21Marina Durrett Nicole Duwe EmilyEads Carly Edwards Matthew Eller Katherine Embry Mackenzie English Matthew Erwin Ariana Evans Lindsey Farley Cinthia Felix David Fields Faith Finney Abayomi Finnie Jordan Fontenot Even with 26 different stamps on her passport, nothing could have freshman Chloe Maxwell for herjourney to a place that was within the U.S., yet so far from the rest of American culture: a Navajo reservation in Window Rock, Ariz. According to Maxwell, her mission trip last summer to the reservation was one to remember. The reservation was the largest Native American reservation in the nation, but it had characteristics similar to those of a third world country. It was obvious to Maxwell that most of the people there lived in extreme poverty. "The kids were really sad," Maxwell said. "They were embarrassed about their missing teeth. They were usually dirty too. It was heart-breaking." Freshman Zach Ebert was also on this mission trip and thought it had an impact on who he was as a person. "It definitely opened my eyes to the idea that the world needs more help from Christians," Ebert said. The mission team ran a Vacation Bible School Freshmen ()\~OMt\~ the world for the children on the reservation, and the men picked up the kids in the church minivans every day so that all could attend. By the end of the week, they had to take the seats out of the vans because they had as many as 18 children sitting on the floor of each vehicle and about 90 kids total coming to VBS. Maxwell said she was shocked at how little concern parents and other family members had for these children; often, no one seemed to care about the children's whereabouts. The teenagers worked closely with the kids, running as much of the VBS as they could. "Chloe's a good girl," Ebert said. "She definitely kept me organized and on track. When interacting with the kids during crafts, she was very good at keeping them in line and focused." Through the trip, Maxwell realized and wanted to remind others never to neglect people in need within U.S. borders, because these people need to hear the Gospel just as much as those overseas and in developing countries. Stacy Hall
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