From March 12-21, Andrews University’s Center for Faith Engagement (CFE), along with student leaders Liz Umuhire, Guilhermo Dominguez and Hannah Mbungu, coordinated and organized a group of 18 volunteers who went to Bolivia for a mission trip. The group served at Familia Feliz, a children’s orphanage in rural Bolivia, where they carried out several projects and activities to help the community within the home. Their main goal was to bring support to the staff of the home, inform the staff and children about trauma, and spend meaningful time with the children through activities and programs such as Vacation Bible School (VBS).
The first two days of the trip were spent traveling to Bolivia. After arriving, the group spent their next two days settling in, helping organize church programs and meeting all the staff and children.
On Sunday the group began the VBS program they had prepared as well as the trauma training for the staff. Liz Umuhire (graduate student, social work) led a “Trauma 101” training to equip the staff of the children’s home with a deeper understanding of trauma, its effect on children, and tools for recovery. The training sessions were split in half: one for volunteers who spoke English and another for volunteers who spoke Spanish.
The VBS program prepared by the group was centered on trauma and social emotional learning for the children. The biblical theme was based on Psalm 139:14 which says: "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that fully well." The goal was to emphasize to the children that they were created by God and that they should not think of their “bad” behaviors and feelings as abnormal.
On Monday and Tuesday, the group initiated their projects around campus and continued to spend time engaging with the children through VBS and other activities. The projects included repainting the girls’ house, constructing furniture (such as benches) for homes, planting flower beds, digging ditches to replace existing water lines and helping in the kitchen. During these days the volunteers continued talking, praying and playing with the many children at the home, a part of the trip that volunteers in the group really appreciated.
“The best part about the Bolivia mission trip was the time we spent every day connecting with the children at the Familia Feliz orphanage,” student leader Hannah Mbungu (graduate student, public health) said. “Whether we were carrying on halting conversations in broken Spanish and English or playing together during the VBS evening programs, every moment we spent with the kids was special.”
On Wednesday, the group wrapped up their projects, enjoyed their last moments with the children and staff, and said their goodbyes. The next day, the group went to La Paz and spent the day shopping and sightseeing before finally making their way back to the U.S.
Through their hard work and effort, the group was able to reach their goal of informing the community there about trauma and portraying God’s love to them through words and actions.
When asked about how the programs may have impacted the children, Adriana Kim (sophomore, social work) said, “Many of them have different perceptions of these things compared to the missionaries, and some may not even know what God’s love looks like due to the significant differences in their upbringing … I believe we did a good job of sharing the love we have learned from God, allowing the kids to not only experience it to now know, but to carry it forward as well.”
Guilhermo Dominguez (junior, psychology and Spanish), shared that an impactful moment of the trip was “helping put the kids to sleep in one of the houses and each one of them asked me to pray with them individually at their beds. It was a very special moment for me, and it really emphasized the importance and impact that prayer can have.”
With the little time they had, the group was able to create connections that went beyond language barriers and cultural differences.
Opportunities such as these allow Andrews students to build perspective and share God’s love around the world. “The ideal outcome is that these trips will spark a desire in our students to continue finding ways in their everyday lives back home to live a life filled with purpose,” said Prescott Khair, interim chaplain at Andrews, who stayed behind and planned the logistics of the trip.
This mission trip serves as a great example of how a short trip can lead to long-term changes in communities not only through hands-on projects, but also through prayers shared, relationships formed and hearts changed along the way.
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of Andrews University. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, Andrews University or the Seventh-day Adventist church.