By Diego Duarte
Over the years, mission trips have had an impactful influence on CHS students. Students have been given the chance to serve God by spreading the Gospel from Puerto Rico to Washington D.C., and many places in between. Until recently, each school year was limited to one or two mission trips due to limited resources – last year the only mission trip took students to Salt Lake City, Utah. But this is changing thanks to US History teacher, Mr. Ryan Molumby, and Shadow Mountain Community Church.
Mr. Molumby organizes the mission trips and sincerely wants “our school to be known for missions.” Now that Shadow Mountain Community Church has invested money into these trips, the number of opportunities has grown. They offered sixteen potential places they could send students to, and the school chose three: in spring, Washington D.C.; in summer, Zambia and Israel. Mr. Steve Jenkins, the short-term missions planner for Shadow Mountain, stated that “for every student that’s going to go on a mission trip, no matter what church they go to, because they’re at Christian High, Shadow will cover 40% of their fee.” Amidst a tumultuous economic climate, this will make the mission field more accessible for many who otherwise would not have the ability to go.
Junior Anthony T., who went on the Washington DC trip during Easter break, stated that it was going to be a financial burden for him to be able to afford to go. But someone dropped out of the trip, leaving a fully-funded spot on the team. “If it was possible for me to serve, I wanted to do that,” he said. He also spoke about their work in the homeless shelters and that when they “did have a little bit of an interaction, it was inspirational and eye-opening to your surroundings.” Of the opportunity to see a new place, he said, “It was a first-time experience. It was amazing.”
Likewise, sophomore Micah S. shared similar sentiments about his previous mission trips. He has served in both Mexico and up north, stating that it was “Life changing. I would say it opens your eyes to other people’s situations ahead of yourself. And it gives you empathy and compassion for other people.” Junior Austin Cameron about his first mission trip, in Zambia, said, “I think what got me interested was to better my relationship with God but also spread the Word to others.” When asked what he expected to do there, he said he was going to work in a “kids’ ministry where you can work with kids, so you get to share [the Gospel] with them. But also, church construction.” What he’s most excited about is “Getting to work with others and getting the experience to go somewhere else for a bigger cause.”
Likewise, junior Alyssa W. was originally interested in going on the Israel mission trip simply for the experience of traveling and the opportunity to see such an important place. But it became about putting her faith in action and the reality of the call to share the Gospel. Like Austin, she wants to minister to kids. However, Israel’s laws state that an attempt to proselytize a minor carries heavy penalties, including six months in prison. How will they do it? “What we would do is lean heavily on our partners to know what we can and what we can’t do,” said Mr. Jenkins. “Because what we don’t want to do is we don’t want to come in and be divisive and destructive for all the work they’re doing 24/7, 300+ days a year.” When explaining a method of preaching in a place such as Israel, Mr. Jenkins explained that when talking with someone, “If I asked you about your faith. We can start a conversation. Then more than likely, you’re going to ask me about my faith. And then that can be the platform that I share Jesus with.”
Christian High School Missions Trips
