Personal transformation of the heart happens when biblical principles are translated into a meaningful life of servitude. Mission trips provide students with such opportunities to show great compassion, mercy, and grace. 6th-graders spend a day serving at the San Diego Rescue Mission, 7th-graders partner with Praying Pelicans to help clean and construct classrooms in Tucson, Arizona, and 8th-graders partner with New Vision Urban Missions to serve the community and the homeless in City Heights.

Many students come away from these experiences with an entirely different perspective of how they view humanity. Something shifts for them— they become more respectful, understanding, benevolent, and empathetic. Their overall outlook is different because of the experience, establishing a new context for their own lives. This would be very difficult, if not impossible, to teach in the classroom alone.

The goal of mission trips is to be a blessing with a Christ-like servant’s heart, and to truly understand what it means to show humility and kindness through personal interactions. Students learn how to be the salt of the earth, the light of the world, and ultimately, how to have a servant’s heart.