Eyes Wide Open by Dana Baumgartner

Mission trips with the Bethany Youth Group are always a highlight of my summer. Mission trips usually mean traveling to somewhere I haven’t been before and getting away from everyday life for a week, but this summer was different. As I packed up my bag and headed three minutes away from my house to the SPU dorms to begin serving in my own city of Seattle, I really had no idea what the week would hold.

This year’s trip had around 50 students and leaders involved, so we split into five groups. My small group started work on Monday morning at Union Gospel Mission in downtown Seattle. As we arrived, we soon learned that some miscommunication at the mission meant they were not expecting us. They scrambled to find work and settled with us serving lunch and running their chapel service. The rest of the week followed in this same pattern. It seemed that it wasn’t helping them at all by us being there.

The last day we worked at the mission a man named Chris, who was in the New Creations program, shared his testimony. He talked about how he was a self-consumed person before entering the program, but when he saw volunteers like us working at the mission it really got to him and changed his thinking. He was so thankful that we were there. It was something that I really needed to hear. That same night, our group debriefed the week. I realized that I had gotten so focused with trying to “accomplish something” that I missed out on what God was doing. Though the week at first seemed like a disaster, God was truly working through us the whole time and through the people we met. I just wasn’t seeing it at first.

Hands and Feet by Analicia Pedersen

I imagined I was leaving the country; getting on a plane to do mission work, to serve others...I got into my car. I imagined myself arriving in a foreign place with foreign faces; foreign signs...I stepped into SPU’s Ashton Hall, finding myself surrounded by thirty of my fellow youth. I imagined a new culture, long labor intensive days, new authentic food, and stormy tropical rain...Although I knew not to expect this from a Seattle mission, I was surprised to find my week reflect this description more and more.

Our group was going to work with World Relief. While I had heard of this organization many times before and knew the work they did with refugees, I had never taken the time to understand their role or take an in-depth look on the life of a refugee.

The following is a journal entry after my first day working with World Relief. Our group’s first task was a role play for a refugee simulation.

“Dressed as a refugee from Burma I stood terrified as my family was interrogated at the Refugee food camp. I was treated as an animal, talked down to and silenced and was accused a liar. Nothing I did was right if only because of visible differences. I felt embarrassed and ashamed when I couldn’t understand so the words I spoke were few. I had to be precise and consistent with my story; any error could make ourchances of getting to America even more unlikely. Most of my family had spent their entire lives living in a refugee camp until we were forced to flee because of our Christian beliefs and democratic opinions.”

As a refugee whose family made it to the U.S. I represent the less than one percent of the 13.9 million that make it safely out of their country. For the families who make it out, there are organizations like World Relief that take responsibility in making sure each family has a roof over their head, a stable job, and are self –reliant.

Working with World Relief taught me to see Seattle with new eyes, opening them to the work God is doing within our city, and how he is transforming the lives of people across the globe. I saw the limitless needs within our border, new cultures to embrace, and opportunities to serve.

I started this trip with expectations of what a mission trip should look like; God has shown me that there are always opportunities to serve, whether it is within your country, city, community or household.

We have been called to be the hands and feet of Christ; servants to our Lord.