Kentucky Springbreak Mission Trips 08'

A persistent story of poverty continues, which is both familiar and endless in sight. Over the last three weeks, I with two other LeaderTreks staff, worked alongside two groups of students from across the country to bring relief to the people of Knott County, Kentucky. Poverty in the Appalachian area is not really news to anyone I have come across. So in light of the
danger of familiarity breeding contempt, here are a couple pieces of information to awaken the original fervor some of us might have had upon hearing about this poverty in America. In Knott County, Kentucky:
¨ 40% of children live below the poverty line,
which is twice the national average.
¨ What is the poverty line?
For a single mom with 2 kids: $1300/month
For a family of four: $1666/month
Our two groups immersed themselves in the community by working on individual homes and got to know the people that live with this poverty everyday. Working alongside a local pastor, Rick Franklin, our students were able to not only serve the people, but to learn their stories and
enjoy life with them. Twice during the weeks we were in Kentucky, we experienced a local bluegrass night with community members. We danced and ate fried apple pie while the students got to know complete strangers. Plus, I was finally able to have real “Kentucky Fried Chicken” when a family made dinner for us the last night after our work day. Trust me, the restaurant has nothing on that woman’s chicken.
Both groups worked extremely hard and accomplished a lot. All in all, we scraped, primed, and painted an entire house for a family that lives two houses down from Rick Franklin’s church. We dug out trenches at a home to prepare for flood season. We built an 80 foot long, 10 foot high fence along the church’s property to block the sight of a school bus graveyard. We stained two decks, one for the church and one for a woman in the community. And students learned they could change the world just by changing the world of one person. It was a fantastic three weeks!

Dominican Republic Student Article

Just wanted to let all of you read an article that one of my students wrote about her trip with me to the Dominican Republic. Her name is Dani Abinion and she is a Freshman at Wheaton Academy. Enjoy!

"Over Winterim at Wheaton Academy I had the most amazing opportunity to spend two weeks in the Dominican Republic, doing mission work. At the beginning, I didn’t exactly know how I felt about going to a third world country and leaving everything I knew to go to a place where I didn’t even speak the same language. I have to admit I was scared and I was definitely
carrying an immense amount of fear with me, but I toughened up and was ready to do what God was sending me there to accomplish. By the time we arrived in the Dominican Republic, several challenges were already thrown in our path. As a team we worked through it together. Over the next two weeks the team got a ton accomplished by working together and relying on each other. The two aspects that I think our team grew drastically in were compassion and trust. Many of the girls, including myself, had our hard times, but no matter what argument was going on, five minutes later we were there for each other. It’s a really great feeling knowing there are thirteen of your peers that you can trust and go to if you have a problem.

I’ve been a Christian all my life. I grew up in a Christian home and went to church every week, but going on this trip really changed every prospective I had on life, the way I was living and the relationship I had with God. I remember the start of the second week when we moved into the orphanage and we met all of the kids. I remember that night hearing about their own personal stories and why they ended up in the orphanage, and I was blown away. I couldn’t believe what most of those kids went through and even though they had horrible past experiences they never showed it. It really made me think about how people at home, including myself, make a big deal and fear the things we do, but compared to these kids’ lives, it’s nothing.. At that moment I did an overlook on how I was living and decided I wanted to make a lot of changes. I wanted the changes to reach past the trip and affect how I was living at home.

This trip really made a huge impact on my life and I have twelve other Wheaton Academy girls, three LeaderTreks leaders, and twenty Dominican orphans to thank. Over the two weeks I was there I grew as a leader, as a friend, and as a person. I think that God sent me on this trip for two reasons: to help change and to be changed. He sent me to help change the lives of those that are less fortunate than I am and to help provide them with a better, safer place to live. He also sent me to be changed, by sending those kids into my life to help me realize how great of a life that I have and how grateful I should be. I also believe that he sent three amazing leaders (Dan, Matt, and Lauren) to encourage me and to help build my confidence and faith to become a better leader. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to express how grateful I am for the people that God sent into my life while I was on this trip and for being given this amazing opportunity.
David says to Solomon in 1 Chronicles 28:20, “Be strong & Be courageous and do the work, do no be afraid or discouraged for the lord God, my God is with you, he will not fail nor forsake you, until the work in temple of the lord is complete.”
When ever I get discouraged, I refer back to this verse in the Bible and it reassures me that God is with me and that the things I do, I do for him and to glorify him."

Hungry For Change, Hungry to Serve, Hungry For God: Dominican Republic 08'

Well, we're finally back! And we all survived two weeks in the Dominican Republic! The trip was amazing. Our thirteen girls from Wheaton Academy worked so hard and accomplished a ton at the orphanage, Casa de Monte Plata. They acheived so much more than we ever thought was possible. In two short weeks, the girls leveled by hand mulitple huge piles of rock, dirt, and solid clay with just shovels and pickaxes. They poured a new section of a basketball court and laid new sidewalks with concrete. And they led a VBS for a group of 20 Dominican orphans who did not speak a word of English! The girls poured their hearts into the work and into the lives of under priveledged children, leaving that small orphanaged changed in real ways. Throughout the trip Jesus' words from Mark 9:37 rang in my head: "Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me." These girls saw the face of God in those childrens' eyes. Thirteen girls from the suburbs of Chicago left everything they knew for two weeks and entered a world unlike anything they could have imagined. It rocked them, broke them, and hopefully....changed them.

Here's a photo collage of the trip. Enjoy!

January Dominican Republic Trip

January is coming faster than I thought. Pretty soon I'll be on a plane headed to Monte Plata, Dominican Republic with 14 high school girls and two other LT staff. Yep, an all girl trip! It's kind of funny, but I'm really excited. For two weeks we as a team will be working with a school in the DR, helping them with work projects outside. I wanted to show you some past pictures of the DR to pique your interest. So here they are. Enjoy and see you soon!