Mission and charity work are big passions of mine. Whether it's supporting a music concert or a 5k run for a charity organization that is local to me here in Los Angeles, building a school in Ecuador, or even sending care boxes to those in need in the Philippines, I love being able to help those who are in need in every and any way I can.
In a little over two months, I'll be flying down to to the city of Tuxtla Gutierrez in the southeastern tip of Mexico for my third consecutive Ultimate Workout summer mission project with Maranatha Volunteers International. Like last year, I have kindly been asked to return this year as a staff member for one of the five different site locations. Each site will consist of about anywhere from 20 to 35 high school-aged participants from all over the world, most of whom, have never met.
In less than two weeks, each site will build a Christian Seventh-Day Adventist Church for their assigned community for a total of five churches--And that's just the beginning! There will be a medical team consisting of professional medical physicians, dentists, and student volunteers who will conduct clinics at each of the five sites providing much needed care to men, women, and children of all ages. Special programs will also be held at each site for the local children where they'll sing songs, hear stories, and participate in games and arts & crafts.
With all of the things that are accomplished on this two-week mission project, lives are definitely changed. Many of the local people we will meet in Mexico have and never will leave their home country. In fact, in most cases, they rarely leave the isolated state they live in. Seeing total strangers from far away countries is a miracle to some of them already, but to come to their small dot on the planet map to build a much needed, prayed-for church, is a true, joyful blessing. It is something that they'll never forget.
It won't just be an unforgettable, life-changing event for the people in Mexico, but it will change the lives of the teenaged participants as well. Most or all of the sites the participants will be staying at will be without some of the things that most of them consider essential in their daily, modern way of living. They can expect their homes for two weeks to be without hot water, clean bathrooms, bed mattresses cell phone reception, and you can forget about having a computer connected to the Facebook or Twitter. That's right, little to no electricity.
The participants will be disconnected from such a digitally connected lifestyle that they will get to see things in ways they have never seen before. For some participants who have never left the boundaries of their own home, they'll make new friends whom they'll form family-like bonds with by the end of the project. They will get to reflect on their own lives and see those of others and things taken for granted back home on a daily basis.
This project will be an amazing experience for the staff, participants, and for the people of Mexico. Ultimate Workout will be a workout for every mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual aspect of everyone that will be involved and it will help enable them to see and appreciate the little things in life including life itself.
This year will be another great year and I am looking forward to it.
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