Ordinary Teens Doing Extraordinary Things – Dominic

Who: Dominic Julian
School: St. Charles
Grade: Senior
Parish: Immaculate Conception
Service: For the past four years I have gone on mission trips around the country. During the months of June and July I join a Christian church group for one week and help to build and repair houses for low-income families. I recent years I have been to Michigan, West Virginia, Alabama, and Kentucky. I have built decks and repaired roofs.
How did you get involved? At the end of eighth grade my friend asked me to go on a mission trip that summer. I was really hesitant but eventually said yes and joined him. I’m glad I did because the experience was really moving.
Why is this extraordinary?  It’s extraordinary because it shows how we should live our faith. Its very easy to just go through the motions but it takes a little something extra to go out and help others and do service. It was very eye opening because I never thought that the labor would lead to me growing in my faith.
How can others get involved? Someone can get involved by just searching around because there are a lot of different Christian mission trips out there. You can look online by doing a simple Google search. You could also just look around at your church or other churches in your area. Once you find one, many churches are happy to get a group together to go.
What is most rewarding? For me the most rewarding part was the chance to see the expressions of those that I’ve helped. These people can’t afford the repairs themselves so they really appreciate the help. Also the number of volunteers that came out to help and sacrifice their time and summer was really amazing.