During the year of 2010, the summer before eighth grade year. I got the chance to participate in a five day youth mission trip in Galveston Texas with my church that went by the name of Oakwood Baptist Church. During the mission trip there would be many different activities that our church group would get to be a part of, such as an outdoor dodge ball tournament, indoor carnivals, and our very own Vacation Bible School. I was able to take part in this amazing adventure, and I couldn’t wait for it to begin.
The morning of the trip everyone that was participating in the event met at our children center for our church at 6:30 am. Then we were on our way with only three hours ahead of us in our very own charter busses. These huge vehicles had everyone’s very own television station, and an air conditioner system that you could control to your liking. The ride to Galveston was very fun and entertaining, because we watched all kinds of different movie and funny videos, also we viewed different things that had little sing along lines with them and all of the girls including myself and some boys sang with it which was very funny.
We arrived at approximately 10:15 in a little place that was quite hard to experience, and the second the bus pulled in our entire group was completely silent and you could have heard a pin drop. Before that moment in my life I had never completely realized every thing I had and how much I had taken for granted up until that point. The environment we were put in was so depressing and walking out of the busses you could feel this rush of sadness as the doors opened and you took your first step out on to the dirt ground.
Whenever we were all out a large group of people of all ages old and young came rushing out to greet us, and even though you knew they were suffering the smiles on their faces would have made you think different. Immediately I noticed as they walked up that most of the younger kids weren’t wearing shoes or the shoes were too small to fit their feet. Being able to spend this week with them, and teach them about the word of God, and help them learn something they didn’t specifically understand or agree with was an honor in itself.
Arriving in that little town and seeing the kids reactions was amazing and I will never forget the looks on their faces and being able to be the one to put it there. A little more than five minutes later a young boy walked up to me and gave a slight tug on my shirt. I looked down a saw a young boy with torn up clothes and dirt all over himself. As I bent down he moved closer and closer to me and once he got to my ear in a soft voice similar to a whisper, and simply asked if I would be his friend for the time that we were there, and I smiled.
I stood up slowly, grabbed his tiny hand, and walked away from the large crowd that was quite loud, so that I could talk to him and he could hear me better. Then he said “ my name is George, I am six and a half years old, I have six sisters and all of them always tell me about their friends, and how amazing it is to have someone to talk to, and I was wondering if it was okay if you would be my friend so that I could have someone to talk to about everything? ” In that instant my eyes began to form tears, because hearing a little kid at his age say that was really sweet.
Then I looked at him and bent down to his level and replied “Hi George, my name is Shalie and me and you will always be friends no matter what, and we don’t have to stop being friends just because I leave, but even if we don’t remain friends there is a person who will always be your friend, and his name is God, and even though he isn’t always here in person he is always in your heart, and if you ever need someone to talk to just bow your head and close your eyes and pray. ” A slight smile formed on his bright red cheeks.
The next day was one of the best ones, because after arriving to a small church that was near where we had been the day before we began to set up a small carnival for the kids to brighten their days. Everyone was a part of it in our church group in some way, shape, or form. As myself I was in charge of the face painting station, because I like to be artistic, and I love little kids. There was a bunch of people that participated in our carnival. The last two days that we were there we had something called Vacation Bible School.
Which was where we talked about Christ and the Bible, and listened to the different stories from the kids, and everything that they had been through. Introducing them to a man that could change them and their lives for ever was amazing because they asked so many questions and some of them weren’t as positive as others, because they didn’t believe in him but in most situations the kids had never even heard of someone named God, and being the person to introduce him to them was amazing and incredible.
Even at the young age that I was at I still was able to impact their lives and it was the best feeling a girl at my age could receive. Still to this day I will always remember the impact those young kids had on the outlook on my life and the way that I was able to comfort them, and be the one that they talked to. Returning home was nice, but I will always remember George and his family and the other kids that I met that week, and that will forever change my life and how I see things now in a positive way. , and from a different perspective.