Over the summer, sophomore Christian Young had a once in a lifetime experience. He had the opportunity to travel to Peru with members of his church, North Coast Calvary Chapel. They focused on helping the locals and teaching them about their Christian faith.

One of the main activities Young was in charge of was getting the community to have fun. The church brought the idea of “KidsGames” to get people involved. “KidsGames” is a tool North Coast Calvary Chapel uses to educate kids about religion in a fun way. Young feels this worked well in Peru because the language barrier wasn’t no contractions a problem in the games.

“You don’t have to know the language, you just get all the kids involved playing sports and stuff they might know like soccer,” Young said. “In the end we teach them about God in some way.”

Young did not only give the kids a good time, but he also made them reflect about religion and its role in their lives. He feels he impacted their lives by connecting with them on a personal level and teaching them about his religion.

“They started thinking after we came,” Young said. “We gave them something to think about.”

The kids in the community that the church visited were very poor. For example, the kids Young worked with wore the same clothes everyday and were unable to deal with basic problems like lice. Seeing such poverty affected Young and made him take a new perspective on his life.

“In America, you don’t realize how blessed you are until you go somewhere else,” Young said. “I look at things differently now. For example, I don’t just wake up and not eat breakfast. I eat breakfast and realize that I’m blessed to have it. I also appreciate basic things that I did not see in [Peru].”

Along with connecting with the locals and sharing their religion, Young and his church also helped alleviate this poverty by giving a village some resources they can use to take care of themselves.

“My church helped this village start to support themselves,” Young said. “We helped them set up a farm.”

Young’s experience in Peru was very enjoyable but in the end, the trip was ultimately about the people he helped. These people, especially the kids, taught him to appreciate what he has and changed his perspective on life. In the end, Young feels that his trip to Peru was very rewarding and plans on doing something similar in the future.

“I learned a lot,” Young said. “[I] learned how to serve.”