Seventeen high school students from Orcas Christian school just returned from a three-day service trip to Yakima, Wash., where they helped out a local family.
“Most of the time, when you think of a mission trip, you think of serving people in a far-away land,” said teacher Kathy Roosma. “This year, however, Orcas Christian School decided to go closer to home, and it turns out that the needs are just as great.”
The group worked with the All Nations Center in Yakima.
“When I found out that we would be spending almost our entire time at one family’s house, my first thought was, ‘but aren’t we going to do more?’,” said junior Effie Johnson. “I quickly realized, however, how much we could really do to make a difference in their lives. We left them with easy access to firewood and a much cleaner yard, and it is my hope that through what we did, we were able to make the lives of this elderly lady and her nephew a little bit easier.”
Sophomore Marissa Veldman added, “I love learning about different cultures, and there’s no better way to learn than immersing oneself in it. Though we only stayed a few days, we got to experience and learn from people that care so deeply about their roots and lives as Native Americans.”
Grant Slavens, a freshman, recounts: “This family’s only source of heat in the winter is wood. We built a shed for them and left it stacked high with wood. We also helped sort clothes that had been donated after the devastating fire in February that burned 18 homes on the reservation. These people lost everything, and maybe our short time there helped them in a small way. Knowing that we were giving joy to these people left me with a good feeling.”
