Whether for team building within a corporation, a church group, or a collection of friends, a day of serving together at orphanages across the border provides a memorable way to bond with one another and the children we serve.
You may have read about Unity 4 Orphans’ enthusiastic return to regular monthly service trips, but did you know that this unique experience is also available to private groups? We’re excited to share a conversation with James Petropoulos of Resurrection SD Church in Downtown San Diego, who recently led a team to spend a special day with the kids.
James has personally experienced short-term missions before, mainly with the local homeless population, and equates the two in regards to it being an opportunity to survey the situation to better help the group find ways to serve, and determine what that can look like.
The children love nothing more than to receive special attention and playtime!
The Resurrection SD team loved the experience and found it both eye opening and encouraging. Some of the participants were hesitant, considering that when we think of an orphanage, we often associate sad, depressed children who aren’t well cared for. Though this can be a fair generalization, James and the team were pleasantly surprised to find happy kids functioning together as a family, and having fun with the workers and volunteers.
The team specifically noticed a woman working at the orphanage who had a rapport with the kids much like that of an older sister who really loves them and relates to them. Witnessing her embodying genuine love and service to the kids was a reminder of how simple it is to serve in this way, and how meaningful as well.
Often, many of us want to help, but see the problems in the world as too overwhelming or have no idea where to start. James encourages all of us to just get out there and see how easy it is to serve. It’s just one day; no preparation needed! We think of missions as big endeavors requiring time, money, and careful planning, but that doesn’t have to be the case.
Service trips with U4O make it simple to just ACT, SERVE, and MAKE AN IMPACT!
These encounters provide an opportunity to learn more about our friends, coworkers, teams, or in this case, church families. Despite seeing each other on Sundays and other church-related events, we can all relate to the Resurrection Team’s experience of not really getting to know the people we’re surrounded by on a regular basis. But after a full day of serving together and traveling to Tijuana and back, day trips facilitate conversations that may not otherwise happen between participants, making the team-building aspect incredibly beneficial!
The leadership at Resurrection SD has already scheduled a series of trips returning to the orphanage, and Unity 4 Orphans couldn’t be more thrilled with this partnership! We feel blessed to have their support, but are even more excited for the children to have more opportunities to play and feel loved!
