EHS Students Use Summer Free Time to Help Others

By Brooke Abel

During the summer, most high school students sleep in until noon, watch TV, play video games, and only have to worry about themselves. That was not the case for sophomores, Sierra Hartwell and Julia McQueen, who both attended mission trips to go out of their way to help someone other than themselves.

Hartwell attended her church mission trip during the second week of June for six days to lend a helping hand to the people of Pawhuska, Oklahoma. She took her trip with her church, Lawrence Free Methodist.

“I heard about it one Sunday at church and I just decided then that I wanted to go. I knew it would be a great way to go volunteer to help someone else,” she said.

During this trip her church split up into four different groups of roughly forty volunteers, each group helping in different activities.

“It was very exciting! I knew some of the people who went from my church but not everyone, so it was exciting to get to know everyone better. It was also in an area of the world that I had never been so, I was very excited to be going somewhere new.”

For two days, Hartwell spent time repainting the exterior walls of an elderly couple’s house and working at a food pantry. Hartwell packed bags of food that people were able to pick up. The next two days consisted of helping at the Boys and Girls Club in Pawhuska. Most people would think this would be the most exciting of the trip because you would be able to play with little kids all day. Activities consisted of coloring, listening to music, watching television, and swimming with the kids. Over the course of the six days the largely teenaged group attended bible studies nightly to become more involved in their own faith.

“Every night we did something different. One night we went on a hike to the top of a mountain even. It was beautiful,” Hartwell said.

Activities on mission trips are not as easy as one might think. It is hard work to help out whether you are helping painting, helping little kids, and even the temperature outside alone can make someone want to give up and quit.

“The hardest part of the mission trip was either working in the heat, it gets pretty hot down there during the summer, or on the third night of the bible studies we had time where just your church got together and then you just prayed for one another and the struggles going on in each others’ lives. It wasn’t hard to pray for each other, but everyone broke down. It was heartbreaking to see some of the strongest people I know break down, but it all gave us a stronger bond together.”

Mission trips are a great way to get involved with the community. Not only do volunteers get to know their own community and friends who get involved with them, but also the community who they are helping out. Volunteering is rewarding; you feel better for the people you helped and it makes you feel that you actually made your own way in society.

“It was so rewarding. While I was there I met many members of the community: the Johnson’s, whose home we painted, the children at the Boys and Girls Club, the families who came to the food pantry and all the workers, but I also made many friendships and relationships with the other teens and leaders who came to help also. I love being able to help people in need, it brings joy to me, so being able to help a community for an entire week was amazing,” said Hartwell.

On the other side of the world, Julia McQueen, took a little more exotic trip to Guatemala. Like Hartwell’s trip, McQueen also went with her church, Lawrence First Church of the Nazarene. She went on July 12 and came back on July 21 for a grand total of 10 days. While in Guatemala she arrived in Guatemala City, but also went to Antigua, Chichicastenango, and Panajachel.

Drinkable water is something most Americans take for granted. In countries like Guatemala, the battle for drinkable water rages daily. McQueen’s trip aimed to install water filters across the country. McQueen and the members of her church installed water filter from Ecofiltro in classrooms and a few homes. Not only did they install them, but they also educated all of the students and their teachers in the process. A bible school was also provided for two half-days.

In Antigua, she went on a tour of a coffee farm that was part of a co-op and ate a homemade lunch at the farmer’s home. The church partnered with Salud y Paz, a medical clinic that works with the Mayas of the area. After helping out with the people of Guatemala, she was able to do some sightseeing. McQueen had the chance to visit ruins at a monastery, take several boat rides, tour volcanoes, and of course some shopping took place. The trip may have been filled with spectacular adventures it also was eye-opening for the sophomore.

“The hardest part was seeing the poverty that people lived in. One woman we met had ten children and was pregnant with her 11th. Her husband is an alcoholic and drinks away all of their earnings. They farm and the children have to work instead of going to school. Their home consisted of two rooms for sleeping and another small building for the kitchen. Everything was very primitive. Their home was made out of dirt and had no electricity. Their clothing was worn and they didn’t have shoes that matched or fit. It made me appreciate everything that I have a lot more.”

On a lighter note, McQueen described her trouble with the cuisine. “Another difficult thing was ordering food and trying new foods. I wasn’t sure what I was getting so I had to rely on our driver, interpreter, and my mom. Overall everything tasted great.”

One can only imagine flying somewhere out of the United States to help another country’s people. Not only does the fear of flying hit, but also the fear of flying to a completely different country

“It was incredibly exciting because it was my first time out of the country and my first time flying in a plane. Another first was trying coffee, and I have to say, I’m not a fan. The landscape was incredible, with a variety of plants you don’t find here in the United States. It was great to be both a tourist and a mission worker on the same trip. I would absolutely do it again. My church is planning to return next summer,” Julia said.

Whether you are hopping over the Kansas border or long jumping over to another country to help out families, you can still make a difference. Regular high schoolers got up enough courage to do something unimaginable and help out those in desperate need. Try doing something this summer like these girls did, instead of sleeping in until noon.