August 22, 2024 / College entry essay by Kathryn Council, SonLight Power mission trip volunteer
Fall /fôl/:
noun
1.) The season when students return to school.
2.) The time when SonLight Power mission trips often take place.
During this period when students head back to school and SonLight Power embarks on two mission trips to Honduras, we found the following reflection to be the perfect fit.
Kathryn Council, teen mission trip volunteer and daughter of SonLight Power team member, Jill Council, was so impacted by her SonLight Power trip experience that she made it the central theme of her college entrance application essay.
Above: Kathryn Council (right) with mom, Jill (left), on the Miami University campus.
She recalls the personal impact a Honduran mission trip had — not only on the remote community where she served but on herself as well.
Kathryn’s reflection earned her admission to Miami University in Oxford, Ohio and even helped land a scholarship. She begins class this fall.
Join her on this special journey as she encounters the joy of Jesus through the eyes of a Honduran child.
Joy is Universal
Breathing in the air of the most alluring country I've ever seen, I enter my true happy place. The vegetation along beautiful mountain sides masks the poverty-stricken nation of Honduras.
My feet submerge into the red, thick, drippy, beautiful mud. I stare down at my shoes. Expecting to see my still new, still a little big, still white Nike shoes.
Above: Kathryn with boy featured in her college application essay
But instead, I see a red-brown layer camouflaging their existence. There are no longer any feet at the end of my legs. Just white shoes covered in a new sense of joy.
I overlook the absence of my shoes, past the ongoing miles of uninhabited fields, to the stand alone building beside me. The illuminating green paint reflected the sun, shining as a haven for the families around. Gathering together as a harmonious community. One classroom. One window. All they have ever known.
An almost three-year-old kid flashes through my sight, running so fast I would miss him if I blinked.
He rushes towards me.
His legs come to a screeching halt.
He looks at me.
His laughter is contagious.
He continues running, almost as if he is chasing a destination.
So, I do the only rational thing.
I mimic him, flinging mud up my calves with every quick step like a stampeding elephant.
So many eyes dart toward us as we race around. I catch up to him as he belts out the loudest, most joyful belly laugh I've ever heard.
I spin him around as he continues to giggle uncontrollably; I involuntarily laugh right back. Regardless of the language barrier, laughter becomes our great connector.
I start to notice more than his joy as I examine his smiling face. His mouth, filled with brown, rotten teeth.
His legs, covered in the same mud as my shoes, drying in the hot sun, cracking in the seams of his jeans.
His ears, sticking out far from his head. Resembling mine.
His nails, almost claw-like, are filled with dirt and grime. A scar sits on his forehead, the residue of a deep painful scrape.
I realized he has been through more adversity in his three short years than I have yet to experience. Even still, his beaming smile — the most wonderful smile I had ever seen — never leaves his face.
He shoots his tongue out at me, lets out another deep belly laugh, jumps out of my arms, and bolts away. I take a second to contemplate what just happened, laugh to myself, and run after him again.
He is holding the cross necklace we gave the kids.
"Jesús en mi corazón!” he belts.
“Jesús en mi corazón!!” louder this time.
“Jesús en mi corazón!!!” his lungs must have taken up his entire torso.
He repeats the only phrase I completely understand in Spanish: Jesus is in my heart.
He continues to scream. “Jesús en mi corazón!!!”
He knew. He knew on his own. He showed me what I was inept at knowing myself.
The joy I have always felt isn't meant to be hidden. The faith I build my life on shouldn’t be a secret. The love of the Lord is meant to be shared. Shouted from mountains, from valleys, from the streets, and from my mouth. The joy of the Lord is meant to be expressed over family, over friends, over strangers, and over adversaries.
With a big bright smile, the deepest belly laugh, and my big ol’ pointy ears, he was an exact representation of what I was capable of being. The girl who is overflowing with the joy of Jesus. The girl who is willing to take on any challenge, even traveling to a third-world country, for the sake of the gospel. The girl who is always ready to meet someone new and learn from them.
But most importantly, the girl who loves herself and the Lord with her whole heart.
Joy spilling forth.
Find out how you, your family, your workplace, and/or your church can partner with SonLight Power on purpose-driven trips that generate the kind of universal joy Kathryn experienced. Connect with us at [email protected].
For more information: VIDEO: SonLight Power 2023 mission trip to Honduras with Vineyard Cincinnati Church
