From Cuba to Thailand, Fiji, the Bahamas, and the heart of Portland, our students and many faculty members helped fulfill Christ’s call to tell ALL THE WORLD.
Our deepest thanks to those who supported our students and staff in prayer and funding. You’ve invested in a meaningful experience for our students and helped already founded missions around our world. Here are the final reports of our world-wide travels!
Cuba … Andrews University (AU) is on the forefront of mission work in Cuba. Their Care for Cuba outreach directly serves the needs of pastors and bible workers already doing the daily work.
“Bringing high school students on a serious trip like
[AU’s] could have been a distraction,” acknowledged Rita Barrett, PAA Spanish teacher. “It is a miracle we were invited to come!”
“The Lord did it,” says Dr. Fernado Ortiz, AU’s Master of Divinity director and the founder of Care for Cuba.
“It all started with the Lord impressing upon ‘Profesora’ Rita Barrett to take her students on a mission trip to Cuba. My first reaction was, ‘not possible’ as we have never done it and our trip is full to capacity and it was mainly for Master-level students. But as we prayed, the Lord impressed upon my heart that we should give it a try and work together on this endeavor. As a result we ended up adding another evangelistic venue targeting youth, young adults and university students, and it was a huge success! To God be the Glory!”
The trip was a privilege PAA students did not take for granted. Their diligent preparation months before the trip was a testament to their understanding of this honor as well as the Christ-centered and character-driven values of our school.
Our students returned with opened eyes to the eagerness of others desires to learn more about Christ. “People were so friendly and open with us,” said PAA Junior, Adoniah Simon. “We were able to invite so many people to the meetings just simply by hanging out in the plaza, playing Frisbee, and making friends with strangers.”
… There is so much more to tell! That’s why we’ve dedicated an entire page to the Cuba mission trip story. Read it, see pictures, watch videos, and learn more HERE.
Portland … Here at home, students partnered with the Hoodview SDA Church in Mission Focused Learning. With the help of Pastor Brian Simmons, they built a tiny house for a woman living in Dignity Village, a safe homeless community in Portland designed for people trying to transition to more stable lives. Besides framing, insulating, and dry-walling the woman’s new 120 square foot house, students learned interesting facts. “You can move a house legally and without permits if it’s under a certain size,” said Matthew Hall, a freshman. The project also offered lessons in compassion. “I got to be a part of giving someone a second chance,” said freshman, Jace Charbonneau. “I came to see that many homeless people are not on the streets by choice. The reasons are much more complicated than we realize.” Jace’s revelation was the heart of this mission learning work and PAA is blessed and proud to have been a help to a woman seeking a fresh start in life.
A recap and final ending to this story will be coming this summer as the project concludes entirely. Read more about Dignity Village HERE. Learn about its work with the city since 2001, and how it responsibly and safely helps homeless people live and transition into a more stable life.
Fiji … Our decade (plus) long relationship with the Jabez Humanitarian Foundation took us back to the Fijian island of Rabi to help improve the health of islanders in remote regions. Our students learned and implemented basic medical care and they were part of the greater effort to provide proper infrastructure for healthy drinking water. Educating islanders about health and water-borne diseases helped provide them with life-saving information and skills. They spent quite a bit of time at the schools on the island and shared songs, stories, and more with young Fijians. While this is a popular trip because of the beauty of the islands, this is possibly one of the most difficult trips to execute because of the long travel, and challenging work and unusual weather conditions. Our energetic students and staff are a gift to these projects and the local people who benefit from JHF. Learn more about JHF and how you can support this important and life-saving organization at www.jabezhf.org.
Bahamas … In our fourth year working with the Sail & Serve Mission, our students enjoyed the beauty of God’s creation while both learning about sailing and experiencing the island culture of the Bahamas. They traveled to several small islands to help with hurricane recovery. Their time was divided between an orphanage and an Adventist church that had been battered by a recent hurricane. The church got a beautiful face lift and our students brought joy to the worship service on Sabbath.
Thailand … Several of our students joined the Woodburn SDA Church to build a much needed library at an Adventist mission school in Thailand. Many of the students’ families escaped from nearby, war-torn Myanmar and are now living a peaceful life in Thailand. The Adventist school in Thailand is doing incredible mission work. Ninety-five of the students are Buddhist while only four are Adventist. While the school was not in session because of their summer break, there were still 55 kids who attended the Vacation Bible School! In another effort to establish meaningful and long-lasting experiences for the students, our missionaries trained Pathfinder leaders. A total of 43 students chose to be a part of their church and school’s first Pathfinder group! We’re grateful our PAA students could be a part of this great work. Thank you to the Woodburn SDA church for their leadership.
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