As Milo Adventist Academy (MAA) students learn to reflect Jesus, they discover the joy found in serving others.
Mission trips during spring vacation took two groups to Mexico; a smaller team stayed closer to home and shared with elementary students in Oregon.
Scappoose and Hood View
Staff and students at the Scappoose Adventist School and Hood View Junior Academy welcomed Milo’s Northwest mission team to their schools for mini-weeks of prayer.
Tarnna White recruited Heather Chrowl and David and Scott Rae to join her at Scappoose during the first three days of Milo’s Spring Break.
During the last three days of the Break, the group gathered again and went to Hood View Junior Academy, where Daneal Reedy and Kim Stein joined them.
The students took part in morning staff worships and led student worships, then visited in classrooms, helping where they could, sharing lunches and taking part in recesses and physical education classes.
Ready to “crash” by the end of the school days, the Milo students expressed new appreciation for the stamina of elementary teachers.
“The experience was very valuable to me. I was able to be up front and do things that I usually don’t do,” said student Heather Chrowl.
All found joy in serving, working hand-in-hand with the two schools’ welcoming and flexible staff members.
Costa Rica, Mexico
A group of 16 Milo students, led by John and Darlene Kelley, traveled to Costa Rica, a city of about 25,000 on the west coast of Mexico, two hours north of Mazatlán.
Their goal was to build a church for the city’s 150 Adventist members.
Carol Bovee directed a vacation Bible school in the evenings. Darlene Kelley reported that several children each night had never before been in an Adventist church.
A full set of felts to illustrate the Bible had been donated, and will be used by four churches in Mexico.
Friendships were formed, and as the MAA group prepared to leave, half the church traveled with them to their first night’s destination, just to spend a few more hours with them.
Milo students now phone and email their new friends in Mexico, and one parent hopes to return to Mexico to live permanently.
Unsure she wanted to go, Milo student Chanti Jorgensen was encouraged by her sister’s positive experience a year before. She now plans to volunteer again.
Cancún
Pastor Carl and Teresa Wilkens organized 39 students—more than half of the Class of 2002—to hold a series of evangelistic evening meetings in Cancún, Mexico.
During the day, a group of 20 assisted in completing construction of a church; the others worked in the nearby K-12 school, teaching English through classroom and playground games.
In the evenings, the students also assisted with 150-plus children at vacation Bible school, or helped at adult meetings.
On the final Sabbath, 30 were baptized, and students have the joy of knowing that their efforts contributed to the decisions of an additional 125 to prepare for baptism.
The trip was jointly sponsored by the Quiet Hour, the North Pacific Union Conference, and individual fund-raising. •
Mexican children of the town of Costa Rica participate in a vacation Bible school program. Lindsey Lawson, left, shares a special moment with her new friend in Cancún.
Tianna Klineburger shares a craft with her new Mexican friend.
Heather Chrowl of Salem, left, is shown with Kim Stein of Boring, Daneal Reedy of Corbett, David Rae and Scott Rae of Eagle Creek, and Tarnna White of Portland, at Hood View Jr. Academy.
