Mission trip to Mexico brings life lessons for UIndy students
A group of 18 students from the University of Indianapolis RSO Delight Ministries spent their spring break in Mazatlan, Mexico, for a life-changing experience. The students coordinated the trip through Back2Back Ministries, which provides care for orphans in several countries including Mexico.
Delight Ministries got its start on the UIndy campus in January 2016. Organizer Ellen Hodson explained that one of her goals for the group was to go on a mission trip. She started the process in the summer of 2016 and was thrilled to find enough students to fill the trip.
“It’s really amazing for it being our first year doing something like this,” Hodson said.
The participants worked on projects at a Back2Back children’s home for orphans in Mazatlan throughout the week. Their work included mixing concrete for a foundation for a new home for the children. They also painted and installed fencing.
When they weren’t participating in projects, Hodson said the group would play with the children in the afternoons. “We had a spa day and gave them pedicures, facials, and did hair, then we switched roles. The girls did that to us and had so much fun!” she said.
Hodson said the goal of the trip was to encourage self-reflection and spiritual growth.
“I prayed that each girl would be impacted by this trip and take what they learned about themselves home and be more likely to serve as we are called to do as Christians,” she said.
Sophomore Brianna Myers described the week as beautiful. “From the God-painted sunsets and the ocean to the radiant faces of the children we worked with, to the pure joy felt from performing hard labor in the heat to the new friendships and connections made, to listening to all of the stories of how each and every team member saw God throughout the day- it was indescribably beautiful.”
Back2Back focuses on moving children out of institutional living and into a home with a family, Hodson said. She said one of her favorite moments was pouring the foundation for a new home for the children. “It was a true honor to be a part of laying that foundation for the kids. We wrote Bible verses on rocks that they put in the foundation, so those homes are going to be built on Scripture,” she said.
Sophomore Adrienne Henke is grateful for the opportunity to give her testimony to the all-girls orphanage.
“These girls have been through so much at such a young age and being able to share my story of how the hope of God has changed my life was simply amazing. Even though we didn’t speak the same language, they still understood every word, and that’s something I’ll never forget,” she said.