老司机传媒

Can you tell us about your student missionary experience?
I went to Honduras from the end of May to the beginning of August. I was working at a children's home, called Hogar de Niños Reach International where I did a variety of things. I was a main staff member for the older girls from ages fourteen to twenty. I would basically help with their day-to-day things. I made sure everyone was up and at it for school and getting their jobs done. I also taught seventh and eighth grade English and babysat the younger girls, from ages four to twelve. On certain days in the evening or the afternoon, I would go hang out with them and just make sure that their chores were done and help them with homework—they had little math problems they had to do for school.

Were the children living at the home, and were you living with them?
They actually have three houses: the younger girls, the older girls, and the boys. I was living with the older girls, but they're all on the same property. There’s about sixty kids total. We always say we're a group of seventy when you count all the volunteers and staff members. When I was living there, there were twenty-four girls in total and the young girls that I watched were twelve in total.

Wow, so you only had 10 staff members for 60 kids?
That's just a rough estimate because the staff comes and goes. The volunteers they get there are missionaries, so they serve anywhere from six months to one year, and then, they go elsewhere.

What were some of your highlights and greatest challenges of working there?
Something that I thoroughly enjoyed was just being present for the girls and seeing the positive impact that it has on them and how much they enjoyed it. I genuinely enjoyed waking up, having a conversation with the kids, spending time with them at mealtimes, having devotional times, and singing hymns. We would have time to talk about the Bible and stuff in free time and on the Sabbath. Those little moments where we would sit around, joke, and chat about things, I genuinely enjoyed. It’s one of the things I miss the most.

There are things that happened to me that were definitely obstacles, like tick bites. Those are little things though, so a big obstacle would be that they were very conservative Seventh-day Adventists. They never made me feel like I was different.  But it was definitely something I had to become accustomed to. There was no culture shock for me because I'm Hispanic. My dad's from El Salvador, and I was in Honduras. But they had different beliefs and values. It makes you realize people all over the world have different values and belief systems even within the same religion, so I had to adjust to make sure I was never saying the wrong things. But they were always very loving and accepting of me, so it always worked out.

What was your main motivation to go abroad, and was it always going to be Honduras?
I’ve always loved missions. I did a mission trip back in high school. I actually wanted to do a full mission year when I came to Andrews, but it's hard. Sometimes, it works out, but I hadn't really found the time. In the beginning of April, I saw the Instagram post on the Student Missions site. They said they needed Spanish speakers to go work in an orphanage, and I thought, “I speak Spanish.” They said it was for the summertime. They never do summer sessions. It's always during the year. I thought it'd be cool, but I’d see what happened.  Then, I was walking from Buller back to the dorm, and I saw another sign. It was the same thing about working at the orphanage and I thought, “This is the second time I’ve felt drawn to it. I'm just going to reach out to Teela, the coordinator, and I'll talk to her about it.” I did that, and she put me in contact with Dr. Glenn Russell in the religion department. I spoke to him and it just worked out. I was like, “I have no reason not to do it, and it's something I would find interesting.”

I needed confirmation on whether I was going before May twelve because I was going to South America to visit family, so I got confirmation that I was for sure going—I got approved by the NAD and everything—the last week of April. There were moments where it was like, “I have no idea if I'm actually doing this,” but I told myself that if I can do it, I will do it. Me and Teela worked it out, and it happened.

How did you see God work?
God was definitely working in a lot of different aspects. The biggest aspect was getting me there. I was very eager to go, but in the week leading up to it, I was still in South America. I was going to spend two days at home, and then, I was leaving for Honduras. Throughout that whole week I remember thinking, “Should I be doing this?” I remember it felt like there was just this one last fence I needed to climb, and I was gonna be there, but it felt like the tallest fence. I was like, “Maybe I should back out. Maybe I shouldn't do it, but I'm not sure.” I doubted my decision, and I thought I was in over my head. I remember I got there really late in the night. Their bedtime is at 8pm. It was 8:30. Everyone was already asleep. I saw a few of them through the windows, but it was like, “Here's your room.” I was just by myself, and it wasn’t until the next morning that I saw everyone again. I remember feeling lonely and thinking, “Oh my gosh, what did I do? What's going to happen?” I just felt super uncertain and scared. I look back at that day, and I'm just like, “What was going through your mind? It was such an amazing experience!” I wish I knew what the next few weeks were going to be like. God was really working by helping me overcome those feelings and getting me there. He pushed me to get there, and I'm so glad I did because it was such an amazing experience.

How would you say your experience impacted your walk with God and your worldview?
Religious-wise, I don't necessarily think it changed my outlook. I grew up in a Hispanic church, and they are Hispanics Seventh-day Adventists, so I didn't feel much difference. One thing is that they were big on the end times: going into the mountains and preparing for the Mark of the Beast. When I was there, they were initiating those big topics with the kids. I studied in depth about that. For them, it's a little bit deeper than it is for us here. We know it’s coming, but for them, it's going to happen really, really soon.

I would say lifewise, it made me realize, “Who cares about your new shoes? Who cares about what you're wearing in the morning, if your shirt is new, or if you have a nicer outfit than someone else's?” Going there made me realize that it really doesn't matter.  Obviously, they are kids that don't have a lot, but they have their basic needs. They're so blessed to have that, and they know that they're blessed.

Would you recommend being a student missionary to other people? Why or why not?
Yes, definitely, I 100% recommend being a student missionary. I think everyone has their own reason. I would say the number one reason to go is that act of service; it's giving back. A lot of times people feel like, “I can't do anything. What can I do for them? How can I help people?” It's hard because we say student missionary and we think, “Oh, you went abroad, and you did something.” I wish the term would change a little bit because I think ultimately, any act of service, whether it be local, out of state, or out of country, is extremely important. It's truly what we're supposed to be doing here on Earth. As Seventh-day Adventists, we believe we need to spread the message of God while we're here, and one way that we can do that is by being servants of God and serving others.