Going to NVM was a life changing experience for me. For many years I had been wanting to go on a mission trip, but an opportunity to go on one hadn't really presented itself in my life. Fortunately for me, through my time coaching in the Zionsville school system, I became friends with Kelly Antcliff. Kelly told me about her yearly trips to NVM and that she was putting together a summer trip with non-students. I quickly said yes to this opportunity!
I had heard about NVM through Kelly, Zionsville student athletes I had coached, and going to an in-person get together with Pastor Pierre when he visited Indianapolis. Despite all these interactions, nothing could properly prepare me for experiencing Haiti and NVM in person. It was a life changing trip. It was incredible to see the poverty in the country and the lack of resources they have. It gives you such great perspective and appreciation for how immensely blessed we are to be born in the US and to have access to all the first-world amenities we do. The things they do not have...running water, electricity, shoes, accessible transportation, to name a few, are things we take for granted. And yet so many people I met were so joyful. Kids found the simplest ways to entertain themselves and have fun...kicking a ball, laughing, singing, playing tag. It was quite refreshing to see this. It was also refreshing to essentially be unplugged from the hustle and bustle of back home and not attached to a cell phone/computer for 5 days. Basking in genuine conversation with others and prayer time were so life-giving. Additionally, working incredibly hard each day in sweltering heat to build a wall around the campus with my I'm IN teammates was a wonderful bonding experience. The building process was primitive and the work extremely difficult, but it was a shared challenge with others that also let us serve a community in need.
The experience prompted me to sponsor a child who attends school at NVM and help his family support his tuition. It has been fun to exchange letters with him and to track his personal growth in school, as well as that of NVM over the years. Additionally, the group of people that I traveled to NVM with have become great friends. We got to experience something life-changing together and will forever be linked over this shared experience. I can't recommend enough to people to participate in a mission trip at least once in their life. But even better to do it with an I'm IN group!