Uganda Mission Trip

My trip to a third world country opened my eyes to see that everyone is not as blessed as we are here in America. Nicaragua is a very poor country. People in Nicaragua are robbed of the luxuries we Americans have. Such as, simply, having three meals a day. Most people have to travel far just to find food to bring home to their families. I felt like God had called me to go to these people not so I can bless them, yet so they can bless me and my eyes would be opened.

In March of 2016, I took a missions trip to Gonaives, Haiti. This trip impacted me deeply. The people are poor but are still very happy with life and love God very much. I made lots of friends while teaching dance who I will remember forever. My most memorable moment was the Friday night service. Their dancing was cultural, traditional, excited, and energized. It made me feel connected to my African roots. This trip allowed me to receive the Silver Award from the Girl Scouts. I am most proud of

I was fortunate enough to participate on a mission trip to New Orleans, just a year after Hurricane Katrina occurred. It was a horrific sight, all those people in such grief, and fear in their eyes. A desire was instilled in my heart to help those affected by such tragedies. I will never forget one of the nights there, my church group visited a small church that had just finished being rebuilt. They had lost everything in the storm, some even lost family members. I noticed an elderly woman sitting alone in the back pew, I walked up to her and asked if I could pray about anything for her. But she told me to sit down and listen. “I lost everything in this horrific storm, my house, car and all of my family. But I have my church back and that is enough for me. I thank God for allowing me to be alive, I am one of the lucky ones.

I can apply this new knowledge to my own personal life, by realizing that people come from a variety of different backgrounds. One background is not superior to another background. It is important to be accepting of where people come from, and to not judge them based on their culture. That knowledge can be currently carried out into my professional life, as a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA). When caring for my residents, I should never be judgmental of their physical or mental conditions. Everyone is at a different point in their lives, and it is important to comfort people along their lifelong journey. This experience changed my opinion of different cultures by making me more aware of the poverty that East Asian counties face. I never knew that the Philippines was among the top poverty-stricken countries in East Asia. Going forward, I will use that information to make a bigger effort to give back to people in the Philippines, especially in times of disaster.

For instance, I work in a residence setting that attends to the needs of individuals that experience cognitive difficulties or psychiatric illnesses. While at work I operate social support groups with the intention of aiding in the physical and social needs of our residents. My assistance also extends to accommodating meals, helping with medications and ensuring that daily activities are completed to satisfy individual goals. For instance, in a typical day I work alongside my residents to make sure that they are socializing with others. I do this by helping support their individual needs by establishing a close relationship with them so that they are able to trust the support and guidance that I provide to them. A critical part of my job is that I am meeting the unique needs of my patients. One example that comes to mind when I consider whom I have helped along the way was the time a new patient came to live within the residence and they were having difficulties adjusting to their new environment. I noticed that they spent a lot of time on their own, so I sat and listened to what they had to say, and I offered my support to them so that they were able to voice their uncertainties. I offered the type of help that I thought I would need in a stressful situation. Once the individual opened up about some reservations that they had, we proceeded to paint each others nails and afterwards I was told by one of my coworkers that the resident later came and told them how much that alleviated some of their doubts about the residence and it helped integrate them into their new environment. Once I learned of this it felt really rewarding to know that I had made such a significant impact in someone’s life, even if it was a small gesture. This situation made me aware of how small actions can benefit someone so much, even if we do not realize it. Through experiences like these, it really

The patience, compassion and encouragement of one person improved my family’s last years with its patriarch in countless ways. It was this improvement that inspired me to pursue a career as an

First I want to say thank you so much for being a part of making this trip possible whether by prayer or financial support!

When I was able to go to Haiti for a mission trip with my church. I saw so many people on the street and they looked like they were living out of boxes. Port-Au-Prince, Haiti is one of the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. They also have very bad healthcare. Not many of the people there were living the life we are. Most of them are living on about 2 dollars per day. There isn’t much we could buy in Zeeland for 2 dollars. When I would walk down the streets. I see people and kids almost wearing rags for clothes. As I would walk down the street to the market it would smell like rotten food that is 2 months old. Haiti had a earthquake in 2010 that took them down. Almost everything was destroyed. It didn’t help with their poverty stats at all.

Going to another country can be a little bit scary, especially if you are going to a third world country and you don’t plan on staying in the safe touristy areas. With this blog, I hope to appeal to others who are going on a mission trip to Nicaragua for the first time. Through my personal narrative, I hope to calm those first time jitters that people are inclined to get before doing something outside of their comfort zone. It can help when you have an idea about what you are getting into, but there are some things that no one can understand until they have been there, and that’s okay.

The story in this book was about a family named Price going for a mission trip to the Belgian Congo, Africa. It was supposed to be only for a couple months, but at the end they stayed more than they foreseen. The author lets us see the insight of the events as they go through them from 4 out of 5 of the members of the family; Rachel, Adah, Leah, Ruth May, and Orleanna (being the mother). The only one who the author does not let us see is from the father’s point of view. At the beginning the mother is worried about the health issues they might have to go through while staying in the village called Kilanga. While the daughters are more preoccupied in how they are fitting in with the rest of the kids, and being tired of taking so many pills for

However, nearing the end of my stay in Myanmar, while serving food at an orphanage, I had one of the most inspirational conversations I have ever had in my life. When I had finished my task, I was given the opportunity to interview a homeless man. His parents abandoned him at the age of 4, and he was forced to live at a nearby orphanage. When he had reached the age of 16, he left the orphanage due to the abusive caretakers. He spent the next 5 years living as a wandering nomad. He was living and finding food wherever he could.

Every July my church takes about fifteen people on a trip to Mellier, Haiti to do mission work, and that is the next place I want to go. This past summer, one of my close friends went on the Haiti trip, and after seeing all of her pictures and hearing all of her incredible stories, I became determined to make the journey myself.

My whole family and I were devastated by the sudden death of my uncle Ryan. He had been sick with what we had thought was the flu, but later realized that it was pneumonia. I believe that we learned so much from this experience and were able to come closer as a family. As a result of my uncle’s death, my whole family decided to take a get-a-way trip to the Dominican Republic during his birthday and Christmas. While I was there I learned a very important lesson; I am blessed to live in the United States.

Walking around Haiti I came to a hut where two families lived. The mother held the smallest baby I had ever seen, and before I knew it she was placed in my hands. Tears came streaming down my face, as this baby was already displaying signs of malnutrition. I grabbed all of the Enfamil bottles from my backpack and handed them to the mother as a smile came across her face.

For instance, it was an extremely sunny day in Ghana, West Africa, and I had gone out to the well to fetch water. It was while carrying the bucket of water on my way back that I noticed my neighbor’s children fighting over the insufficient amount of food that they had to share. My family and I