Farewell

The past three years I have spent preping for and participating in mission trips has been an integral part to my life and as cheesy as this sounds, they have changed my life. Every year I have learned a new lesson; from New Oreleans 2013 I learned that you don't know what you have until you've lost it, from New Orleans 2014 I learned that no matter what kind of help you provide to those in need, it is important and appreciated--even if it is weeding a garden--and from New Jersey 2015 I have learned what a mission trip is in a comlpetely new perspective. 

Starting in August of 2014, Avery and I started planning and organizing the mission trip that is now coming to an end. As a leader this year I have come to appreciate the mission trip as not only a way to serve those in need and learn how to apply what I have learned to my life, but also as a way to build a community. Fundraising endlessly throughout the year from scone bakes to the silent auction, distributing and collecting the many forms and the inumerable email chains that bombarded everyone's inboxes all year define the efforts taken by the youth to make this trip happen. A years worth of preparation for one short, but amazing, week seems disproportionate. However from this trip I have helped in the process of rebuliding someone's home, whatever "home" may mean. I  have come to understand this week what "home" means to me, and while a safe place to go at the end of the day is the first thing that comes to mind, I believe it has much more meaning. Home is when you are with the ones you love, when you are doing what you love and most importantly when you feel loved. We spent an entire year preparing for this trip to come and help families we have never met which not only brings us as a group closer togehter, but also provides a sense of support and compasion to those in need. This year as a youth leader I have a new appreciation for the work we have done here in New Jersey because I understand the process of getting to the point of providing aid and I have noticed how this process builds a community not inly within our youth group and church, but also as a nation. The gratitude we received for driving 20 hours on a bus to help these people we have never met represents how strangers from New Jersey can become compassionate toward we Minnesotans.

Home is such a comforting aspect to life, and while it means different things to different people, when it becomes absent from one's life, communities become closer together to aid those in need. What I found intriguing and also somewhat disappointing is that it takes a horrific event like Katrina or Sandy to bring us together as a nation. When I would tell people where we were going for our mission trip, for either Katrina relief or Sandy relief, the question would always arise: "they still need help?". It  wasn't until I went on these mission trips that I understood how much help is still needed years after the event, and how much of an impact these events have had on peoples' lives. I suppose it comes full circle for me; these disasters will never be forgotten by those involved and going on these trips has had such a large impact on my life I am sure the memories and lessons I have accumulated will continually ipact my future.

Being on the east coast this year was surely a change of pace ( in many ways) from the two previous years in New Orleans. Thee most prominent difference I noticed was the socioeconomic states of New Orleans compared to Ocean County, New Jersey. Whille those affected by Sandy still need aid, it was very obvious that there was less economic struggle. One of the most powerful mometns of any mission trip I have been on was when we visited the murder wall in New Orleans. Hundreds of names were listed as victims of street violence; children, fathers, sisters, grandmothers. It became clear to me how integral the economy is to the well-being of a community, and how the divide in economic stabilty correlates directly with race. Seeing the murder wall and understanding the suffering and lack of comfort a community can experience made me feel guilty. I have grown up in a supportive and caring family with the main worry every day being when and what is for dinner. It put a new perspective on hardship and helped me to appreciate the small and seemingly insignificant problems I face everyday. 

I ride these last few hours on the bus, on my last mission trip with MPUC thinking how important these three weeks of my life have been. I have learned so many life lesseons and expereinced many unforgetable events. I have made some of the best friends and met some of the most intriuging individuals. There is no way to truely say farewell to the MPUC mission trips, and to all the wonderful people I have come to know. On these trips I feel at home and I am beyond grateful to have been a part of such a spectacular experience. 

Farewell and much love,

Erica Cradddock