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As Spring Break approaches each year, many students at Southern Adventist University prepare to embark on mission trips around the globe. This year, Southern’s short-term Vision Trips are taking students to Alaska, Honduras, and Peru where they will assist with medical mission work, host Vacation Bible School programs for children, and share their faith with those they meet.

What Does It Mean?

What does it mean to help the poor? What does it mean to serve others like Jesus did while He was here on earth? What does it mean to share Jesus, especially away from the comforts of home?

I found out during a Vision Trip in March 2024. Along with 20 other students from Southern, two staff members, and several medical volunteers, I traveled to Pucallpa, Peru, where we held medical clinics for the local population.

As the photographer for the mission trip, I like to say I gained an outsider’s perspective of what we encountered and how we helped. My goal was to capture moments through photographs. However, I didn’t realize I would be capturing much more. While I floated around taking photos, I noticed how the students were so dedicated and provided care with compassion for each person they interacted with.

Care with Compassion

One of the students on the trip was shadowing a provider when they found out that a patient had cancer. Lacking resources in our small pop-up clinic, and the patient’s lack of financial support, there was nothing we could do to treat it. The student was in shock, realizing the significant difference in care that is provided in this rural village compared to back home in the United States.

Our group tried to implement the practice of praying with each patient and asking them follow-up questions to make sure they were assisted to the fullest capacity. One of the students noticed how the people we helped weren’t used to being asked what else we could do for them or if we could pray with them. He told me, “By simply allowing ourselves to be used by Christ, through our actions and words, we can make a bigger impact than we realize.”

Our medical mission trip was different than an evangelistic series or several nights of Bible-filled sermons. However, by showing Jesus through our actions, even if it was just playing with the kids or praying with a patient, our presence still provided an opportunity for Jesus to plant a seed or touch the hearts of the people we met in Peru.

Dedication in Discomfort

The trip was uncomfortable with no air conditioning, bumpy roads, difficult transportation, and sleeping in mosquito nets. However, I can pinpoint the moment when my complaints faded.

On our last day, we set up in a village that was the home of Carlos, whom we had met on our first day. He stayed around the clinic, helping out as he could, until we had finished for the day. Before leaving, Carlos wanted to show us his home. We had traveled past several impoverished houses throughout the trip, however, when I saw Carlos’ small, 4-walled, dirt-floored hut, I completely crumbled.

He shared how he hopes to host church for his community in his small backyard one day. It was then that I realized all my luxuries back at home, which I so desperately missed, could never compare to the joy and faith this man had in Christ.

So, what does it mean to help the poor, serve others, and share Jesus? It means looking past our everyday comforts and focusing on our true mission of serving like Jesus. While in Peru, I learned that it is okay to be uncomfortable. Discomfort can help us dedicate ourselves to caring for others with compassion and God can use us greatly for His glory.

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