During this coming summer vacation, a few teens plan to spend their time helping people in need throughout the world.

Members of the Bandon Christian Fellowship Church have decided to take a trip to Mexico this summer. Junior Mackenzie Kelley will be attending a mission trip to an orphanage.

Kelley said the trips are taken to help rebuild shelters and spread the word of God in places that have limited access to it.

“We’ll work any projects that need to be done, but we really want to focus on loving the people and showing them what Jesus is all about,” Kelley said.

The trip will be led by youth pastor Daniel Fox and his wife. The group will leave on June 22, and head to Tecatie, Mexico. Members have varied reasons for wanting to attend the trip, and Kelley said her reason was a spiritual calling that urged her to go.

“I was sitting in church when the pastor announced the trip. I had wanted to go on a mission for a long time, but I had waited,” Kelley said. “I really felt God’s calling to me, and I knew in my heart that this was something I needed to do.”

The group will be visiting an orphanage in the region where they will help with various projects while introducing them to the Bible.

“It’s not what you would typically think of an orphanage,” Kelley said. “A lot of the people have been there their whole life because they’re disabled or just aren’t financially stable enough to leave.”

Church member Aubrey Crompton is a part of the group going to Mexico and has gone on three mission trips in the past. While on these trips, she has visited areas in Africa and Mexico. Crompton said her favorite part of the trips was seeing people come to God.

“My favorite part was just seeing them come to the realization that He is real and He loves them. By seeing that love they would come and say ‘I want to know more about what you believe in,’” Crompton said. “We had people follow up and give them a Bible or give them a church that they can go to or can read scriptures from.”

Some of the ways the members will introduce biblical stories will be through theatre, dance, music and puppet shows. According to Crompton, they were offered to attend a training camp in Chicago for a week to learn the performances.

“We’d pick a big area in a village, and we would turn on our music and just go for it,” Crompton said. “We would get quite a few crowds of people. Some would join in and laugh and dance.”

Crompton said she made a connection with the people she met and enjoyed understanding where they came from. According to Crompton, the people remained joyful in life despite their situation.

“I know people say, ‘Oh people in third world countries they have so little,’ but they smile so much and it’s totally genuine,” Crompton said. “They don’t view it as sadness or poverty. I mean, they’re like, ‘I want what you have,’ but they’re so grateful for what they do have.”

Crompton said she wishes she would have been less shy and advises anyone planning on attending a mission trip to be outgoing and completely unreserved.

“Don’t hold yourself back and just go up to someone with the knowledge that may never hear about Him if you don’t go talk to them or if you don’t share with them,” Crompton said. “So just totally give yourself to the people and just share all the knowledge that you have.”