A New Perspective - Payton

    This is my first trip. I could have gone last year but I didn’t because I was scared and I didn’t think I was ready. This is the longest trip I’ve ever been on without my family. I hate feeling left out though, and every time people would talk about the trip I would feel left out, so I decided I was going to go for it. I thought ok I’ll do this once and get out the way, but there’s no way I’m going to do it again. 

    Before the trip my parents tried to prepare me by saying this is going to be a lot of work, it’s nothing like 30 Mile and that scared me a bit. I thought I would be sad, uncomfortable and complaining a lot and non-stop thinking about home. But the truth is I don’t think I’ve ever laughed more, I’m honestly sick of laughing. The format is really similar to 30 Mile, but this is different because we are dealing with other churches, and the YouthWorks staff. I’m used to knowing everyone at 30 Mile, so this is more uncomfortable and pushes you more. Over 30 Mile Mission you always go to the same places but going somewhere new makes you see things in a new way. 

    At home it can be easy to ignore the needs around you because you see them all the time. But here you don’t know what you’re going to see, so it’s more of a shock and it really forces you to see the people around you and the ways they’re struggle, and that includes people you’ve know for years. 

    I think this trip has helped me to brave, and not to focus so much on the things that go wrong.  At first I thought this would be "one and done" for mission trips, but now after serving for three days I can honestly say I haven’t even thought about home, and this is something I’m am willing to do again. God has showed me things I’ve never thought about and puts my life in a new perspective.