Over the week-long period of Minimester, PCA carried out the great commission, and students were asked to share an important experience, what they learned, a spiritual aspect, and something they did for fun.

Christian Webber, Amazon

I learned how truly blessed we are and how easy it really is to share the gospel. I feel like when I need to share the gospel God will put the words in your mouth. We also had to run from the catholics at one point. I made strong bonds with everyone as well.

Jake Wade, Austin

It is great to help the homeless and help people with special needs. It was important and humbling. Working with the special needs people was really moving as they were so nice. Also kayak was extremely fun, and the leaders were great too, especially Mrs. Rhodes

Dylan Drake, Basketball Boys Trip

Just going out and helping others and not just ourselves. We held a basketball camp and there were so many kids on the first day of camp just crowded in there, it was super fun. Spiritually it was nice to share the Gospel, you can tell when you share with some of them how much it changed. Tyler Chambers also broke a rim so that was cool.

Luke Purcell, Boys Soccer Trip

Serving and packaging food for the homeless felt great to do, and I got to bond more with my teammates during playoffs. Anticipating and praying over the food really made me feel close to the Lord and feel like I gave a lot to the community. The bus rides were fun, and we had some fun times with a little collision against the clearance in a parking garage. We also ate some expired food.

Lauren Lineberger, Colorado Springs

Definitely seeing how blessed we are in comparison to others, their church was very old and broken down. It was super fun however to go to the Royal Gorge and the Zoo. I’m very grateful to go on the trip, especially since my dad was on the trip, we grew a lot closer.

Laurel Smurawa, Denver, Colorado

I think the most important thing I got from the trip was a realization of how privileged we actually are and how blessed we are to go to a Christian school that prepares us for the real world. Spiritually I felt was important on the trip was the transforming power that the presence of Christ brings; while we were there we were able to listen to the testimonies of people who spent a life of jail and addiction, but throughout the influence of God were able to completely turn their lives around and become unrecognizable due to their joy and kindness. As a side note, we went snow tubing, which I’ve never done before.

Jack Lehman, Local Missions Trip

I gained knowledge on how much people are struggling around us, not just internationally. The kids we worked with truly moved me spiritually more than I moved them. They were so grateful and showed me that it doesn’t take a lot to be happy. Being there for the kids really showed me how just being there for kids can help so much.

Ayden Snell, Galveston

I felt that a big aspect was how much we should be grateful for what we have in comparison to others. Everyone we talked to out in the “depressed area” was so friendly and easy to talk to. The people that we talked to were really just trying to get by. There’s a community there around the place we worked and GUM was really known and everyone had a positive image of it.

Alice Martin, Basketball Girls Trip

It was nice to just love on kids and play basketball with them, as well as be grateful for the things we have compared to others. It was a bit hard to share God due to it being public schools we visited, but I did get to help plant a seed in a little girl’s life when she asked about Christianity. Overall it was a fun trip.

Isaiah Lawshe, Internship

I did an internship and I reached out to Paragon, who do structural engineering. I helped with a network migration, where we moved all the devices on a network over to a different gateway. It helped a lot since I’m very into IT and it helped show me how much IT really does in terms of software over hardware.

Peyton Bergeron, Las Vegas

I learned on the trip how important it is to stay connected in faith and in relationships with others. I really felt like we saw how grateful we should be for what we have. Mr. Rutherford also pointed out that being poor can also extend to a spiritual deficit, and a lot of people in Vegas were chasing material desires. I also learned how important loyalty and bonds are.

Brianna Brooks, Local Culture

I felt like I grew relations with the girls on my trip, it felt very valuable to me. We did quite a few things in the DFW area, especially visiting the reunion tower and the zoo. 

Laryn Kate, South Dallas

When we visited, we went to a school in South Dallas, and the environment was completely different in comparison to our local area. All the kids we visited were super excited to see high schoolers. We got to make an obstacle course for the kids as well, which was interesting. 

Beck Yount, Miami

I’m really going to churches and helping them, regardless of size or establishment, really was interesting. I also felt like I bonded with some seniors and understood others’ unique experiences. Going to the everglades was cool too.

Emma McWilliams, Northern England

I learned that it’s important to take yourself out of the equation, and truly channel the Holy Spirit to spread the gospel since it’s not just about you. A lot of the kids there never had an established home life, but it was surprising to see how much joy they had despite the deficit. We visited York and saw a bunch of historical landmarks and shops. Unfortunately we didn’t get our luggage for the week, but it was interesting because it felt like it was better because I forgot my personal image and how I looked, but instead on how best to help the people I preached to.

John Acker, Arkansas

It was heartwarming working at the food bank and fulfilling. The appreciation in their face when they came and received food from Feed The 479 was amazing to me. Just hanging out with my friends and growing our friendships was a good feeling.

Julian Benford, Orlando

A big part of the trip was learning how different it is for some people, not being as blessed as we are. Being able to share the gospel to people who never had an opportunity to hear it was super impactful. We also visited Universal and went on some rides like the Velociraptor. 

Angela Smeke, Panama City Beach, Florida

I really enjoyed the trip and felt like I learned how to give from the heart. Overall the trip made me feel connected to God, and visiting the beaches was fun.

Emily Ketchand, College Tours

I got affiliated with the campuses while visiting and the community around it and saw a gymnastics meet while visiting. Though I’m undecided about my major, visiting helped open my eyes to the possibilities I had at each.

Catcher Ridings, Phoenix, Arizona

Helping out growing churches and inviting people to the Easter service was fulfilling. We also visited the Grand Canyon and watched one of the Sun’s basketball games. Great trip overall.

Cade Eskew, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

The trip really taught us how to truly help those impoverished, and how throwing money at the problem didn’t always help. It was saddening to see the people who were stuck in that situation and couldn’t get help, but I feel like visiting them and sharing the gospel gave some of them hope. We also visited a Cavaliers game and went to a zoo.

Meredith Wilson, Southern Mexico

Most important thing I got out of the trip was the individual connections with each of the kids I talked to. They were only like a few I truly connected to, and they really enjoyed my presence and company. We did some nighttime bible studies which felt like it made us grow spiritually

Maia Brown, Uganda

I really learned that material possessions aren’t required to experience the joy of the Lord. Spiritually as well I felt very moved by a song they sang, where they sang about focusing on God, it really made me feel like regardless of the situation it’s always possible to focus on God. We got to go on a safari which was very interesting, where we saw a bunch of animals like lions, hippos, giraffes.

Logan Lindholm, D.C.

I learned how much diversity there is outside our local area, and we as a group developed an ability to be kinder to those we didn’t know. Spiritually, I felt like I grew closer to my friends, and we felt like we got corrected as a group to behave better, I feel like I matured spiritually. Also hanging out with friends was fun and the Holocaust museum was interesting as well.