CFCA students serve others on two mission trips

While volunteering on a mission trip in Ashland, Kentucky, Central Florida Christian Academy students were handed a to-do list from the wife of the pastor for Unity Baptist Church. 

There was a picture to show the idea of what needed to be done, but the students were not given any directions. The list included large paper mache rocks and 14 giant flags that will be used for the church’s Vacation Bible School.

Kristi Laviolette, the upper school principal, watched in awe as the students came together to brainstorm ideas on how to make the rocks and flags and executed them to the pastor’s wife’s glee. 

She beamed with pride seeing them take the initiative to complete the list, problem-solve together and ask for help when they hit roadblocks. All of it was in service to someone else, which was the cherry on top. 

Whether in Ashland, Kentucky, or abroad in the Dominican Republic, 23 CFCA students spent a week serving others during mission trips, allowing them to experience different cultures and help a variety of people and organizations.

In the Dominican Republic, students worked with individuals from Students International, a missions organization that works in various countries in Central and South America. While just outside San Pedro de Macorís, the students worked in villages of sugarcane workers and their families, which are low-income areas, CFCA’s Head of School Marc Stomprud said. They assisted in establishing a baseball academy and soccer academy as well as starting a preschool. The students also worked to help install water filters as the area does not have clean water.

“The students worked really, really hard and served all day, sweating and getting dirty,” Stomprud said. “They were willing to work; they were willing to serve. I’m super thankful I got the opportunity to go with the students to do that.”

Senior Silas Lung was on the engineering team in the Dominican Republic and had the opportunity to weld for the first time as they made a goal post for the soccer field. He also helped to build a concrete wall and worked with the sports team to build a patio on the preschool.

Lung said the mission trip was important to him because it’s “important work.”

“It means I’m in the right place to be able to do the right amount of work to really bring people joy and opportunities so their lives can get better,” he said. 

Junior Luna Calderon loved working with the children in the Dominican Republic. While Calderon and her fellow CFCA students were setting up the children’s tables with coloring pencils, crayons and coloring books in the preschool, the children joined. Calderon said they all started singing Bible songs.

When she was painting outside, Calderon and the other CFCA students ended up splattering paint all over their clothes, so they decided to have some fun and paint each other. When the children noticed, she said they took the CFCA students’ paint brushes and started painting the wall themselves and all joined in on the fun.

Meanwhile in Ashland, Kentucky, junior Christian Dentley was working with 11 other students to check tasks off the to-do list at Unity Baptist Church. He helped with painting rocks, building a bookshelf, moving a desk and more. He enjoyed painting a backdrop for the VBS camp, reminiscing of the time he played a painter in a musical in the past but didn’t know how to paint in real life. In Kentucky, he learned how to properly paint. 

The students also visited two nursing homes, spending time with the residents and getting to know them. They played Bingo, shared the word of God and sang songs. 

Not only did they spend time serving residents in the nursing homes, but also they spent time with women and children in a women’s shelter.

Students on both trips were able to hear the stories of those they were serving. 

Lung and Calderon learned their site leads moved from Guatemala to the Dominican Republic to work with Student International as they struggled financially. Their son also was struggling with mental health issues and had been kicked out of college after his freshman year. Lung prayed with his site lead and Calderon has been praying for their family. 

Senior Ja’Zyiah Anderson spent time with a widow whose son had a brain tumor, learning about how their lives have been impacted as a result. The son became blind due to the tumor, and he and his mother had to adjust, with the mother becoming a full-time caregiver and the son needing to learn to navigate life without his vision. 

“(Because) I come from a family with my brother who has a disability, it was fun to see someone else who has a family member with a disability and how they are able to work through that,” she said. “I kind of got sad, and I teared up a little bit, but it was fun to be able to connect with her and have that experience.”

Calderon said the trip was an eye-opening experience as she realized how much she takes for granted at home seeing how the kids treasure the “smallest thing and have so much joy over it.” She recalled spending time with a little girl in the preschool when she took a drink of water from a plastic water bottle she purchased at the store. The girl pointed at the bottle, making Calderon question why she wanted an empty water bottle. After giving the girl the bottle, she realized the girl wanted it to play. 

The students came home more appreciative for what they have and how they live.