Not many people can say they spent their Thanksgiving Break more than 8000 miles away from home in a foreign country, but a SJHHS student did exactly that when she seized the opportunity to travel with Saddleback Church on a mission trip to the Philippines.

Throughout her week in the Philippines, Emma Neu (10) was not only able to experience life in a different country, but she was also able to dedicate her time to helping others during her stay.

“The first four days we were in Lucena and we worked with a bunch of kids, led lessons, helped them learn about the Bible and about God, and also about English and normal school subjects. We also donated a lot of supplies to them, and led worship there,” said Neu.

Visiting other countries impacts everyone in different ways. It is not often that one gets to see what is essentially a whole new world that’s just across the Pacific Ocean.

“What impacted me and a lot of my friends were the people, and how nice they were,” said Neu.

The trip also came with obstacles, one of which was communication.

“Tagolog is their main language, but they are becoming Americanized so a lot of them are learning English,” said Neu. However, not all were able to speak English. “Little kids are who I wanted to talk to, but it was kind of hard because you have to emphasize hand motions or find adults that could translate for you. Usually if they were 13 or older they knew a good amount of English, but if you tried to talk to the little kids they would just look at you and smile and nod.”

Another difference between the Philippines and America is the geography. Neu said, “One of the reasons I wanted to go was of course to see a whole new different world. In America there are streets everywhere, and you don’t expect to be driving on dirt roads and see mostly shacks everywhere. But it’s just the normal there. We have it really good here [in America].”

Neu also saw beautiful parts.

“Something I loved there was the greenery. In certain areas where we were travelling the greenery and the nature there was so insanely gorgeous,” said Neu.

Upon returning home she had to face the inevitable battle of resetting her circadian rhythm. The time difference between here and the Philippines is 16 hours, and it took around 3 days for her to successfully return back to a normal sleeping schedule. It was small price to pay in exchange for the experience of a lifetime, and the opportunity to help those who are less fortunate.