The Enduring Rewards of Mission Trips: By Marianne Clyde wo weeks after returning from my mission trip to El Salvador, I was still emotionally recovering. I volunteered to serve with the medical mission “Operation Blessing” filling in where there was need: dispensing vitamins and aspirin, listening to interpreters share patient stories, praying with those desperate for healing, love, and someone to care. The medical clinic was erected behind an orphanage with concrete blocks and walls guarded with razor wires. I remember our van driving past a street fight: one man with a gun on one side and another one with a machete. I remember thinking, “I can guess who’s going to win that one!” The images remain with me 20 years later: armed guards standing at Burger King while long lines of sad-faced people waited to be seen by the American doctors, the desperate hope on the face of a little girl bent over with spina bifida, the tearful old man who could no longer hear. When my birthday came, I threw a party for the El Salvadoran orphans and gave them each a gift. Having never received a wrapped present the children didn’t want to unwrap them. It was then that I thought of my own children who, like so many American children, are unimaginably privileged compared to El Salvadoran kids. I decided to encourage my children to experience life as these children did in an effort to broaden their perspectives. Over the course of the next several years, my children ventured out on missions to Venezuela, Peru, Cambodia, Mongolia and Honduras. I asked my now-grown children and their spouses how mission trips impacted them. Among the responses were: • • • allowing them to step out of their comfort zone; exposing them to a new world; teaching them that people just like Teens, Sacrifice, and Serving T • • • them were suffering in very significant ways; encouraging them to see the needs of others and appreciating the blessings in their own lives; giving them an opportunity to share their own knowledge and skills; teaching them the gratitude people will have for those who simply care for their well-being. Opportunities for Learning and Growth Teens must approach mission trips with an open mind and proper attitude. While teens on mission trips have much to give, they have even more to learn. My children learned the value of service, love, giving, kindness, faithfulness, humility, thanksgiving and gratitude, as well as simplicity and perseverance. They developed greater compassion, learned to take action, and ultimately gained valuable new perspectives on life. These trips helped my teenage children gain a greater appreciation for the values of independence, trust, selflessness, sacrifice, generosity, acceptance, and communication skills. Opportunities abound to form bonds and rewarding relationships with mission teammates, as well as the residents abroad. Mission trips are also an opportunity to provide teens with adult role models beyond their immediate family. Teens benefit when they expand their network and develop supportive relationships with caring, trustworthy adults besides family members. Preparations and Expectations Teens must be prepared for mission trips. In addition to the required immunizations, Mission Trips continued on page 8 From top to bottom: in Cambodia in Mongolia in Zambia 2013 • Issue 2 Piedmont Family Magazine 7