Every year during Easter vacation, thousands of teenagers give up their precious relaxation to serve God in Mexico. Doing everything from digging ditches to singing with homeless children, volunteers on mission trips have to be willing to work hard and be prepared for whatever God throws their way.

“I really enjoyed being able to build a house for the pastor of a new church,” Garret Stipe, ’06, said. “At first I went to Mexico with the goal of serving and witnessing, but once we got there it was the local Christians who ended up ministering to us.”

One obstacle almost everyone who goes to Mexico faces is the language barrier.

“I went to Tijuana, Mexico where we played with the kids and helped lay the foundations for a new church extension,” Caleb Thiesen, ’05, said. “I was actually able to communicate somewhat with the locals thanks to my two years of Spanish.”

Some students found the trip to be more rewarding then they had initially expected after they learned to put service before self.

“I went to Mexico without much anticipation or excitement,” Jeremy Ramos, ’07, said. “However, once I saw how little they had I truly became thankful for the abundance we have in America.”

Others wanted to give God an opportunity to work in their lives by traveling south, but found an overcrowded schedule prevented it.

“I would have loved to serve the Lord by going to Mexico, but my athletics team would not allow me to go because it interfered with training and practice,” an anonymous student said. “It seems hypocritical for a ?Christian’ athletic team not to allow its members to participate in Mexico missions.”

People’s Church of Fresno is one local church that sponsors Mexico trip. Although the group had been going for many years, this year’s trip took an unexpected turn.

“We had initially planned on going to Mexicali, Mexico over spring break, but our campground was flooded and destroyed,” Mike Whitford, People’s Assistant Minister for Youth, said. “Thankfully God knew what he was doing and had everything under control. At the last minute we decided to serve our local community and ended up staying on Fresno Christian’s baseball field in tents. Over 400 people were saved and because we witnessed in Fresno, plus there is continued accountability since we’re bound to run into the same people we served.”

For more information concerning spring or summer mission trips visit http://www.realimpact.com/ or try to www.navigators.org.