Anxiousness overcomes junior Lenny Loughner as he waits to exit the plane after an 18 hour long flight. He and sophomore Carson Campbell have arrived in Tokyo, Japan. He looks around, noticing his new surroundings, astounded by the sleek and modern architecture which surrounded him.
During the summer Loughner and Campbell had the chance to travel to Tokyo and experience the culture first hand. And they took it. They stayed for eight days on a mission trip with iGo Global.
“I have learned so much,” Loughner said, “but the main thing that I have learned is that we have so much in America and they don’t have much in Japan at all.”
Loughner found out about iGo Global from Super Summer, a camp at Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene. Super Summer teaches campers how to become a leader in the church and offers a chance to live as a college student for a week.
“My favorite part of Super Summer was the Bible classes,” Loughner said. “I love learning about God.”
Loughner told Campbell about the program, and they went to Japan together. Groups from Kansas, California, and Missouri also attended the mission trip. This experience allowed Loughner to make friends overseas.
“I love that I have made so many new friends from this experience,” Loughner said. “I can’t wait until I get to see my new friends again.”
Loughner and Campbell had to raise a total of $3,000 to attend the trip. The iGo Global organization believes the obstacle of fundraising challenges students’ faith. This process, iGo attests, helps the students learn to trust God, which will help them prepare for the trip. Loughner raised money by writing letters to his church and doing a fundraiser with Campbell.
“At first I didn’t think I could raise the money but after a while God supplied the money,” Loughner said. “It felt great to know that I raised the money with the help of God.”
Usually the flight from DFW International to Tokyo lasts about 13 hours. Though Campbell’s flight arrived on time, Loughner’s suffered from complications and took an additional five hours.
“At first I was a little nervous when we got to the airport in Dallas but once I got on the plane I was okay,” Loughner said.
In Japan, the boys went on prayer walks and talked with the Japanese people about God. The two would sit on the corner of a street, conversing and helping them with their English. They also handed out manga of the Four Gospels. Campbell went to a Shinto Shrine, where he found an older man and talked to him for close to an hour. The man gave Campbell his address (since he did not own a cell phone) so Campbell could write him a letter.
“He didn’t speak very much English. He told me about life in Tokyo and wanted to teach me more about the culture and wanted to learn more English,” Campbell said. “He just wanted to trade information with me.”
Campbell and Loughner couldn’t bring any communication devices while they were overseas. Occasionally, they could connect with their family via email, facebook and other Internet sites at the hotel.
“I was keeping up with my family a little,” Campbell said. “We were so busy though I didn’t have time to miss anybody.”
The boys immersed themselves into the culture when they arrived. They heard the language, ate the food, and lived in close quarters ‒ all part of the cross-culture experience which iGo Global believes in.
“It has opened my eyes more to different cultures. I got to see what they believe and what they do compared to what we do. It is totally different,” Loughner said. “The biggest difference was the food. It was good but different. There were a lot of people there. They all ride bikes or ride the train. Nobody drives.”
Campbell and Loughner both hope to return to mission work in the near future and throughout the rest of their lives. Campbell plans on returning to Japan and teaching baseball clinics.
“They love baseball so much over in Tokyo. It would be a good way to incorporate God into something they love,” Campbell said. “I think it would be great to do mission work in another part of the world. I know that missions are probably going to be a big part of my life. It’s something I feel really called to do.”
Angela Crouch, 11, went to Washington, D.C. with her church and youth group during the summer. She stayed for ten days, including four spent traveling. Her youth group wanted to sit down and talk to people living on the streets.
“I like doing things for other people and mission work,” Crouch said. “I think that’s something I want to do with my life later on. I like doing it with my youth group.”
Crouch’s church went to D.C. with a group from Tennessee. The two church groups teamed up with a local ministry to provide aide to the homeless.
“We wanted to help people that were hungry but that wasn’t really what we were there to do,” Crouch said. “We were mainly trying to show people that we cared and that someone was thinking about them and wants to talk to them.”
Crouch’s church would wait around on the street and handed out backpacks to the homeless. These packs contained a bible, a McDonald’s gift-card and water.
“We didn’t just want to give them the bad and run off,” Couch said. “We tried to have a conversation and build a friendship with them.”
Crouch met a mentally ill man who had been sent to D.C. by the Freemasons. His story touched Crouch and has stayed with her since then.
“He really wanted someone to talk to, I’m sure no one had talked to him in days. He was just hanging out in the library with us and telling us about his life,” Crouch said. “He was just really excited that we were actually sitting and talking to him not just throwing some change at him and running away.”
After going on the Mission trip Crouch has realized that it does not take much to have everything taken away from you, like the two million Americans sleep on the street every night.
“I have been more thankful for what I have, like the people I have around me. They will always be there for me,” Crouch said. “I think going on mission trips is something I want to do for the rest of my life but I am not sure if I want to be an actual missionary.”
