April 1, 2010

Students return from mission trip to Mexico

MITCHELL — While other college students spent spring break in Mexico working on their tans, DWU students toiled under the baking sun to build homes for the needy. When people would ask them if they were there to party – they easily put those assumptions to rest.

“We’re here to serve the poor,” was the response some students gave, said Campus Pastor Brandon Vetter. He and his wife, Vicky, accompanied 15 DWU students to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, over spring break, March 13-20.

The 2010 Puerto Vallarta Mission Team poses outside the home where they stayed. From left to right, back row: Brandon Vetter, Vicky Vetter, Mallory Gould, Kelty Godby, Alicia McKnight, Seth LaBounty, Tanner LaValliere, Jeannette Mitchell and Charity Kear. In the front row: Shannon Mack, Elizabeth Stewart, Kelsey Miller, Kara Robertson, Abby Mettler, Amanda Myers, Kelsie Nebelsick and Derik Fossum.

“It was well worth spending my break in the hot sun building homes, because you truly felt like you touched someone’s life. These people had almost nothing, and all they wanted was a place to raise their families. By us giving up our spring break we actually got to make that a reality for both of the people that we were building homes for. That for me was worth it,” said Elizabeth Stewart, of Meadow Grove, Neb.

Puerto Vallarta, the fifth-largest city in the Mexican state of Jalisco, southeast of Baja, Calif., often draws Americans to its sandy beaches and resorts. Visitors are probably unaware of the poverty that surrounds the area. DWU students arrived on scene and split into groups building two homes and working and spending time with children at an area orphanage.

The students also brought leftover T-shirts that were made for DWU clubs and activities like SIFE, homecoming and Pack the Palace. The shirts were sitting around in boxes and so the mission team decided to do something more productive with them by giving them away along with some shirts the students brought of their own.

“As we watched women and children, and a couple of men, go through the line, they had the biggest smiles that you could have imagined. They were so grateful to have a new shirt that would have just collected dust sitting in the closet here. After they had gone through and we were getting ready to leave, many of the ladies came over and gave us great big hugs and thanked us. This was just an amazing experience that I know I will never forget,” Stewart said.

Kelsie Nebelsick, of Canistota, has been on several international mission trips with DWU and said that Puerto Vallarta stuck out against the rest in different ways.

“It was very sad to see how much poverty was right next door to so much wealth in the tourism district,” she said. “As an American, it was an eye-opening experience to see such extremes in such close proximity. I also greatly enjoyed getting to tell people our group was there on a mission trip, not to vacation or party. The responses we got were very encouraging and everyone there was very welcoming and receptive to our work.”

The mission trip was orchestrated under the suggestion of former DWU student Analisa Morel who is from Puerto Vallarta and connected Vetter with her own church. This is how Dakota Wesleyan became acquainted with a man simply known as Andy – a man of extreme faith and service. He moved to Puerto Vallarta with the express purpose to relieve some of the poverty felt by citizens there and has begun rebuilding a poorer section of the city.

Amanda Myers, of Howard, and Jeannette Mitchell, of Copperas Cove, Texas, help get ready for worship and communion using Goldfish(TM) crackers and juice box grape juice while on the DWU mission trip to Puerto Vallarta over spring break. Students helped build two homes and also worked with children in a local orphanage.

“Mission trips are a real and authentic experience,” said Kelty Godby, from Mountain Home, Ark. Godby has been on mission trips before but this was his first with DWU. “Being able to help someone out and see a new place didn’t seem like a sacrifice, it was a privilege and an awesome opportunity. Seeing a team as diverse as ours work together with so much joy and love was what stood out to me the most. I definitely would like to be involved in more mission trips at DWU.”

“Giving to others is a much more rewarding experience than anything else I could have done over break. It was very sad to see how American college students are viewed by the Mexican people. I was glad to be an example of something other than the typical spring-breaker,” said Abby Mettler, of Wessington Springs, about her first mission trip with the college.

DWU students take one international mission trip a year and Vetter said that this project to turn tar-paper homes into sturdy, brick ones and provide clean water and living conditions to the people of Puerto Vallarta was exactly what DWU’s mission team was looking for.

“To combat a culture that is so me-focused and consumer-driven, we take people on trips around the world to see the joy in Christ that people have who have very few material possessions,” Vetter said. “We hope students return with a desire to live more simply so they can help others in Mitchell, in South Dakota, in America, and all around the world, simply live.”

Vetter would like to thank the people, churches and organizations who gave so that the students could fulfill their mission.

“In Mexico, it typically takes years for a house to be built – because of you, we were able to turn years into days – the house we started from ground zero was complete five days after we left,” he said.

The students shared their experiences with the campus community after returning home and their messages were of a similar thread: it truly is rewarding to see how a few students in a few days can accomplish so much and make an impact on so many people’s lives.

“Working in Puerto Vallarta and building homes in the hot sun was truly a rewarding experience,” said Kara Robertson, of Kincardine, Ontario, Canada, who made Puerto Vallarta her fourth mission trip with DWU. “What made it so amazing was the fact that we were able to surprise everyone with the amount of work we were able to accomplish. People truly appreciated what we were able to do, and they were so grateful for just four days of work. Because of those four days, we were able to transform several projects from months until completion, into weeks. To me, that was worth it because deserving people will get the homes they need.”

The students participating in the mission trip include: Derik Fossum, Canton; Kelty Godby, Mountain Home, Ark.; Mallory Gould, Sioux Falls; Charity Kear, Mandan, N.D.; Seth LaBounty, Mitchell, Neb.; Tanner LaValliere, Sioux Falls; Shannon Mack, Mobridge; Abby Mettler, Wessington Springs; Amanda Myers, Howard; Kelsey Miller, Belle Fourche; Jeannette Mitchell, Copperas Cove, Texas; Alicia McKnight, Rapid City; Kelsie Nebelsick, Canistota; Kara Robertson, Kincardine, Ontario, Canada; and Elizabeth Stewart, Meadow Grove, Neb.