Mission Trip Reflection

Before hearing about the need in different parts of our world, I never considered going on a mission trip. Last summer during show choir camp, our choreographer told us about a charity called Thirst Project. Thirst Project is an organization that builds wells in Africa so the citizens can have clean drinking water. Knowing that there are people out there drinking brown, gunky water filled with animal feces breaks my heart, because there are steps that we can all take to help solve that problem. For me, one of those steps is going on a mission trip. If I could help even one person live a higher quality life, I will be satisfied, knowing that I have made a purpose to my life. Another time that my eyes were opened was this summer. One of my friends went on a mission trip to Haiti with her church, and seeing pictures from their trip moved me to have an even stronger desire to go on one myself. Both the children in Haiti and the people serving them were both so joyful,

At church, in addition to my participation in the worship services, I volunteered at our church’s soup kitchen, medical camps and elementary school for underprivileged children. These experiences opened my eyes to the deprivation of love and care in the world and a dire need of God’s grace for people at large so they could receive forgiveness, healing and restoration in their lives.

During the week in Chicago, I grew closer to God, learned how to be a better leader, and learned to put others before myself, which is what helped me become a better person. Serving others that had situations worse than I could imagine was life changing. The idea I could make such a tremendous change in someone’s life while doing activities I enjoyed, opened my eyes to the potentials of serving. After the week ended and I returned home, I wanted to do more for the people around me who were less fortunate. Going into freshman year, I made the decision to volunteer at Urban Vision. I help kids who have newly immigrated to Akron and the United States find items at a holiday shop for their families and themselves. Many of these kids went directly to the necessity aisle, (i.e. toilet paper, laundry detergent, and soaps) to get these items for their families, even though there were plenty of toys for the kids themselves. These kids helped me realize I should be grateful for everything in life, from shelter over my head to the clothes on my

As a teen, I had the opportunity to volunteer on a summer mission trip that focused on serving the homeless population in San Francisco. Stricken by poverty and drug addictions the Tenderloin District was unlike anything I had ever seen. Instead of passing judgment or feeling intimidated, I chose to serve these people with compassion and respect. What I experienced during this time was transformational and helped to direct me on a pathway towards service.

At a young age I discovered a passion for helping others and I have continued to be passionate about serving my community since then. At the age of eight years old I began the first year of what would soon be my ten year membership of 4-H. Through that program and my church’s youth group I truly began to understand what selfless service was all about. I first began helping others by walking dogs at the local shelter and helping my 4-H club clean the sides of the highways. I later was able to experience several mission trips that opened my eyes to the larger aspect of service. My love for helping people continued to grow as I got older and I continued to find ways to make a difference. One of my favorite experiences was getting to help cook and serve a meal at a homeless

We went to the store and bought toiletries, bread, peanut butter and jelly, water, juice boxes, and many other things to distribute to the homeless around town. These items were essentials that were desperately needed by these people, and the money we raised in order to get these items went a long way. We were very nervous about just walking up to people and passing these things out, the idea of a stranger coming up to you and handing you items is a scary thought in itself, but being on the other end is even scarier because you don’t know how others will react.

We donated our time to a charity during the fall, the JROTC program decided to do the Mana Cafe to help those in need. It was a food drive and people would help gather food together to deliver it to families that needed it for the winter. Everyone was pitching together and doing their part to get the food together and in the people’s car. Even in the cold weather, everyone was having fun, knowing that they were doing excellent in their hearts. Therefore that day families were allowed to eat despite their economic struggle and all as a result of the service we did to help them.

I found this chance to help people a way to get to know the people in my youth group, but I learned so much more than I thought I would. What amazed me the most out of everything on this trip was the willingness of kids my age to help those around them. During that week in Denver, I also had the chance to meet some of the other youth from other cities in Missouri. A lot of them whom had remarkable stories. Their reasons for helping out during this mission trip were much greater than my own, I was astounded. They had told me about their past, the struggles and valleys that they had gone through that lead them to help those who are going through the same situations or worse. One story struck me the most. One about a boy and a past fight with drug abuse. He said that one day he felt this indescribable jolt and he just lost it. He broke down and asked himself what he was doing with his life. After asking around and seeking help, he went to the local church one Sunday. That was when he met the youth leader that helped him through his

Much to my surprise, it had not taken a lot to convince my dad to let me tag along on a mission trip to Guatemala with him. The company my dad worked for, Family Christian Stores, held multiple mission trips each year to various locations. My dad had already been to Mexico, and was assigned to a group going to Guatemala next. Upon learning that I wanted to go, he assured me that it would not be a trip full of sightseeing or activities, but rather a time to give back to a community in need. After promising that I understood the hard work that would be involved, my dad agreed to let me

For the past two years I have dedicated one Wednesday a month to going to Ronald McDonald House. While there, my peers and I would cook and serve a dinner for the families staying in the House. I loved the way it felt to give back to these families that had been going though such hard times with their children, so I decided to

I volunteered at the Hubbard House, which is a home away from home for people who have family in the hospital or are being treated by the hospital and don’t want to live there, as the hospital is a 5 minute bus ride away. Our job was to serve the residents who were currently housed there, a hot homemade spaghetti and meatballs meal with garlic bread and assorted desserts. We served them as if it were a restaurant and brought smiles to their faces.

It was my first time ever volunteering for something. I believe I was more nervous because I didn’t know exactly what I was going to be doing and I didn’t want anything going wrong my first time. When I showed up to the mobile pantry it was completely different. Everyone volunteering was very friendly and helpful. They all work together as a community which is admirable. I was a stocker at the event. A stocker is one who is in charge of stacking tables with produce and disposes of empty boxes or makes them available to participants. I definitely enjoyed this because it opened my eyes of how many families out there are in need. Sometimes we take for granted what we have while other people wished they had what we do. I believe the Denton Hunger Coalition is a great organization that has many goals they want to accomplish and will continue to grow. One of the weaknesses the organization has is getting more people to come out to the food pantry. Since they are just starting some of the agencies out there maybe forget to promote them which is why many people don’t know about the pantry. Although, one of their strengths is that Denton community comes together as one in order to help others. I believe my volunteer time was of value to the agency because they were able to work faster with an extra pair of hands. I enjoyed volunteering and helping others

I felt that I needed to give back to them. Thanks to the Southwest Rotary Club, I was able to participate in Rotary International’s Student Exchange Program. So upon hearing about this assignment, I contacted my former exchange advisor and she informed me about this program. The “Feed the Homeless” program is held once a month at Christ Episcopal Church. There are two main jobs there and since I was there for three different months, I got to do both. The first job is preparing meals in the kitchen. The kitchen worked like an assembly line, each person manned one food item and the sandwiches were assembled as it went across the kitchen before arriving at a window where they would be picked up by the homeless. There was always one person directing how many sandwiches needed to be made and assigning people to different roles. It was necessary to have a boss in the kitchen since we had to move fast to keep up with the line of people, and if there was no clear authority, people would be tripping over each other and progress would be slowed. This was illustrated the second time I volunteered, I arrived a little too early and there were only teens from the church youth group present. We decided to start preparing the food early to save us more work later. This did not work well since half the people stood around confused (including myself), and the other half just

In spring of 2016, my youth group and I began planning a trip to a neighboring city. This wasn’t just any trip however, we were going on a mission. Each of us there were bound and determined to

I have learned the importance of serving others by being a part of the youth group at my church. Every fourth Sunday of the month, my youth group takes snacks to Holston Valley Hospital. We go to most of the