December 9, 2025 by

A Childhood Calling Becomes Reality  

I remember lying in my bunk bed as a kid and thinking about how I wanted to go on a mission trip. Years later, during my third semester at Cedarville, I felt God telling me that it was time. 

Cedarville University offers GO mission trips during school breaks (Christmas, spring break, and summer), sending teams of students, faculty, and staff around the world with the message of the Gospel.
Through GO, I heard about CU Relief, a student-led organization founded to support hurricane relief in North Carolina, from some friends last year. I felt an overwhelming call to spend my fall break with them.  

I had visited the area a couple of months before the storm hit and fell in love with the beautiful mountains and foliage. Though it has been over a year since Hurricane Helene swept through the East Coast, the damage in the Appalachians was still affecting many lives.  

I knew I had to help! 

Working Hard for a Greater Purpose  

My team got an early start on the trip. We piled into vans at 5:30 a.m. Thursday morning to start our seven-hour drive to Black Mountain, North Carolina. 

Our mission was to demolish two trailer homes belonging to a brother and sister that were destroyed by the flooding. Demolishing the houses would allow Emerge Ministries, the organization we were working with, to build new homes. If we successfully completed our demolition, it would move them three months ahead of schedule. 

The mission involved intense labor, but it was very rewarding work. There is something satisfying about knocking down walls, breaking windows, and tearing off roofs. I also learned some new skills, like how to use a certain type of saw. I was up on the roof for most of Friday, ripping apart shingles and sawing off plywood. On Saturday, we had to bag up loose insulation, which is something I never expected to do.  

Serving Through the Gospel  

Most important were the relationships we built with the family we were serving. We were able to hear their story, sit, cry, and pray with them.  

We also befriended their neighbor and his daughter. The five-year-old little girl was precious, and we immediately fell in love. Through hide-and-seek games and dance parties, we brought joy to a place that was hurting. 

Throughout the trip, the leadership team emphasized spending time with God individually and as a group. They encouraged us to read a devotional during breakfast that we would later discuss in small groups in the evening.  

We also had several worship nights, which were such a sweet time to gather to praise God. The leadership demonstrated the importance and value of praying before anything we do. Turning to the Lord in constant prayer helped keep us focused on why we were there — for the Lord’s glory, not our own. 

Sunday was my favorite day of the trip.  

We invited the neighbor and his daughter to join us in attending a small church. The pastor blessed us with a delicious breakfast. Before the service, we played with some of the kids on the playground. After a powerful sermon, we hung around the church for a while. Some guys from the team prayed with the neighbor, and to our delight, he came to Christ.  

After a bittersweet goodbye, we left to go back to campus. The long van ride back was filled with lots of laughter, a quick stop at Buc-ee’s, and encouraging conversations about all God did. 

Lessons From the Mountains  

One thing this trip taught me was how God works in unexpected ways. Going into the trip, I thought we were only going to have the brother and sister to witness to. However, that was not the case; they had a lot of other family members present, not to mention their neighbor and his daughter. God opened so many doors for us to evangelize and build relationships.  

A perfect example is how my friend packed a stethoscope in her first aid kit, even though she really had no use for it. Since she just happened to bring it, a young mom was able to listen to her baby’s heartbeat for the first time, which was so special. 

Posted in: , , , ,