By Bethany Miller
b-miller.11@onu.edu
Senior youth ministry major Jessica Applequist admits that it’s not something you would expect from a group of college students on spring break…not even close.
While others might head to Florida to enjoy warmer weather, the Volunteers in Mission headed a little further south to Honduras and Monterrey, Mexico, in order to serve the people there in whatever way possible.
A third group was scheduled to go to Piedras Negras, Mexico, but due to the current drug violence in some Mexican border towns, many of the volunteers set to go on the trip stayed back for safety reasons.
Applequist, who led the trip to Honduras, said the lesson of the week spent there was humility. She said it came in to play largely when she saw the living conditions of the people.
“There were villages we were at where literally the only meals the kids would get is when they were at school and it was one meal – lunch,” Applequist said. “So it’s the poorest of the poor, but at the same time, they were so willing to help us, to do whatever we needed them to do.”
Another lesson learned from the trip was appreciation. Senior psychology major Sarah Hatch, leader of the Monterrey, Mexico, trip said that seeing how appreciative the people in Monterrey were gave her a new sense of what appreciation is.
Appreciation extends to the smaller things, which Hatch said really makes a difference and that others are grateful for.
“I don’t have to go to the moon to change the world for somebody,” Hatch said. “I can give somebody a hug and change somebody’s world. I can lay tile on a floor and change somebody’s world. I can have a conversation in Spanish and change somebody’s world.”
She said on this year’s Monterrey, Mexico trip, the group laid tile in the bathroom of a local church and added storage space to the pastor’s home.
“All we did was lay tile on the floor but, you know, it wasn’t anything big but it’s still a change; and every time anyone goes into that bathroom, they’re going to remember us, they’re going to remember we were there,” Hatch said.
While many parts of the trips could not be brought back to the United States, those who went will have memories to share with others and experiences that will not fade.
One such experience for Applequist is of teaching the children in a Bible school class the game of “duck, duck, goose” which in Spanish is translated to “pato, pato, ganso.”
Applequist said the children had never played the game before and recalls how “all of the little kids would always pick the Americans” to be the “goose.”
She said when the group played “duck, duck, goose,” parents, children and volunteers alike were laughing and having a good time.
“Language wasn’t an issue, culture wasn’t an issue, everyone was just joining together and laughing and it was just a really neat experience,” she said.
ONU alumna Madeline Sunnocks, BA early childhood education and Spanish, said the trips are also about growth. Sunnocks was part of the Monterrey trip this year, acting as a chaperone.
Sunnocks said she had volunteered her spring break time while in college, beginning as a sophomore and each year took on more responsibility, going from team member to team leader.
But an unexpected challenge arrived one night when the group was preparing for the devotional. The translator said he didn’t feel well so he took a shower and fell asleep. The task of now translating the devotional from English to Spanish for the host family rested on Sunnocks.
“It was either I translated or there was going to be no translation for the family,” she said.
After the devotional, the translator revealed to Sunnocks that he had not been sleeping, but he told her that he knew it was time for Sunnocks to be translating.
“Four years in the making, I’m finally translating. So he’s like ‘you’re just like a little birdie, I’m pushing you out of the nest,’” Sunnocks said.
With the lessons learned on the trip and the experiences shared, the Volunteers in Mission returned to ONU, eager to share with campus what they discovered.
Applequist and Hatch said that although discussions with other students may not capture the full extent of what these trips mean, they are willing to tell others about the trips.
Members of the Volunteers in Mission trips, along with those who participated in the Habitat for Humanity spring break trip will be doing just that at Faith Lift on March 25. Applequist invites students to come and hear more about each of the trips.