By Max Del Signore
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Hello, my name is Max Del Signore and I am currently attending McDaniel College and I play football there. I was a part of the Saint James’ youth group from 2014 to 2018. This youth group has changed my life in so many ways, and I wanted to share how the youth groups missions trip in particular have changed my life.When I think of missions trips three words come to mind: love, relationships, and community building.

For the past four summers, I have enjoyed my fourth of July working on homes in one-hundred degree heat in Hollywood, South Carolina. Most would think that what I do is not the most ideal way of celebrating America’s birthday.

To me however, it is the most rewarding thing I can do. Every year my church brings our high school youth group to Hollywood, South Carolina to do missions work on people’s homes who are in need.

Hollywood is not as extravagant as its California counterpart. Hollywood was a place that after the Civil War was given to the freed African Americans. This land was swampy, gross, and unfarmable so the white people had no problem giving them this rough piece of land. The land has not changed much since the Civil War and generations of people continue to live in poverty.

RELATIONSHIPS

I came into my first missions trip already having a large group of friends. I was informed that we were getting split up into separate groups. To my disliking I got paired up with mostly people from the Hanover church who also participate on the missions trip. It was my first time ever being paired up with complete strangers.I got to know these people and learned that we have more in common than our differences. I also got to meet the homeowners whose homes we were working on. These people were so appreciative of our work. You could see God’s message of loving your neighbor as yourself.  These experiences have helped me in many social situations that previously I was very bad at. I am a very shy person and I find it hard to get to know new people. The trips have also taught me more about community building.
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COMMUNITY BUILDING

My first year on the trip I could hardly even make contact with my hammer on a nail. After four more summers, I am now very good at hammering nails.  It was a hard learning curve but I persevered. I realized that every nail matters in the building of a home.

Each nail represented a piece of our church community tying Hollywood, South Carolina to our community in Warrenton, Virginia. You see the world in a different light. You notice things that you did not notice before. You see the poverty but you also see the spirit in every home.

LOVE

“Life is short, so be quick to be kind, and make haste to love.” -Benjamin Maas

This quote really signifies what the missions trip means. We go down to Hollywood, South Carolina in hopes of improving the residents lives. Instead, the residents improve our own lives by showing their quickness to be kind towards us. They allow a bunch of high-schoolers into their homes. These homes may not seem like much by our standards, but they take great pride in what they have. It is an amazing feat of courage on the homeowners part to allow us to improve something that has been such a critical part in their lives. The three main points of the missions trip are relationships, community building, and love. These three main points do so much more than build a simple home. They bring the world together. This is an experience that everyone should take an advantage of because this opportunity will benefit you just as much as the homeowners.

“Without a sense of caring there can be no sense of community” -Anthony J. D’Angelo.