Summer Service Trips Teach Lessons on Humanitarianism, Faith, Christlike Love
Kara SchofieldFeatured Photo: Asher Brinkerhoff playing with a child at Wildflower Home in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
What makes someone a humanitarian? Concern for the welfare of others, working to alleviate suffering or poverty, or treating all people with dignity and respect regardless of their circumstances makes one a humanitarian. Simply put, being a humanitarian means loving one’s neighbor. Several teenage members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from Prosper and Frisco, Texas, volunteered their time this summer, practicing what Jesus preached by serving their neighbors in locations around the globe.
Organizations such as Humanitarian XP and Travel for Youth facilitated the experiences, but the students and their families chose where they would serve and paid their own travel expenses. Asher Brinkerhoff, a high school senior in Prosper, spent nearly two weeks in Chiang Mai, Thailand, a city on the banks of the Ping River about 400 miles north of Bangkok. There, he served at a shelter that provides education and support for women and children rescued from sex trafficking. Says Brinkerhoff, “My trip choice was based on a combination of things—places I wanted to see, social cause, the trip dates—I really feel like ended up on the trip I was supposed to be on.”
Alyssa Stromness and Brady Argyle, high school seniors from Prosper, and Colby Perkes, a senior from Frisco, all ended up going to the same location at the same time: the first “shift” of the summer in an indigenous community near Asunción, Paraguay, where they spent days mixing and pouring cement foundations that would add space to an underfunded, overcrowded school. Thirty percent of Paraguayans live below the poverty line, surviving on about $2 per day, and more than 50 percent of children never complete their secondary education, often because access is limited.
All three of these students say that the main challenges of the trip were the nonstop schedule and becoming accustomed to hours of manual labor. Argyle says, “It definitely changed my perspective a little bit [about] how other people live everyday life.… I certainly had my stretches where I was tired, but at some point, I learned how to work hard, or just how to be better at that.” Stromness adds, “Finding the little moments of joy really helped me.”
And Perkes agrees that the experience shifted his perspective. As he met and worked alongside several other teens from across the United States, he learned that finding things in common with others helped him build relationships. He also learned, he says, “to be less self-centered and more giving.” Argyle emphasizes that his experiences with the people of Paraguay taught him, “Love is a universal language. We can’t speak to a lot of people there, but we can have really nice encounters [with each other], even though we don’t speak the same language.”
Drew Pistorius, a high school senior in Frisco, followed up in the same location in August, laying brick for walls and digging trenches for water drainage around the building. As he discovered, “There are many neighborhoods with indigenous peoples who don’t have the same privileges as those in the city, such as access to education and school buildings.” His experience was eye-opening. “The stark contrast between the shiny, clean city, and the ignored indigenous community…made me grateful for what I had.”
Sophie Withers, a senior from Prosper, did similar work for the community of Cape Coast in Ghana. With an illiteracy rate of 25 percent nationally and only about half of children enrolling in secondary schools, infrastructure is also critical in this part of the world. Withers loved interacting with everyone, from her group members to her trip leaders to the Ghanaians who worked with them. She says, “They made everyone feel so special and loved. If I was having a hard time working and I was down, so many people would tell me how great I’m doing and hyping me up.” She adds, “I made so many good relationships and connections…. It was one big family, and I feel like no one was excluded.”
Tyson Corbridge and Dylan Taylor, seniors from Prosper, traveled together to Hilo, Hawaii, to lend their strength to a Habitat for Humanity project on two homes for families who were displaced due to a volcanic eruption. Corbridge reports, “We primed and painted, framed, did baseboards and some landscaping. Our homeowners were so appreciative and very grateful for the work we did.”
Taylor says, “I learned the importance of service and how easy it is to serve people while serving the Lord at the same time. Even small things can go a long way.”
Madeleine Trayner, a freshman from Prosper, traveled to Wilmington, North Carolina, to work with Wilmington Area Rebuilding Ministry (WARM), whose mission is to repair, rebuild, and make homes accessible for low-income homeowners. She also spent time working on an urban farm that helps provide fresh produce to residents living in food deserts. She learned from the example of a homeowner who shared food and drinks with the hardworking teens. “She was so grateful that we were helping her. This showed me that no matter what our circumstances are, we should always try to show Christlike love towards others.”
Thatcher Bishop, a high school senior in Prosper, has a special connection with his chosen location of Malta. The tenth-smallest country and the fourth most densely populated in the world, Malta is ranked tenth among countries with the most refugees per capita. It is also the place where Bishop’s mother and father both served as full-time missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ in 2002-03, so the whole family was thrilled that he secured a spot to serve there this summer. Not only did Bishop help renovate some of the refugees’ lodgings, but he bonded with the people as well. “Some of them have been through some horrible, horrible things. [I learned] that it’s okay to express emotions, especially if it’s crying. It was difficult leaving the refugees…. To just leave them and never see them again was horribly sad.”
All these budding humanitarians came home from their trips feeling that they gained more than they gave in service. Brinkerhoff speaks of his greater faith in Jesus Christ. “I learned that wherever we go, He will always be there, and He will have an impact on our lives if we let Him.” Bishop, Pistorius, and Stromness also highlight their personal growth in faith and scripture study—learning of Him, His dedication to others, and His love.
Perkes, Withers, and Taylor emphasize the connections they felt with God and the Spirit at worship meetings or in everyday interactions with others, regardless of language barriers.
Argyle shares this thought, “I know the Savior can reach to everyone. And He’s for everyone. He loves everyone. Your Heavenly Father is always there. There’s not a single person in the world that can’t talk to their Heavenly Father.”
Trayner agrees. “No matter what someone has done or is going through, Christ is always going to love them. He is forever going to be our friend and constant companion, and He loves each of us more than we can know.”
Being a humanitarian does not require a trip around the globe; rather, the summer experiences of these teens can be a reminder that meeting someone’s need, sharing one’s time and resources, or loving one’s neighbor—even simple acts of kindness benefit everyone involved.
In 2008 the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution to designate August 19 as World Humanitarian Day each year in honor of the 22 humanitarian aid workers who lost their lives in a 2003 bombing raid on a hotel in Iraq.
This story can also be found HERE.
Kara Schofield lives with her husband, nearly grown youngest, and the family doodle in the Prosper Texas Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She can often be found at one keyboard or another: writing, documenting personal and family history, accompanying school choirs, and learning how to play jazz music. Her greatest joys are her four children and their spouses, a sizable extended family, pies, mountains, and Jesus Christ.
