It seems rather hard to believe that in just 8 days I will be leaving the country and heading to a place I’ve never been before.
My name is Joelle Wight and I will be traveling to Orica, Honduras this Winter Term.
My journey to Honduras started around a year ago when the young adults from my area began to plan a Mission trip. Through the Community of Christ, our group has been offered many opportunities to serve in Honduras. Our team leader, Luke Young, and trip coordinator, Rob Borkowski, began formulating the general idea of the trip and after they sorted out the basics they met with two church employees to begin discussions of the actual possibility of the trip. The church employees, Arthur Smith and Apostle Carlos Enrique Mejia, suggested Orica as our destination.
The church in Orica is newly formed and highly motivated. Currently they worship on a slab of concrete. We are going to Orica to assist them in building a house of worship. More importantly, however, we are going to build relationships with our brothers and sisters in Christ. To complete this objective we first had to raise funds.
Our task was to raise 20,000 dollars to cover travel and building costs. Originally, that seemed impossible to me, but we met our goal through fundraising and generous assistance from the community. We baby sat, cooked meals, served a dinner, and hosted a volleyball tournament. The people of Honduras are more than capable of building their own church, however, through our fundraising efforts, we have been able to help them in their goal.
Not only did I have the preparation for the trip itself, but I, along with fellow Graceland student Rebekah Lloyd, had to get the trip approved as a Winter Term. Luckily, Max Pitt and Pat Hoffman were very willing to help us in this task.
For me, personally, this trip is about mission. In the Community of Christ we are called to community. We are called to realize that God made each individual unique, and as a result, every individual is of great worth. It is because of this that I personally feel so strongly about traveling to Orica to build relationships with the people I will encounter there.
I am incredibly blessed to have this opportunity, but blessings often times come with new anxiety.
My worries start long before I even board a plane. I worry that I won’t get everything done in time. There is so much to plan and pack, and thus, so much to forget.
I am very worried about being relatable to the people in Orica. Will they understand my humor and conversation style despite the cultural and lingual barriers? Will I understand them enough to form friendships?
I worry that I will not have the patients I need to be present in the moment. Control is my middle name, and I have anything but when it comes to this trip. I will be experiencing so many new things and I fear that will take me away from the real experience.
Luckily, along with my worries comes even more excitement. I get to explore a new country and make new friends! I get to participate in building a church from the ground up! And most importantly, I get to have an experience that will most definitely shape me for the rest of my life!
I leave in just 8 short days and that seems like not near enough time, but, as my departure draws near, I will continue to try letting go, and letting God.
I can’t wait to share this experience with you!
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