Reflection On A Mission Trip To Florida

Today is Valentine's Day and I have nothing to do. Today I went to my brothers basketball game. They won 38-30 against auburn-y. This was a elimination game. I can't believe those ballers pulled it offing fugu. I mean when I was in 6th grade we didn't even make playoffs. Still single as always but I hope that will change. I like Evelyn Kitchen but I don't know if she likes me. I wimped out to ask her to dance with me and another kid in my advisory likes her too. It's pretty obvious. I just don't know if she likes me. I told my mom and dad and they told me to ask her. The worst thing that can happen is she says no and I get embarrassed to death. The next dance there is in March I'm going to ask her. I should probably explain

The trip that changed my life all started on October 22, 2016. It was the day I decided to sign up for the Trinidad mission trip at my church. The church held weekly meetings so we could learn more about what we would be doing there. We were told that we would be performing a drama that depicted major parts in the Bible, such as the creation of the environment, creating man and woman, sin entering the world, man being separated from God, and God being crucified then rose from the dead. About three weeks before the trip we learned the entire drama that would be performed on the island for the people. The Wednesday before we left my huddle group leader pulled me, Kal, Gage, and Luke aside to talk about what we would experience on the island and the sights that we would see, so we would not experience as much culture shock when we arrived. As soon as school let out for spring break I excitedly packed my bags so I would be ready for the early morning adventure to begin.

The Florida Project is a film about a family living in a motel and how financial hardship affects the children of this film. The family I choose to support is Moonie’s mother, Hailey. Within the film, Hailey is unemployed and having a challenging time finding a job which caused her to lose the assistance she received from welfare. Hailey turns selling discounted items on the streets and to prostitution as her main source of income. To try and support this family, I would offer Hailey a job at my uncle’s restaurant, which will allow her not to use prostitution as a source of income.

When i went Destin, Florida. I went to Florida this summer after school was out . We went with my sisters best friend, and my best friend’s family. We drove from Arkansas all the way to Destin, Florida. The day we got there we went straight to the beach! It was the first time I had ever seen the ocean! The following day we decided to go down to the smoothie shack and get a smoothie then swim in the pool. The grown ups went to the beach while we were at the pool.

Growing up in Southern Florida is something most people don’t experience with a sun shining brightly every day and water canals everywhere I looked, with spacious land to play on in most places it was definitely a great time as a child. I remember going on field trips in my elementary school, to the great Everglades which was something so exciting. Also, remember every Sunday going to the beautiful springs with my family to enjoy the great fresh water coming from underground. Now 16 years have passed, and things don’t look the same anymore going back to the places I grew up in was so exciting to find out there is no more space anymore or land to play on all there is business buildings everywhere and went to the everglades to visit and show my adult friends how wonderful it is to see nature come alive but the experience was nothing like when I was a child the everglades looked destroyed with a bunch of “Welcome to the Everglades” shirt selling places surrounding it and more business building too, it was depressing to see were this beautiful ecosystem went. What I did realize was the

“The early Adventist Church emerged from a climate of religious revival in the Northeastern United States”, (Lechleitner, 2013). Its founder was the late William Miller, (Slick, n.d.). The Church was founded based on the idea of the Second Coming of Jesus, (Church, 2013). The Seventh-Day Adventism is a Christian faith with multiple fundamental beliefs such as the Sabbath. The Sabbath is the day in which God decided to rest after creating the Earth. For the Seventh-Day Adventists, the Sabbath is Saturday, as God rested on the Seventh-Day of the week. Ellen G. White, a woman considered one of the founding members of the Church and a prophetess, developed another fundamental belief of how “husbands should treat their wives as equal, the way they were created to be”, (Banks, 1992). As we can see, women play an important role in this doctrine.

