Calvary Church Mission Trip to Antigua and Barbuda Changes Lives
Olivia and her team members relax in the local tropical waters of Antigua and Barbuda
September 27, 2015
Every four years, Calvary Church, located in Delran, NJ, organizes a world mission’s trip. Certain members of the church coordinate with a missionary family and create an itinerary and a team to travel to the country they are evangelizing in. This year on July 4, a team of 24 traveled to Antigua and Barbuda to participate in missionary work. The Calvary team worked with a family of missionaries who live on the small island; altogether the team accomplished amazing things for the short amount of time they were there.
The week started with the team eager to minister to the children and adults of the church. Half of the team spent the first few days organizing and planning games, lessons and construction plans for the church. The other half participated in handing out flyers to the islanders and walking around the neighborhoods meeting the townspeople. Talking with the Antiguans, bringing them to the church, and getting to know them throughout the week made the trip so much more personable.
This was one of the most exciting parts of the trip. Antigua is mostly known for its beautiful beaches and resorts, but this experience allowed the team members to know the other side of the island; a different side of this “tropical location,” the part that isn’t advertised on billboards or online.
Lindsey Castro, a junior from BCIT, “didn’t really know what to expect,” when she got there but she continued passing out the flyers, trying to get out of her shell, “I didn’t think anyone would want to talk to me about Vacation Bible School (VBS). But almost everyone we went up to stopped and listened to what we had to say, and actually ended up sending their kids to VBS. Seeing where [and] how they lived in those poor states and how those pieces of paper and team members brought smiles to their faces was incredible,” Castro shared.
While most of the team was participating in VBS, the other half of the team was doing construction for the church. They were helping to build the second floor of the church and also installing ceiling fans within the rooms. Hosea Untoro, a senior at Delran high school helped with the construction, while also volunteering with VBS.
“I tried to do my part and help out as much as I could, with the construction, I told them I would be the one to do the scaffolding and pour the concrete,” Untoro said, “I just wanted to gain the respect of everybody there even though I couldn’t communicate with them to the best of my ability since I don’t speak Spanish.”
Doing construction helped a lot of the members on the team bond with the members of the church, they all worked together to better their church environment.
The Antiguan kids were separated into stations with a team member hosting each group. As the week continued each children’s ministry teacher that went on the trip picked a day to teach a bible school story to the children of Antigua that came to the church each day.
Castro, who also helped teach the bible stories, was amazed at how, “Their faces just lit up when I gave them a hug or a simple high five. They looked so happy with what they had, which was really just our company, [and] a few pieces of candy.”
At the end of the week the team hosted a family fun day. The children were encouraged to tell their families and friends about the events happening at the church and bring them to the day of games, food, and evangelism.
On the last day of the trip the church hosted a celebration for the team members. It was amazing taking in all that they had to offer. The team experienced quality food and singing from the people of the church. Mya Thevanayagam, a seventh grader at Cinnaminson Middle School felt the trip, “changed who I am as a person,” She loved, “seeing the little kids intrigued by the worship and the team.”
All of the Antiguan children who attended VBS performed their dances and songs that they learned throughout the week for their parents.
The teams departure was bittersweet, as they had formed close relationships with the people they met, but the experiences they gained would stay with them for the rest of their lives.
