Mission trip to Jamaica teaches members to surrender to God’s plan and the power of his love

Bella Bailey

Multimedia Correspondent

Eighteen members of the Divine Mercy/St. Bernard (DMSB) Young Adult Ministry group went international, June 6-13, to the Blessed Assurance Mustard Seed Community, St. James, Jamaica. There they served children and adults with physical and mental disabilities. The experience taught the 18 to trust in God’s providence, to seek his love in service of others, and an abandonment of personal desires — a total trust in God’s own plan.

“We just had this insane level of surrender, and we kind of said surrender was like the motto of the week,” said Caitlin McGillivary, young adult minister for Divine Mercy Parish, Bellevue, and St. Bernard Parish, Dayton. “There were a lot of moments where we could have been totally defeated,” she said.

“Everything that could go wrong did go wrong,” said Ms. McGillivary, recalling that the day after their arrival, all the residents of the Community got sick. “We couldn’t be around them for three days,” said another member of the youth ministry group, Megan Syck.

In the meantime, the group set out to paint the rocks surrounding the Marian garden; however, “it rained every time we would paint. We would watch all the paint just go down with the water; you would see pink water just flooding down,” said Ms. Syck.

Despite all the setbacks, the group surrendered. “Even if we have plans, the plans aren’t going to go exactly how we want, but the Lord’s plans are better, and he has things and better ways to reveal certain things to us,” said Ms. McGillivary.

And through his plan, the 18 found love from those they served and an abandonment of their own personal desires.

“Every morning you’d wake up, they’d [the residents] be waiting outside of the mission house … waiting for us to come out, and then they’d give these huge hugs every morning … they were just so delighted to be with you,” said Ms. McGillivary. “It made me see the way that God loves us; it was very profound.”

“When we were there, you’re 24/7 in servitude to others,” said Caleb Sucietto, one of the 18.

The bulk of the group’s service was feeding and spending time with the residents, since many were unable to feed themselves due to the nature of their disability.

“It was definitely a challenge,” said Mr. Sucietto. “There was definitely a mental block there, fear of the unknown; you don’t know what to expect. As soon as you get into it, you understand that this person is made in the image and likeness of God, so you want to do everything and anything to make them comfortable,” he said. “You could see in their eyes they had joy; they were made in the image and likeness of Jesus; you could see Jesus looking back at you,” he said.

“The first thing you notice are their disabilities,” said Joe Herring, another member of the mission group. “That’s what kind of sticks out to you. It only took a week to be able to see their personalities and see them as individuals. It was an experience of going from seeing their disabilities to seeing their abilities,” he said.

By the end of the eight days, the team “felt like we’d been there the entire time, and we’ve been with these kids,” said Ms. Syck. “It’s just the grace of understanding and knowing and seeing their love and how they’re completely united with Christ. You truly got to see the ability of the kids instead of focusing on their disability,” she said.

Mr. Sucietto said, “It really puts your life into perspective, because over there some of the kids can’t walk, some of them are blind, they’re deaf, they all have these disabilities, but they’re so happy. You can literally see Jesus in them, the amount of joy they have in their life. They know completely who Jesus is.”

“They would see a crucifix, and they would make the sign of the cross, they know exactly who Jesus is, and seeing Jesus in them was so profound,” said Mr. Sucietto.

“I watched people crawl to the Eucharist,” said Ms. Syck.

Ms. McGillivary shared the story of one resident, who upon the group’s arrival walked up to them and said words or phrases that were difficult to understand with the thick Jamaican accent.

“He kept saying these phrases that nobody could figure out,” she said. “It was the second-to-last day I finally realized what he was saying. He was saying ‘give yourself away, and open the eyes of your heart.’ I realized they were two different worship songs,” she said. “So, we started playing these worship songs and seeing him just transform, like he would raise his hands and worship, it was actually beautiful,” she said.

“We thought we were going there to pour out our gifts and our ability and our help and our love on them, but it was kind of the opposite,” said Ms. McGillivary. “It was them pouring out so much love on us that we all kind of left different.”

“The trip was profound,” said Mr. Sucietto. “I would say it altered my life. I am a different person … I think maybe God was trying to put my life into perspective and show me how grateful I am to live where I live, to have running water, to have air conditioning. It definitely is a blessing.”

“You need to be intentional, stepping out and serving others when you’re not on a mission trip. I think sometimes we get so wrapped up in, ‘I need to fulfill my desires in some way,’ … God shows us who we are, and we need to take the focus off ourselves and onto serving others,” said Mr. Herring.

After the many troubles, setbacks and anxieties subsided, what was left for the 18 members of the DMSB Young Adult Ministry group was an outpouring of love. Love from the residents, love found in service and the love of God throughout.

“We don’t have to know what God’s plan is for anything, especially with everything that went wrong on our trip,” said Ms. Syck. “God still used it for his good and for his glory. You don’t have to know what God’s plan is; you don’t need to know why God is doing what he’s doing, because we don’t need to. We just need to trust.”