also 19, is involved with the production and technology side of church life, including livestreaming services, and handling images, video and audio-visuals.
Hannah Sansot, 22, is involved with the administrative side of ministry and also with young people via a partnership with Youth For Christ.
She serves at a lunch club each week and leads Youth Alpha in Ryde School every Friday.
Joseph Sosebee, 19, has got involved with the church's social justice programme, which includes its work to help women in refuges who have suffered from sex trafficking or domestic abuse.
The group live near St Michael's Church in Ryde.
'Part of our role is to lead and guide the interns spiritually and practically,' said Ashton.
'That means introducing them to a rhythm of prayer throughout the day, and helping them to develop life-skills in cooking, cleaning, budgeting and so on."
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