April 6, 2018 at 1:53 p.m.
IN HER OWN WORDS
My second mission trip: 'Amazing how friendships can build so quickly'
It is a little nerve-wracking the first time you go on a mission trip, because you have no idea what it's going to be like and you want to work with people you know, not strangers from all over the country.
But hearing about the mission trip for the first time through my church, St. Madeleine Sophie in Schenectady, made me really interested. I wanted a friend to go with, so I brought my two best friends.
By the end of the week, we were sad to have to go; on the car ride home, we discussed where to go the next year.
"Two hundred and fifty-eight days left until July 31!" The date that once felt like forever away finally arrived: the second mission trip. This year, we went to Hamburg, N.Y.
Arriving in Hamburg after our five-hour drive, we met new friends by playing volleyball with a different youth group. Everyone on mission trips is always so friendly, nice and social; you can walk down the hallways and have almost every single person say hello to you, whether you know them or not.
The first day, it was time to meet our crews - the group of five or six people we were assigned to work with during the week. This year, there were only four construction sites, while the remaining 45 projects were painting and scraping. My assignment was to tear down and build two porches.
When we reached our worksites, the residents hugged us and thanked each of us for the work that we were expected to accomplish. They described their lifestyle to us, which was one of the most emotional parts of the week.
The couple I met, Richard and Janet, are elderly. Janet has had many surgeries and Richard was diagnosed with cancer just last year, so they aren't able to do construction work themselves. They are foster parents who adopt handicapped children or children that nobody wants because of their ethnicity.
One of their daughters had a major seizure and passed away two years ago. Chris, 38, was starved in a closet for much of his childhood before Richard and Janet took him in at age 11. He isn't able to talk, has trouble walking, is deaf in one ear, has autism and isn't able to feed himself because he will try and eat everything on the table - even the bones - because he is scared that he will starve again.
Shelly, 35, recently decided that she wanted to go back and live with her birthparents even though they abused her. Ricky, 45, has autism and is deaf in one ear and blind in one eye. Eric, 15, is American Indian and the most recent addition to the family.
Richard and Janet's neighbor isn't very nice. She screams racist comments and makes fun of the kids, telling the parents to "keep them in the backyard."
Janet had set up a garden with plants and chairs so the kids could sit out there and watch people walk down the street. The couple had put up a fence, but when we came, Janet said, "Tear it down! I'm not going to let what my neighbor wants keep my children from sitting in their favorite spot and meeting new friends by the gate. Instead of saying anything back to her, I always just go inside and pray for her - that one day she'll come around."
Janet gave us a tour of the house, showing us all the artwork that covered the walls, done by all her kids. "I teach them how to color, sew, garden, you name it," Janet said. "They were deprived of it in the beginning of their lives, so I try and teach it to them now."
The optimistic personalities of Janet and Richard have really inspired me to have a more positive outlook and believe that everything will turn out alright. Janet taught me that when something seems to be going wrong to pray and God will help you - that God is always there and always listening and you can turn to Him for anything.
It's amazing how friendships can build so quickly when you're so busy tearing down and building porches and in just one short week. I met people from all over the country - from close to home and from Illinois, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Wisconsin and other places.
We all can connect to one another through God and through serving others. Serving people is so much fun and I would do it more if I could. It helps you to connect and grow closer to God as well as help the needy.
I couldn't be happier that I decided to go on the first mission trip and return for a second. It's the best decision I've ever made and I'm proud to admit it.[[In-content Ad]]
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