Advertisement Seniors at Coulee Region Christian School returned home last month after a mission trip took them to Puerto Penasco, Mexico. Over a two-week period, the students helped a church and families in poverty-stricken neighborhoods while spreading the word of God.
And they also learned something about themselves.
“I think one of the biggest things that impacted me was the poverty but how content they are,” said 18-year-old Joel House, one of the 15 seniors who went on the mission trip. “(After high school) I’m going to college because I have to get a degree so I can have money to live contently. But it just made me realize I take for granted what I have here and how much I need to thank God for how much I have.”
The students and four chaperones left West Salem March 22 for Minneapolis, where they took a plane to Phoenix. There, they met with a small group from Eventsource Ministries — a missionary organization that coordinates such trips — and drove about four and a half hours across the border into Mexico and to Puerto Penasco, also known as Rocky Point, which is located on the northern shore of the Sea of Cortez. The group returned April 4.
Naomi Huffman, the senior class advisor and one of the chaperones on the trip, said the trip went very well and she was impressed by the students’ maturity.
“I think things went really well,” said Huffman, who also teaches high school English and social studies at CRCS. “The kids did a really amazing job. Even though there was a language barrier, they just did an awesome job and just showed compassion and love toward kids they had never seen before.”
During the day, the team worked on helping build a youth center at La Iglesia de Nuevo Naciemente, or The New Birth Church. The youth center is an on-going project, but the CRCS team painted, did various construction work and helped put up the final wall on the second story.
“I think, in talking with the kids, they were just so impressed by the fact that the whole church and youth center has been built by different mission trips,” Huffman said. “I think it was just such an impact to just see how grateful (the people of Puerto Penasco) were. The students felt good about accomplishing what they were able to give that church.”
House said Mexicans would often ask the students to sing American Christian songs, and he would take out his guitar to play.
“It’s pretty cool to know we’re doing this so they can have more impact on people and share Christ with them,” House said. “It was just cool to be working on something bigger than yourself.”
The group also helped paint the house of a family with seven children — and an eighth on the way — in the impoverished neighborhood called The Invasion. The neighborhood is located on public land next to a garbage dump where families try to settle and build structures with what they can salvage.
During the evenings, the students performed missionary work in The Invasion and at the church with The Good News Club — or what is commonly referred to as Vacation Bible School. The students would play soccer or jump rope with youth as they arrived, and they performed puppet shows and songs in Spanish and performed skits during the program.
“Everybody loved the puppet shows, and some had never seen puppets. It was a great way to reach out with simple messages,” Huffman said. “The different ministry skits were very successful, too. It’s just such an amazing thing that you can break down language barriers with just a simple skit.”
Senior class president Sarah Nogee said she most enjoyed working with the children and teaching them about God.
“I was just really touched with how they trust you — a complete stranger — and how they can love you anyway,” said Nogee, 18. “I just learned to be so grateful. These kids have next to nothing. They live in houses without air conditioning and without running water, but they’re happy all the time.”
On April 24, the seniors shared their experiences with the rest of the school, and they told what they did and what they learned. CRCS Principal Daniel Odenbach said he was able to see how the students had grown as individuals.
“It’s just an overall increase in maturity in world view; they’re just looking through their life in a larger scope in a lens,” Odenbach said. “They realize how fortunate they are and how blessed they are, and their hearts were just open more and cognizant of that in sharing that. It was really neat to talk to the kids; their eyes were open so much wider.”
Senior classes at CRCS have gone on mission trips almost every year since 1997. The class begins raising funds for a trip when juniors, and the class decides where their efforts are needed. Some places classes have gone include Panama, New York City, New Orleans, Florida, Dallas and Encenada, Mexico.
Odenbach said CRCS is fortunate to be able to give students this opportunity.
“It’s absolutely priceless to be able to do this,” he said. “We’re talking about building practical experiences with young people so that they have appreciation for the community and the nation and beyond.
“It’s just great to see they have appreciation for service and ... civic duty. It’s just a very pragmatic way we can do that.”
Seniors exchanged e-mails with The New Birth Church so they can keep in touch with those they’ve met. Students — such as House and Nogee — said they hope to some day return to Puerto Penasco or be part of a different mission trip, and they encourage others to consider volunteering as well.
“It makes you feel like you’ve accomplished something; it makes you feel like you’ve helped others,” Nogee said. “I would definitely encourage others to take a mission trip, but you can just as easily help others from home. You might see a need (in your local community) and can help try to fill it.”
Those who went on Coulee Region Christian School’s mission trip to Puerto Penasco, Mexico, were senior students Akshat Baldania, Katie Bowman, Stephanie Brickl, Joel House, Abigail Huffman, Annie Jung, Chase Kenimer, John Kim, Nicole Miller, Sarah Nogee, Can Ozsoy, Mara Pearson, Matt Pogreba, Austin Ross and Jordan Schmidt. Chaperones were Naomi Huffman, Tim Trailer, Laurie Abeyta and Mike Coady.
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