Biography and Ministries
David is 22 years old and attends Northwest Nazarene University (NNU). He was born and raised in Caldwell, Idaho by a Christian family. David has dreams of being a physician assistant and he will finish his last year at NNU this spring. He is currently involved in the Lighthouse rescue mission once a month in Nampa, where he leads worship and prepares devotionals for the men who find comfort there.
Missionary Work
David went on a mission to Kenya in December of 2015. He accompanied his cross country team from NNU and they headed down to a few villages in Kenya to work with orphans. Their first stop was to Nairobi, and from there, they took a small plane to fly to their destination and from there, they drove to and from different orphanages. At those orphanages, they organized races for the children and helped out in a few hospitals.
David's team went to five to six orphanages in multiple villages and spent time with the kids, helping organize races and taught them about Jesus. The team was doing this work for about 10 days. His team got the chance to donate extra money to a child, Martin, who was about 6 years old at the time, whose hands were burned beyond use because he has taken a piece of bread before meal time. His mother punished him by burning his hands. Though the team's generosity, the boy got the care he needed and is now able to be back in school and able to continue life almost completely normal. While most of the team went back to the United States, David and his friend Isaac took a longer travel journey and went to help a missionary at a hospital.
David told me a few stories about the people he served while he was on this extended travel to help hurting and wounded people. The hospital not only aided hurting people's bodies but their spirit as well. David told me a few stories about some of the people he got the opportunity to aid medically while he was there. He got to give medical attention to a man whose leg was badly cut and infected as well as help with the birth of two children. One of the babies died five days after birth because it was born prematurely. Those experiences were important to David because he got to witness and help feel the power of life being brought into this world.
During my interview with David, he said one of the that the best parts about his time in Kenya was getting to help deliver those two babies. Being able to help people in need who aren't able to help themselves has given him a joy that a person can't get unless they experience something similar to what he did. He also loved the joy that the orphan children brought. He helped them strum his ukulele and gave them all a turn to be a temporary musician. His least favorite part about serving in Kenya was saying goodbye to the children of each orphanage every day. He wishes that he could have spent more quality time with each of them so that not only he would be changed more by this experience, but they would too.
Missionary Advice and Lessons
David left me with a few pieces of advice to close up our interview. He would say to someone planning a mission to take more time in one place rather than to go to a lot of different places for a short amount of time. He also would say to the people who are going on a mission that the trip isn't necessarily about giving people things they don't have but to love the people they're serving. He explained it like this, "When we see a person with no shoes, we automatically think that we should give them shoes, then they will be happy. But that's not the case. If we feel bad and point out the fact that these people don't have shoes, they will most likely look at their feet and say, 'Oh, yeah. You're right. I don't have shoes,' as if it's something they don't notice. They don't need shoes as much as they need someone who will be there for them and love them and teach them about the love of Jesus that lives inside us." These people's circumstances don't always define their happiness. They just want to be valued, loved and cared for. Just because a poor man doesn't have shoes doesn't mean he's miserable, and because a rich man does own shoes doesn't mean he's happy. Their happiness relies on if Jesus lives within them or not.
Future Plans
While David does have plans to go out again and to serve different people, he doesn't know if he will ever go back to Kenya. He has goals of doing different outreach among the people of Peru this summer. David's desire was only deepened by going to Kenya and seeing the people in need there. He doesn't know exactly where God will lead him in his ministry, but he is still pursuing a growing relationship with Christ.
