Over the summer, people jet off to various destinations across the country and globe. For some, it’s a trip to Europe, for others it’s a trip to Grandma’s house, and for a few, it’s a trip to help those in need.
Many local youth groups will be taking such trips this summer. Many of these groups will be helping with the construction of homes or helping with service projects in various communities.
Ellie DuHadway, junior, will be venturing to West Virginia with her church’s youth group this summer. The group goes to a lower class community and runs a vacation bible school for the local children out of one of the churches. Their aim in running this bible school is to promote God in the lives of children.
“It is such an experience, when I come back I feel so motivated in my faith and excited about all of the work we did on the trip,” DuHadway said.
In addition to running Vacation Bible School (a week long summer camp for elementary school students in order to better understand God and grow in their relationship with him), the group also helps to build things (such as homes) for those in need.
“We built a ramp for a woman with disabilities who was having trouble getting around,” DuHadway said.
Junior Steve Hiles will be journeying to a very different part of the world over the summer as well. He will be traveling to Costa Rica on a mission trip for eight days, and though he hasn’t taken a mission trip before, he says he is excited to take this trip with his youth group. Together, with his church, he will be doing construction and cleaning up vandalism in order to benefit the community.
“I’ve never done this before and I decided to go because I wanted to go to a foreign country and help those in need,” Hiles said. “I’ll probably go on others in the future as well.”
Applying to go on this trip to Costa Rica was no small feat. The applicants had to create a resume and fill out a formal application complete with a letter of recommendation from a religious leader who knows them well. After submitting the application, interviews were held in December to determine if the applicants will truly be beneficial in their mission this summer. Once accepted, meetings were held once a month in preparation for departure.
While some of these mission trips are very involved, overall they provide students with an eye-opening experience and give them perspective of the world around them, helping them to grow both in their faith and compassion as individuals.
