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By Christal Earle
Short term missions can alter anyone’s
perspective. Seeing one’s hard work and sweat make a tangible
difference, holding little hands that need someone to trust – it can
all lead to life-long friendships, and a passion for helping children.
Add into the mix a foot massage on the banks of the
Mekong River every night, and we’re talking life-changing impact!
Hero Holiday, based out of Hamilton, Ontario, is a
program run by Absolute Leadership. They help Canadian high school students
participate in humanitarian relief projects.
Activities may include building homes, providing food,
operating mobile medical clinics and working with children at risk.
The program allows them to see first-hand how
two-thirds of the world lives; and gives them opportunities to become
educators on world poverty, by sharing their experiences.
This year, Hero plans to send 750 high school and
university students, along with some adults, to work in three different
countries – building houses, schools and children’s homes.
This March, 24 people joined us in northern Thailand,
where we worked with more than 100 orphans who had been rescued out of
child prostitution, slavery and serving in the Burmese army. Over10 days,
the team was able to bring hope, laughter and faith to them.
Every day we went to a children’s home run by a
Thailand-based humanitarian organization with 107 kids, aged three to 17.
All are considered ‘stateless.’
These kids had either been sold by their parents, or
kidnapped by trafficking agencies, and had found themselves alone in a city
of 100,000 on the border between Burma and Thailand.
The city has 10 high-profile brothels; the children
had been rescued from a sordid fate.
Most of the workers in the home are Christians, and
are very dedicated to helping the kids.
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Among many images, I recall a little seven year old
named simply ‘Go.’ The only toy he had was a tattered old
spinning top. He broke my heart, as he repeatedly came up to me for
attention; he wanted me to see how special his skills with the top were.
One day, our team took all the kids to an elephant
conservation centre; it involved an exhausting five-hour drive, sitting in
the backs of pick up trucks. It was a great day – but by the time we
got back, our team members were tired, sore and exhausted.
Not so the kids, however! They were still singing
during the trip home; and when they got back, they were kissing us –
so appreciative and energized; it was a very humbling moment.
“True religion is about taking care of the
widows and orphans in their distress,” says James 1.
Hero Holiday is about people experiencing true
religion – without being preached at.
Both believers and ‘not-yet-believers’
work side-by-side, to accomplish the common goal of improving the world for
the exploited.
At the end of trips, team members are usually
unanimous: we must choose to accomplish good in this world.
As one student on the Thailand trip said: “I am
returning home with a mission to make a difference.”
Options Spring 2008
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