Nearly 100 Auburn Adventist Academy (AAA) students forfeited three days of classes and spring break—encompassing March 11 to 26—to travel to Ecuador, the Philippines, or Kenya, Africa.
The groups spent 14 to 16 days abroad where they finished a church in Ecuador, expanded a school campus in the Philippines and constructed a dormitory in Kenya to shelter and protect female students from leopards.
Mark Weir, AAA campus chaplain and Ecuador trip coordinator, said in several e-mail updates how impressed he was with the drive and enthusiasm of this year’s participants. “These kids have truly done an amazing job [laying 500 to 800 blocks per day]. They are tired and sore, and have a well-deserved feeling of pride.”
Sentiments from the Philippines and from Kenya were similar. Besides construction, students and staff in three corners of the world enjoyed haggling in markets, visiting tourist locations, observing wildlife, practicing the local language and interacting with residents through playing soccer, distributing clothing or offering free medical services.
While these Auburn Adventist Academy students worked on a church in Ecuador during spring break, other classmates expanded an Adventist campus in the Philippines and another group built a girls' dormitory in Kenya. (Mark Weir)
Seniors Tricia Jackson, Megan Hilde and Amanda Stevens quickly learn the art of laying bricks during their spring break mission trip in Ecuador. Classmates in the Philippines and in Kenya also participated in construction projects over spring break. (Mark Weir)
During mission trip construction projects, it takes a team to build up the walls and to build up the community, as Auburn Adventist Academy students discovered in Ecuador, the Philippines and Kenya. (Mark Weir)
