When Bailey Hawley traveled to Costa Rica, she was told, “People travel for many different reasons, some for work, some for vacation—we only move straight through life, so we have to take the things that come to us, accept it and have no fear,” Hawley said. People travel for many different reasons, but some students have traveled to places such as Costa Rica, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic to help those less fortunate.
Hawley traveled to Costa Rica on a mission trip to help children in an impoverished area. Her most memorable moment from the trip was going to a preschool and meeting and connecting with the kids that went there. One of the children Hawley met while ministering to the kids was Franny, a little girl. Franny was very drawn to her. Hawley spent lots of time with her during the week she was there.
Hawley went with members of her church to teach children about religion and give them a safe environment. Hawley has attended church at Church Alive for seven years.
“It made me feel really good, because I think that’s something I’m supposed to do when I’m older, so it was just a good experience,” Hawley said as she explained how this experience helped her prepare for her future
Custodian Abigail Cheek traveled to the Dominican Republic on vacation and to help feed hungry families and children.
Cheek traveled with a friend who had experience going on trips to help people and children in impoverished areas. The most memorable moment on the trip was when she saw the children living in boxes on the streets begging for food. While Cheek was walking around one day, a little girl came up to her begging for food. Cheek and her friend bought the little girl lunch and spent some time with her.
“It made me appreciate life more,” Cheek said. “Once you go to Dominican and see all those poor people and those poor kids, it brings tears to your eyes. I think everyone, especially kids, should go over there and visit and see how people live, so they can appreciate what they have more.”
Junior Jonathan Robbins went on a mission trip to Jamaica over the summer.
Robbins traveled with members of his church to help people in an impoverished community. They made a driveway, built walls and houses and did vacation Bible school for the children who wanted to practice their faith. They also visited a few orphanages and took resources to the children and spent some time getting to know them. Robbin’s most memorable moment was when he visited a safe home for children while he was there he met a little boy named Marvin and bonded with him.
“He was a fun loving kid—he obviously had a tough upbringing and didn’t really have parents around but was having fun and playing soccer,” Robbins said. “It was really cool to see all the kids there. The older ones were like brothers to the others, and they looked out for each other.”
Robbins was amazed by how welcoming everyone was in Jamaica. They were all nice and friendly to him and his church members from the very start.
“It was really eye opening to see how little people live with over there, like the difference between what we live with and what they live with and their form of riches and poor,” Robbins said. “It’s crazy.”
– By Samantha Rhyne