Earlier this month, thirty students and 7 chaperones of the Mary of the Visitation Church in Becker went on a mission trip to Kansas City. There, the church members worked to restore old houses in the downtown area. 

Out of 50 separate sites within the city where volunteers worked, members of the Becker church worked across three, painting, scraping, and making repairs. 

The church members planned to take this trip last year, but postponed it due to COVID-19. 

Doug Watercott, one of the chaperones for the trip, said the experience really makes a difference in the lives of the teenagers who participate. He says that with every mission trip he’s chaperoned, he’s noticed a difference in the students from the beginning to the end of the trip. Part of this is due to the good work the teenagers due while on the trip, and part is the relationships they form with the people they meet and with each other.

“They spend hours riding on an un-air conditioned bus, but they don’t complain,” Watercott said. “They build community with each other.”

Watercott says that the church tries to do a mission trip out of state every other year, with alternate years being focused on more local needs.

“Sometimes, you have to go somewhere where the need is more evident in order to be able to see the need in the community,” Watercott stated. “It can really be an eye opener.”

After the group came home, they were welcomed back the following Sunday, with the church community gathering to hear about the young adults’ experiences and stories from the trip.