Eleven high school students and four chaperones spent April 22-30 serving on a missions trip in the Bahamas, supporting the work of missionaries Bob and Donna Mastin of the Caribbean Youth Network. The team spent the majority of its time working with students at two schools in Nassau — the Sadie Curtis Primary School and the Bahamas Down Syndrome and Friends Center.
At the Primary School, the ACS students spent four days with some 100 children from PreK to the 6th grade, assisting the PE teachers during the school day, volunteering in their after-school program, and running a Saturday sports camp. The team enjoyed getting to know the students as they interacted playing soccer, doing double-dutch jump rope, and leading various games and crafts. ACS students Ian Iaconelli and Joshua Jacoby and chaperones also led devotions with the students. At an afternoon visit to the Bahamas Down Syndrome and Friends Center, the ACS team enjoyed talking, playing games, and singing with the children.
The team also spent one morning at the Bahamas Feeding Network. Several team members worked alongside other volunteers to pack some 1,500 freshly-cooked meals to be distributed later that day to people who came to the Network and to area churches and organizations. Other team members painted picnic tables for use by the Network and its visitors.
“It was great to see how God used a diverse group of students with different gifts, talents, and personalities to make meaningful, caring connections with the young people at the schools and to assist in the important work of the Feeding Network,” said ACS staff member and trip chaperone Sue DeNick.
The team also accompanied the Mastin missionaries to a village populated by Haitians who have relocated to the Bahamas. While there, the ACS team handed out care packages of hygiene products, met the Haitian pastor who serves in that community, and talked with some of the people living there.
The 11 students who served on the trip were: Josie D’Anna, Kami DeNick, Kayla DeNick, Shelby Einwechter, Ian Iaconelli, Joshua Jacoby, Cole Johnson, Ashleigh Martin, Sydney Pearson, Jacob Rosie, and Hannah Urbaczewski. In addition to Mrs. DeNick, the other chaperones were Dawn Bird, Chris Einwechter, and Doug Pearson.
