A Father and Daughter Volunteer Together in Banica

My daughter and I are currently on our first mission trip ever to Banica, Dominican Republic with Commissioned by Christ. We heard the call to do a mission trip one day in Mass when a priest from the Congo talked on about a orphanage in his country and how our parish could help. All things came together quickly and we found Commissioned by Christ and it has been something she and I have been working on for nearly a year. I have done a lot of service work with different groups but a lot of the times it is done with just helping out as the motivation. Christ is always my motivation when helping others but it is not always easy to convey this when working for other volunteer groups. That’s why with this mission it was finally a way we could do things for others in the name of Jesus Christ and his love for us. And we get to do it with other like minded people that have quickly become close friends and taught me so much in a short time.

I would also like to say that a lot of times benefit type of service work is a token, a simple and impersonal act. A lot of the time you wonder if you really did anything or worse, you wish you could have done more. This trip is exactly not that. From day one, every opportunity presented has been real and full of love inspired by our Savior Jesus Christ. Starting with our sharing a meal with two kids who wanted to eat in a chicken restaurant on our way to Banica. They ate and joined us. Just like Christ would have done. My mission job has been pouring concrete, again not a token soft gesture. We are real and working WITH real families all day in their houses, with their kids in their neighborhood. To help them, as well as ourselves, share this beautiful gift we have been given through the grace of God, our savior Jesus Christ.

Tom and Ashlyn