CLARKS SUMMIT — Five Summit Christian Academy students are currently on a service trip to help children while learning about a different culture.

On Saturday, March 7, James Schmidt (11th grade), Sam Morley (11th grade), Hunter Plantz (12th grade), Justin Bodin (11th grade), and Ryan Skinner (11th grade) took a flight from JFK Airport in New York and arrived the next day to a town located in the Central Mountains of Honduras called Siguatepeque.

They are spending a week there to visit and help out at a school for orphaned and at risk children called La Providencia. During school time, the boys are separated to different classes up to 10th grade helping the students study for their academic testing as well as passing out their paperwork.

Hunter and Sam have been on this service trip last year as well. They have seen how underprivileged the town is compared to our country.

“We sometimes take the bus with the students back to their homes and that’s when you saw all the poverty and where they actually lived,” said Hunter.

“A large family had a very small house,” Sam added.

The students of La Providencia grow their own food on the campus. The boys help them grow beans and coffee and raise tilapia. It is the first time in Honduras for James, Justin, and Ryan.

“I’m a little scared but hopefully I can grow spiritually through it serving others,” said Ryan.

“I’m kind of nervous,” added Justin. “I don’t know what to expect, but I’m hoping I learn much stuff from it.”

James was excited to go to Honduras.

“I’m sure whatever goes on will be pretty cool and part of God’s will,” he said.

The boys will also get to play soccer with the children. They will also attend Mass, which is in Spanish, at one of their churches.

The boys are learning flexibility when it comes to serving the students. They look for the needs of the students and teachers and take initiative to help them. The boys are chaperoned by James May, whose wife Jill is a teacher at Summit Christian Academy.

Jill is also joining them on the trip. Their daughter Hannah May lives and teaches in Honduras. Last year, she taught at La Providencia.

This is May’s sixth time leading this service trip. He believes that this trip is an opportunity for the boys to build relationships while learning a new culture.

“It’s very good for us to see what life is like in a third-world country,” he said. “From an academic side, you can sit in a classroom and study a different country. But when you go experience a different culture and you experience people who speak Spanish, it’s just a whole new perspective on life.

“The world is like a book, and those who don’t travel only read the first page,” May added. The importance of going out there and just seeing, experiencing, it opens your eyes and opens your world to life outside Northeast Pennsylvania, outside the United States. It’s such a good academic experience, but also a very good spiritual experience for the kids.”

Before the boys left for their service trip, they would meet once week with secondary Bible teacher of Summit Christian Academy Kurt bricked, who prepared them for the trip.

“I’m looking forward to see how it went,” he said.

Summit Christian Academy students are seen before departing for Siguatepeque, Honduras to help orphaned students. From left are James Schmidt, Hunter Plantz, Sam Morley, Ryan Skinner, and Justin Bodin.
https://www.theabingtonjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/web1_20200305_105337.jpgSummit Christian Academy students are seen before departing for Siguatepeque, Honduras to help orphaned students. From left are James Schmidt, Hunter Plantz, Sam Morley, Ryan Skinner, and Justin Bodin. Ben Freda | For Abington Journal
Summit Christian Academy students make service trip to Central America

By Ben Freda

For Abington Journal