The Family's Mission
VALENCIA — Sending one child to a foreign country can be worrisome for any parent, but sending three at the same time is nerve-racking
Nor were these two-month trips ordinary vacations. They were teen mission trips.
Christy Blackham's children: William, 17; Victoria, 16; and Rhema, 14, traveled to Honduras, the Philippines and Haiti respectively.
For Christy Blackham of Valencia, it was an easy decision. She had previously sent all seven of her older children on mission trips, and now that her three youngest were of age, they went, too.
The trips were organized through Teen Missions USA, a ministry of nondenominational Christian churches founded in 1970 which sends teenagers around the country and the world.
While the Blackhams didn't travel to the same countries, they all went through a boot camp in Merritt Island, Fla.
During this time, the teens prepared for their mission trips by training in obstacle courses, evangelism, music, drama and with puppetry.
The Blackhams said wake-up was at 5 a.m. followed by an exercise obstacle course, then breakfast. The teens would also take classes on basic construction.
“It's supposed to build team unity,” Rhema said.
“They had us living in conditions that would be close to the conditions of where we were going,” Victoria said.
The teens did their own laundry and used buckets to bathe.
They would not be able to use electronics when they got to their countries; therefore, they were not allowed to have them at boot camp.
“There were some people on the plane who had their iPods taken away from them,” Rhema said.
When the teens did travel to the countries, they had different, but exciting experiences.
Rhema, who traveled to Haiti, said, “We helped build a security wall, laid concrete, made a shower facility and a place to get fresh water.”Rhema liked the group she was with and said everyone got along well.“We had a witch doctor next door,” Rhema said. “You could hear music and chanting all day.”Rhema's time away from home lasted from June to August. “It was a lot of fun,” Rhema said. “We had people from all over.”Rhema enjoyed the experiences that she had in Haiti.She wants to go on another trip but will wait until she is 16.“There is a group that travels throughout Africa on motorcycles,” she said, and she would need to have her driver's license to join the Desert Angels.Rhema's sister, Victoria, spent her mission trip in the Philippines. Victoria's trip also lasted from June to August but included a short trip to China.Victoria said her group was building a house of prayer and also spent time with children.“We put on puppet shows and dramas for the children and sang for them,” she said.She was also able to partake in some of the local cuisine.Victoria said she ate balut. “It's duck embryo,” she said. Though it was not her favorite, it would have been rude for her to refuse.“Best part was the bananas,” Victoria said. Victoria said the fruit tasted better in the Philippines.Victoria also got to ride a not-so-conventional form of transportation. “I rode a water buffalo,” she said.Victoria enjoyed her time in the Philippines and has already begun planning her next trip.Unlike his sisters, William was not as excited to go on his mission trip. That is because his excursion was a last-minute decision made by his mother.Christy Blackham decided to send her son to Honduras after some brushes with the law. William's probation officer agreed a mission trip might be the best way to help the teen.
William's trip lasted from the beginning of June until the end of July.He was not happy about the trip, which was evident when he wrote his mother from boot camp saying, “I can honestly say I hate it here.”Running out of clothes and only showering once by the second day of camp took its toll.His attitude did not change once he got to Honduras. He was still miserable, but he also had disease and insects to worry about.“I woke up with five cockroaches on my face,” William said. “The bugs were everywhere, and I didn't get much sleep.”“I got sick the first week there, I couldn't stand,” William said. The group prayed over William every day until he was better.Eventually William's attitude changed and he did have a good time. “We played soccer with the orphans,” William said.William was the only person in his group who could play the guitar, and he would do so for the children.“I taught them worship songs,” he said.His group also helped the local college weed its coffee field.“The college would make money from the coffee fields,” he said.By the end of the trip, William had written his mother to tell her “God had a plan for me and knew I needed this trip more than anything.”William is not planning on taking a mission trip next year but does want to work at a local camp.The living conditions may not have been ideal for the teens, but meeting the people and experiencing the culture made them glad they took the trips.Christy Blackham said she trusts Teen Missions to keep the teens safe and for their efforts to benefit the destination sites.“You know your money is going to help the kids,” she said, recommending the program which includes trips for adults.More information about Teen Missions can be found at www.teenmissions.org.
