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Danielle Greer
Professor Fielding
WRCT 103-Section 0030
20 September 2015
Helping Others Helped Myself
Pope Benedict VXI once said, We are not some casual and meaningless product
of evolution. Each of us is the result of a thought of God. Each of us is willed, each of us is
loved, each of us is necessary. Until I turned to my religion, I struggled recognizing exactly
why I am necessary. I am a member of the Roman Catholic Church which is defined as The
faith, worship, and practice of all Christians in communion with the Bishop of Rome, whom they
acknowledge as the Vicar of Christ and the visible head of the Church founded by Christ
(Harden). At a young age, I was baptized into the Church because both my parents are members.
While I was raised as part of the Roman Catholic Church, summer mission trips to West Virginia
are what truly strengthened my relationship with God and led me to experience self-growth.
I would not consider myself to have been passionate about my religion, until I started
going on mission trips with my church. Growing up, going to CCD and church were the last
activities I wanted to fill my weekend schedule with. However, in high school, I started being
genuinely involved with my religion. One of my good friends came up to me after basketball
practice and asked, Hey, would you want to go on the churchs mission trip with me this
summer? I was not quite sure what I was in for, but responding with an excited Yes! was one
of the best decisions I have ever made.
The summer mission trip organization has spent years evolving into what it is today. My
church has been making these week-long trips for twenty-six years. They originally traveled to

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Kentucky; however, the trips now take place in the Appalachian Mountains of West Virginia.
While the obvious goal of these trips is to complete home repair projects for those in need, we
also strive to demonstrate Jesus love through building relationships with the residents of West
Virginia which in turn strengthened my faith.
I was not eligible to participate in this mission trip until I was going into my sophomore
year of high school because of age requirements. Other than the age requirement, the church is
welcoming to those of any religion who wish to partake in the trip. When in West Virginia, we
work about eight hours a day Monday through Friday
on our sites. Some of our other routines include
praying together before each meal and daily bible
discussion. We attend mass Sunday morning before
our departure, Tuesday night, and Saturday night when
we return to Pittsburgh. One of my favorite traditions
is the Wednesday night picnic which brings the
community together for food and games. At the age of sixteen, I went on my first trip focusing
September 18, 2015 12:00
PM
This picture displays the
hours for high school; however, through this trip I quickly
three shirts I have received
from participating in
discovered my passion for helping the less fortunate.
mission trips.
When I am in West Virginia, my specific role for the week is to be a work camper. As a
on having fun with my friends and earning community service

work camper I am responsible to complete tasks assigned by the leaders. However, in a couple
years I will qualify to be a young adult on the site and pose as the backup leader. Although
there are work campers and leaders, everyone is seen as equal and we all work in union to
complete given tasks. Additionally, I am expected to strengthen my relationship with God and

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Jesus throughout the week. I have gone on this trip three times, and each time I have grown in a
different way.
As a rookie work camper, I was excited to spend the week with friends, but I had no idea
what else was in store for me. My daily chores I am responsible for at home did not prepare me
for the manual labor that I was about to endure. My group worked on Earls house; he is an older
man and restricted to a wheelchair. Our project was to build a cement walkway with a wooden
railing. From digging through earth and rocks in order to form a path to laying out cement,
everything was exhausting. There was even a day that I passed out from dehydration; this was
the point I realized how hard I actually was working. One might wonder why I continued to get
up at seven every morning to return to work, but the answer is simple. Growing up in such a
well-off community shaded me from understanding the extreme hardships others live with;
however, this first trip in West Virginia opened my eyes to a not-so-perfect world and made me
determined to help.
After experiencing an overall great first trip, I was not prepared for how drastically the
weather affected my second trip. This weeks project consisted of working on Virgils trailer
home; Virgil lives by himself and struggles with mental illnesses. To my groups dismay, it
poured rain four out of our five work days. The only time I was under cover from the rain was
when I was forced to go under the trailer to put wooden frames in place. This would have been a
nice break, if there werent gigantic spiders crawling around and the trailers pipes were not
leaking. I surely did not overcome my fear of spiders, but I was definitely forced to work faster.
The sun finally came out on Friday, right when we were finishing our work. I like to say this was
Gods friendly reminder that all bad things will eventually come to an end. The working

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conditions on this site were far from ideal; it led me to focus on trusting God and believing he
would enable us to complete our work.
With my newly strengthened faith in God from my second trip, I knew round three in
West Virginia would offer more amazing experiences. My work sites project was to put a new
roof and a fresh coating of paint on a trailer. The homeowner I was blessed to be working for was
Mary-Lou; she is in her seventies and easily one of the most remarkable humans I have ever met.
Despite her old age, Mary-Lou lives by herself, tends to her own garden, mows her own lawn,
and is involved with her church. Throughout the week, she would cook our group the most
delicious homemade lunches and desserts I have ever
eaten. Mary-Lous hospitality towards us was very
different than what I had experienced while on
previous mission trips. Thankfully, I got to know
Mary-Lou on a personal level, and she treated me as
if I was her grandchild. I know Mary-Lou would
have built herself a new roof if she was able to, but
because she was not she showed her gratitude through cooking for us and inviting us to play
games when we had time. The week I spent with Mary-Lou taught me a lot about the importance
of taking the time to genuinely get to know everyone I meet. Mary-Lou and I write to each other
still today, and it is a pleasant reminder of how I grew as a person this past summer. With
everything Im blessed to have in my life, I am especially blessed to have met Mary-Lou and to
have gained gratitude through her demonstration of kindness.
The self-growth I have experienced in West Virginia with the mission trip group has
formed me into who I am today and made me aware of why I am necessary on Earth. Being a

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member of this group has made me a more active member of the church and opened my eyes to
more than material objects while simultaneously strengthening my relationships with God and
Jesus. I am now more aware of the poverty in the world and these mission trips have made me
realize how I can make a difference. I have put in one hundred and twenty hours of work for
families in West Virginia, but those hours do not even compare to the lifetime of lessons the
experiences have given me.

Works Cited
Harden, Fr. John. Roman Catholicism. CatholicCulture.org. Trinity Communications, 2015.
Web. 10 Sept. 2015.
PopeBenedictXVI."HomilyofHisHolinessBenedictXVI."Vacitian:TheHolySee.Libreria
EditriceVaticana,2005.Web.18Sept.2015.