Disney World is often called ‘the happiest place on earth’, but for those living on the borders of Disney; that happiness is merely a dream. “The Florida Project” directed by Sean Baker is a powerful and incredibly realistic film which addresses the struggles of families living on the borders of the social divide. The film’s protagonists are a financially struggling mother Halley, and her seven-year-old daughter Moonee who live in “The Magic Castle Hotel” beside Disney World. In Orlando, Florida, there is a huge socioeconomic divide that often goes unnoticed, but Baker’s film exposes the truth of living in Disney’s shadow. The Florida Project uses the stylistic system function of realism through diegetic music, non-professional casting, camera

I first encountered the ocean in 1958; I was ten. Being a map enthusiast, I knew exactly where Florida was, and I was excited to swim in the salty Atlantic Ocean. Born and raised next to frigid Lake Michigan I understood a large body of water as well as a sandy beach, but no book or encyclopedia prepared me for understanding the flavor or immensity of an ocean and its adjoining shore. Arriving at the beach I raced across the hot pure white sand to keep my feet from burning, stopping in wonder when I saw ocean waves gently caressing a seashore that seemed to go on and on forever. I knew I was somewhere special.

Three years ago, on an early, hot July morning, it was time to begin our trip to Tallahassee and Perdido Key Florida. My parents were buzzing around the entire house to try to finish up the packing, and the last final details such as food, money, and all those things that adults have to worry about before a big trip. My brother, Zach, and I were sitting in my muggy living room with all of our bags watching Spongebob, trying to comprehend how we are possibly going make it through a 16 hour car ride. My parents aren’t too keen on flying, well, actually my mom isn’t too keen on flying. My parents rented a car for us to use on the trip, because my mom didn’t want to add anymore miles on our ten year old van. Basically my parents could not trust

South Florida can be viewed and appreciated for it’s cultural diversity. At it’s core, it can be assumed that it is the pinnacle of popularity among tourist. It is a melting pot of island nations and shares multicultural foundations of places like Cuba, Haiti, and Jamaica among many, many others. People get to experience the ethnic foods, and arts from these cultures, guilt free. Very few care to know the history, migration patterns, family structure, or cultural behaviors of these cultures, in which this paper will highlight. The Haitian-American population of South Florida is one of these ethnic groups with a rich history and culture worth exploration.

A few days in the marina, savoring the last little bits of our time in Florida, ended abruptly with an early morning trip to the airport in the dark. With spring break coming up and missing grandbabies, not to mention kids, we planned to fly back up north for a visit. We had to wear long pants and carry coats because we knew it’d be cold in Maryland. Ohhh…the horror of it.

Thank you for supporting me on my summer mission trip with Yadah Performing Arts Ministry to Cape Coral, FL this summer. In our 10 day tour, we had 4 shows, 3 on Sunday, and 1 midweek. In our trip, not only did we perform for Spanish speaking Churches in Cape Coral, but we also had a “Faith Boot-Camp”, a service project, and sightseeing.

After living in Florida for many years, the most important lesson to learn is not to panic. “True Floridians” have an interesting behavior that is noticeable in time of crises and stress: they let things happen naturally. This is applicable to new jobs, new schools or programs, even hurricanes. Between a hard work ethic and taking advantage of every opportunity available, one does not need to worry or panic. This lesson was ingrained in memory from childhood, and can be applied every day in life.

This year I got to participate in a youth outing with the youth at my church. Corp Cadets Academy, is a young people’s trip with The Salvation Army for the weekend. On October23-25,2015where the whole division of Florida gets together. It is a time where youth are able to be themselves, have fun, get away from home and worship the Lord and are able have a time alone with God surrounded by people who are trying to do the same thing. At the event, I got to see different types of talents on each day and see how the youth would praise dance in different songs and, put on plays and skits for us.

During the summer of 2016 I attended a mission trip to Lynn Massachusetts. The city of Lynn welcomes refugees and give them a place to stay that helps them establish a good foundation. After the refugees have a good foundation they will disperse around the country to start a better life. Little did I know that during that week my life would be changed. When we arrived they split us into groups and told us who we will be serving this week. The group that I was placed in would be attending a soup kitchen. As we pulled up to the soup kitchen there were about fifteen homeless waiting to eat lunch and it was only nine o’clock in the morning. My job in the soup kitchen was to serve the people coffee and hot tea. The people came in for lunch and