Testimonies
updated May 2012:
HONDURAS – “It’s amazing how different the culture is there. When our team walked down the dirt hill to an open area outside the school and started kicking around a soccer ball, kids started coming from every direction. They didn’t care that we looked different, that most of us didn’t speak their language, or that we were complete strangers. They saw a soccer ball, some jump ropes, and a group of people who were interested in hanging out with them. I loved being such an impact in that community. Looking back at this trip, one of the main things I have taken away from it is the simplicity of life in Honduras. In the States, we have to be going all the time; we rarely take the time to stop and enjoy God and his creation. But in Honduras, life is so slow, in a good way. They are on a completely different time schedule. They are much more relational than we are. They seem to value relationships and family a lot more.” -- Natalie Young, Nicholasville, KY
GREECE & TURKEY -- “I can say with confidence going into my senior year that I am more excited about my life with God than ever before… This trip strengthened my relationship with God because it allowed me to reflect on his interaction with this world through time.” -- Jonathan Drake, Cincinnati, OH
CUBA – “In Cuba you cannot build new churches, you can only renovate existing ones. It took this church twelve years to get the permits to build this church. But along this process, we hand-dug 23 tons of dirt and laid 30 hundred-pound sacks of cement. But alongside this physical labor we got the chance to experience some of their church services. It was a moving experience. I wish we as Christians in the United States still had as much fire and passion in our rejoicing as they do. I think we have gotten caught up in our daily lives and in the battle of being on top that we forget where we truly belong.” – Taylor West, Butler, KY
NICARAGUA – “Going to Nicaragua truly opened my eyes to a new culture. Before we left I knew that there were places in the world that have to deal with much poverty and sadness. Being in Nicaragua really opened my eyes to the reality of it all. The whole trip was an awakening to what some cultures have to live with every day and how much I take for granted. The one thing that was hard for me to wrap my mind around was that everything I see these people going through in their day to day lives is completely normal to them. For example, having to wash their clothes on a rock, bumpy dirt roads, walking everywhere, no air conditioning, the power going out daily, and sometimes not even having water. There are so many other things that the people of Nicaragua go through that are not normal to an everyday American. Seeing this and living in it was a reality check for me. They truly helped me know not to take anything for granted.” – Sara Morgan, Winchester, KY
GREECE & TURKEY -- “The first day of touring brought us to Ephesus. We first stopped at the Church of St. John the Theologian [the Apostle John]. All that remained were the ruins of a church that was 1400 years old…. [Later], my eyes welled up with tears as I stood on the stage of the Grand Theatre, for this was the place where a key event in the life of the Apostle Paul and his companions too place (cf. Acts 19:21-41)…. When I preach and teach from the New Testament, I will always be mentally carried off to those cities I visited on this trip….These letters [of the New Testament] are real to me. I have been to the places where they were based….The world is a big place, and after this trip, my understanding of world culture will be forever broadened.” -- Keith Turner, Hurricane, WV
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC – “The whole time that we were preparing for this trip, I was dreading it. I didn’t want to go. I wanted to go back to my house. Once I got there I realized how horribly wrong that was for me to feel. It was very selfish of me to want to sit in my big warm cozy house and not experience what these people had to offer me. Even if I didn’t impact a single person’s life, they impacted me in ways I never would have imagined. I relied on God to give me patience and courage to get through the week. He gave me this by showing me that these kids want to see the love I can offer them, and in return these kids love me without even knowing my name.
Being an accounting major I have many different options of what path to take. I had already decided that I didn’t want to do public accounting. But after this trip I have realized that I want to work with a not-for-profit organization because I feel like I will be helping people more so than I would if I was working in a corporation.
Another change this trip has started is that of my heart. I have always been known as a tough person that doesn’t show her emotions. It became such a big part of my life that it was my life and that’s who I was. I didn’t talk to people about how I felt and that caused my heart to become very cold and hard. I became very insensitive to people because I felt that they should be the same way I was. This trip made me open up and showed me that I don’t have to be that person and that I’m not that person. It made me realize that I am a loving, caring, and very emotional person. It is still a process that is happening because it is very easy for me to go back to being that tough person, but I know that I am not supposed to be that anymore. This has started a great change in my life. It has made me want to go on even more mission trips.” – Miranda Drury, Lawrenceburg, KY
Check back each month to view more inspiring words from our students!
