Take Two: 2010

Dominican Republic August 2010: an amazing trip for the second time. I was given the opportunity to return to the D.R. after I graduated from middle school. I was just about to enter into my freshman year and I was so excited to return and see some of the same kids I had seen the summer before. Going back again helped further my faith experience with God.

This trip was a time for me to move out of the stages of junior high and enter into the life of a high schooler. This trip no one got sick and we thanked God every day for that. For my first trip I didn't have that many of my friends so it was easier to make new ones and not make it an experience with friends. 

As I was on my second missions trip I felt more like a professional than the rest of my friends. This trip I also brought along my younger brother who was going to be going into seventh grade. He had never done anything like this before. In the few months before the trip we discovered a small heart condition that my brother, Cody, had.  It caused him to pass out if he wasn't drinking enough water or eating enough nutritional food. We notified the youth pastor who was in charge of the trip and he became worried.

My mother's exact words to him when we found out was, "Cody had a heart condition. He might pass out on you, but don't worry Kelsey will know what to do." As any adult would feel nervous if they were taking someone else's kid to a third world country and leaving his health in the hands of his thirteen year old sister would feel. He was terrified. Through this experience my brother survived and nothing went wrong, with his health anyway.
In the end we all returned safely and we spread the good news of the Lord to everyone we met. We played card games and other sorts of games to strengthen our relationship with each other as a group. We learned that even the words balloon animal could bring the biggest joy to the children with nothing.
This second trip really opened up my eyes to see the world as it was. While visiting the boys orphanage the older boys made sure the younger ones received the gifts and the most attention. Those children had nothing and they were wiling to receive nothing in order for the younger ones to get more. I knew I wouldn't be visiting again till many years later so it was bittersweet to leave, but I returned home with a better idea of how I needed to live my life.

Life Lesson #11: All the possessions in the world will never make you truly happy.