Calvary Baptist Church mission team to share experiences Sunday night
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Calvary Baptist Church Student Minister Eric Waits delivered a devotional at Corinith during a two-week mission trip last month. -
Eric Waits is pictured in front of the Pathenon. -
From left, Jax Collier, Grace Highfield, Eric Waits and Anzlee Hale lead the music portion of a service in Romania. -
Anzlee Hale is pictured with two of the children she visited with in Tinca, Romania. -
Members of the mission team gathered for a photo prior to seeing sights. -
Jordan Phillips and Grace Highfield stopped for a photo on the street in Budapest.
They called it “incredible,” “eye-opening,” “indescribable” and “moving.”
Amber Baker, Suzanne Barrow, Jax Collier, Lauren Collier, Carol Gulseth, Anzlee Hale, Grace Highfield, Stephanie Highfield, Steve Highfield, Jordan Phillips and Eric Waits recently returned from a two-week mission trip to Romania, Budapest and Greece. The Calvary Baptist Church members will share their testimonies and a video about the trip during Sunday’s 6 p.m. worship service at the church.
Waits, who is the student minister at the church, said the group’s eyes were opened to how people lived in Romania.
The group had a purpose to “bring the Gospel and the love of Christ to these people,” he said. “They don’t get to experience this very often.”
Waits said the trip to Romania was unlike most mission trips because missionaries are not regular visitors to the country.
“They appreciate it more when people do come,” he said. “We were treated like rock stars.”
Hale, the youngest member of the group, said seeing the poverty first-hand was something she will not forget.
“You would see boys running around in girls’ shoes and they would not even care,” she said.
Phillips said being greeted with smiles will be a memory that stays with her forever.
“It was humbling to see them in that good of a mood,” she said. “They always had the biggest smile on their face.”
Phillips, who plans to enter the ministry after college, said she did not know what to expect during the trip, but now knows God is leading her down the right career path.
“This was very fulfilling,” she said.
Waits said he saw Phillips and Grace Highfield both grow spiritually during the trip. Like Phillips, Grace Highfield is planning to enter the ministry after college.
“I think this was the springboard for (Phillips) to be in the ministry,” