I was fortunate to attend a high school with a servant-minded ethos. Each year, we took an end-of-the-year mission trip.

Freshman year, we traveled to Mississippi to help local farmers tend to their fields, to renovate schools, and to build a barn. Being in the summer heat, it was tough but rewarding work.

Sophomore year, we went to New Orleans to help with the cleanup of Hurricane Katrina. Having been devastated by the storm, New Orleans was a shadow of its former self. We helped an ecology center transport its plethora of essential local vegetation. Also, we helped a small church rebuild its sleeping quarters and dispose of all the refuse and debris that had been strewn across the property.

Our second to last year, we went South to San Antonio to work in a soup kitchen and rehabilitation center. Here we helped serve food and clean up the grounds so that the center could more efficiently operate.

The last year of high school, we went even further South to Jamaica. Now, that might seem like a nice vacation spot, but I assure you that it was far from it. Montego Bay looked desolate and poverty-stricken. There, we worked with two large orphanages; one for disabled children called Westhaven and another named Robin’s Nest. It was certainly a heart-wrenching experience to see so many children in such dismal conditions.