In many ways life on the EDGE is similar to life in the US.  While on the EDGE program, students still have to balance multiple responsibilities in the course of their daily routine. Grocery shopping, cooking meals, doing laundry, cleaning house, going to class, taking tests and completing assignments still are activities EDGE students participate in. However, the fact that these “normal” activities occur while learning to co-exist in a foreign country and cooperating closely with fellow students creates unique challenges.
     The community of believers and fellow teammates becomes increasingly important to an EDGE student while they struggle through homesickness, daily time with the Lord, class work, time management and culture shock. Communication with friends and family is often more difficult and less frequent. Even making a phone call to relatives can take a fair bit of effort depending on the EDGE site location. Students go through the process of finding a church to worship and serve with, much as they would here. Opportunities to serve exist, but students must practice initiative to take advantage of those. It is not necessarily easier to serve on the EDGE program. The same tension between using our time to serve others or ourselves exists there much as it does here. Students also interact with missionaries and national believers on a regular basis. These people become friends, mentors and teachers and provide unique windows into life and ministry in another culture. 
     As students become more and more immersed with the culture they are living in, their relationships with their teammates, the missionaries and national believers will become more important and developed.  An objective of the EDGE is to develop an understanding and appreciation for living in community. Relationships with fellow students and missionaries are often strained for one reason or another. Not everyone gets along while on the EDGE program. Working through those issues gives a student the confidence, skills and experience that are necessary for success in any future vocation. The self-understanding and life lessons taught on the EDGE cannot be learned under other circumstances.  Daily life in a foreign country does become comfortable and natural throughout the time spent at the EDGE study site, yet the lessons learned are priceless.