Abby Connolly is a sophomore Experiential Design major. Over the summer, Abby participated in the Athentikos trip to Guatemala! Today, she is sharing with us a little bit about her experience serving on a discipline specific trip.
“Coming to Belmont, I was amazed with how this community serves others. I knew I wanted to contribute in sharing my gifts to benefit others. Last year, during my fall semester, I met with Dr. Meaghan Brady Nelson so we could talk about the possibility of me going to Guatemala with Belmont on a Mission in partnership with Athentikos. If you have never met Dr. Meaghan Brady Nelson, she is one of the most wonderful and spunky professors I have gotten to know since my time here at Belmont. She is so passionate about art and has such a servant’s heart. She gave me a run down of what the trip would be like explaining that we would we doing art therapy with at risk youth. Immediately after leaving her office I called my mom and told her that I needed to seize this amazing opportunity that Belmont was offering.
Fast forward six months later I began this life changing journey to Guatemala. I got to work with an older group of boys ages 14-16 who came from a very tough part of Guatemala. Having the chance to help them heal using art was an experience that I will never forget. One thing that I learned from the journey was that language is no barrier for love. It was so interesting to see the transformation of these boys through just one week at camp. They came in putting up walls, but by the end they opened up so that I could really get to know them and meet them in their suffering. As one of my boys Miguel said, “The memories will last a lifetime.” Belmont on a mission allowed God to not only transform my life but also the lives of the kids I served. The program also enabled me to meet so many new people from Belmont that I would not have gotten to know otherwise. If you are considering doing service whether it is here in our backyard of Nashville, or on another continent I would highly encourage you to do so and Belmont on a mission is an incredible place to start.”
If you have any questions about this trip, or any other Belmont on Mission trips, please reach out!