FEATURE
Madeleine’s
South African Mission
Before
actually going on
this trip, I was extremely excited, but I wondered
if what I was about to do would actually make
an impact in these kids’ lives. I mean, I was just
going for ten days; could that really be long
enough to change their lives? Would they even
remember me in a couple months, or would
everything I do just be forgotten?
The first weekend we were there, we put on the
retreat. We brought about thirty African teenagers
to a game reserve, where we were able to go out
on safaris, and I don’t think these were normal
safaris. We were charged by an elephant, we saw
lions roar and lion cubs play, and at one point I
could have reached out of the Jeep and touched
a rhinoceros. But those experiences will never
compare to what I was able to do with my new
African friends.
Madeline
Junior
Carmel High School
Carmel, IN
12 Inspired
My name is Madeleine and I am a junior at Carmel
High School. For my spring break this year, I
had the opportunity to travel to South Africa for a
mission trip with other teenagers from my church.
It was the most incredible experience I have ever
been a part of. Our goal on this trip was to spread
God’s message and love to children orphaned by
AIDS. We put on a retreat for high school students
at a game reserve, visited villages and prayed for
people in need, and we also put on vacation bible
schools for younger children throughout different
villages.
On that retreat, each of us American students
prepared talks,we divided into groups and
discussed the topics further. The girls in my group
were incredible, but because of the language
barrier, they were pretty shy. Looking back on it
now, I understand why they were quiet, but at the
time I thought it was because I wasn’t impacting
their lives or they weren’t enjoying themselves.
But as the retreat went on, I became closer with
a girl named Gloria. Gloria is an orphan and she
has struggled with feeling unloved. She told me
she would literally cry out and ask for anyone to
love her, she didn’t care who. One of the topics
we discussed was how Jesus is the bread of
life. This message spoke directly to Gloria and I
had the chance to talk to her about it. She said
she was no longer going to cry out for people
to love her, but rather she was going to cry out
to God for His love. She said she was going to
learn everything she could about Him and spread