Teens Answer God’s Call

CORRALES, N.M. – Eleven high school students from Sandia View Academy (SVA) have signed up for this year’s mission trip to Zambia. “We are doing the greater good for the people in need!” says Brianna Chavez. Mekonah Rankins adds, “I think it will be good to experience different opportunities and be able to help others.”

The task: to build a 12-classroom school for 473 students enrolled in Kabwe Primary School. The trip is organized by Maranatha Volunteers Inc. Students and chaperones will spend spring break 2019 making dreams come true for the local students and teachers. In addition to construction, students will lead children’s worship services, nightly meetings, and health/sports clinics.

SVA students are excited to serve, and for many of them, this will be their first out-of-country travel experience. "I've never been out of the country. I think it would be fun to try new things while serving the Lord,” says Grace Delarmente, Student Association (SA) vice-president for social affairs. Adventist education emphasizes a curriculum integrated with service to God and to man. A mission trip brings reality to what the students practice at school. Juniors Cody Lytle and Faith Wilson, who have attended Adventist school since kindergarten, explain, “It seems like this is what God wants us to do. We are excited to help the people in need. We feel like we are being called to help others and to develop a stronger relationship with God.”

Leadership training is essential in education, and a mission trip is truly the opportunity to exercise such skills. David Lopez, SA vice-president for religious affairs shares, “I’ve been called to this trip to be a better leader and to grow my relationship with God.” Texico Conference Superintendent of Education Derral Reeve has sponsored 10 student mission trips and is a witness to the life-changing experience mission trips have on teenagers. For him, “This trip means that the students get interaction with a foreign, third-world country that will open their eyes to the blessings they have in the United States and to the needs so prevalent in the rest of the world. This trip will cause them to better prepare their lives in service for the Lord, as well as give them an insight on how the rest of the world lives.”

There is no doubt that the mission trip to Zambia is a win-win opportunity for the locals at Kabwe and for our academy students.

If you are interested in supporting SVA’s mission trip, please consider sending funds through our GoFundMe page at gofundme.com/SVAtoZambia or directly to Sandia View Academy, 65 Sandia View Lane, Corrales, N.M. 87048.

Help us to help others!

By Chanda C. Castañeda