High School Ministry recently took a trip to Jamaica. They stayed with Dennis and Mary Herko, a family from Southland, that has lived in Kingston for 20+ years. For many of our students it was the first time they had ever flown – and yes – also the first time they had visited a third world country like Jamaica. The perception, state-side, is probably that Jamaica is a dream place to live... Cool accents, nice weather, tons of cool little shops, and of course the gorgeous beaches. The reality is that poverty has struck most of the country. For 8 days, we took 15 girls and 1 guy to put on a VBS for 400 Jamaican children and work some construction - mixing concrete mostly. You can imagine 15 high school girls mixing concrete... And a lot of it... And yes... It was funny.

Hard work aside, our student’s eyes were opened to the needs of human beings just like they know here. It’s hard to look at a teenager with no clean water, no shoes and no food and not place yourself, or a friend, in their position. Humbling and exposing are the two words that come to mind when I think back to our experience. Humbling... We live in a land of abundance. The thought of going without water for a couple days will most likely never haunt us in Lexington, working exhausting labor jobs [like masonry] and making two dollars a day isn’t a problem here. Going a few days without basic food needs isn’t as typical here as it is there. For our students, being amongst people who live on what they need – literally – was extremely humbling. What we, and our students, classify as “need” are rarely needs. The conviction of living far above our “needs” redefined what our students standard of living should be.

This trip exposed a lot of passions that were hidden in our students' hearts. The Spirit convicted and gave new insights to what our group should and needs to be concerned with here at home. We had some girls say that this trip affirmed their desire to pursue missions with their life, other students realized that Lexington is to be there mission field. “There are people who live in our backyards with needs – why aren’t we doing something about it?” These questions quickly turned into empowering our students to take on their schools and their neighborhoods. Being there brought to light our students' identities and passions that are hidden in the Father.

Because of this trip – we have students who are rallying people in their schools to feed the poor and redeem the oppressed. We have students who now serve their parents with a more joyful attitude. We have girls who now refuse to wear make-up because this life isn’t about how they look or what they can have. We have students who are now sharing the Gospel with more boldness than ever. The Holy Spirit used this trip to teach our students that He is raising up a generation of young people who are going to do something for the Kingdom. We can’t just sit on the sideline anymore. The Lord has showed us, He has humbled us, He has exposed us and now He is leading us to be Kingdom workers no matter where we live or what circumstances we’re in.