I initially didn’t think this trip was for me. Spring break was arriving fast, and class deadlines had to be met. But as the time drew near, I got asked one last time if I was going before the prices went up. That night I reconsidered, so I looked over my schedule, considered my priorities, and realized that I had both the time and the funds to go. As part of my local church and fellowship, that’s how I found myself heading down South on a mission trip to evangelize this past Spring Break.
Over the course of the trip, I learned and experienced many things, met a variety of people, and even went to the largest aquarium in the United States. But one thing that stuck out the most was that, despite trying to adjust to talking to others, the biggest takeaway was learning to truly listen and understand them.
To start off, this mission trip was organized by my local church, Walnut Creek, in downtown Des Moines, in connection with local churches in South Carolina and Georgia. Altogether, around 160 of us participated, hailing from various metro colleges, including Iowa State, Drake, and Simpson…