Mission Trips
“Without missions, one receives only a limited view of the work God has for us to do. We don’t see the big picture,” says Abigail Dragomir, Biblical Studies Major at Ouachita Hills College. “We unconsciously center on our lives and ourselves. Sometimes, it is necessary for God to allow some affliction through service to come to us comfortable people in order to open our eyes to the need of comforting those afflicted in our world.”
Chester Clark III, Director of Missions says, “The purpose of having mission trips at Ouachita Hills is to rightly train an army of young people who will sacrificially finish the Lord’s work.” Thus, from the pioneer days of Ouachita Hills Academy to the present days of the growing Ouachita Hills College the school has operated 18 mission trips to various countries including the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Russia, Ukraine, Romania, Haiti, Thailand, India, Ghana, Siberia and Bulgaria. Besides much work in lines of evangelism, students have constructed churches, schools, and clinics.
What have mission trips done for the students of Ouachita Hills?
“I lost sight of myself and saw just a glimpse of the need that is out there." Raymond Torres, a Theology Major testifies regarding a mission trip. “I realized how much pain and hurt there is in this world. In losing sight of myself, I realized exactly what I wanted to do; I realized there was nothing better or more enjoyable than ministering to others and their needs.”
However, missions mean more than carrying the gospel to another country. Being involved in missions transforms the life of the one ministering, thus making him or her a more powerful tool in God’s service in the home, the church, the community, and wherever God calls.
William Little, Biblical Studies Major, attests, “I believe that one of the keys to revival and growth in the church and individuals is evangelism. Mission trips not only help bring growth in other parts of the world, but also bring personal change and growth in Christ. In turn, this change comes home with the missionary, and the church at home is benefited.”
Sabrina Mills, an Elementary Education Major adds, “Missions are important because we play a part in showing the love of Christ to others who are not aware of a loving Savior.”
Missions—what is it all about? For Ouachita Hills it means the simultaneous sharing of God’s end-time message and the training of an army of effective workers. It means forgetting our own comfort and submerging ourselves in the work of consoling the afflicted with the hope we have in Jesus.
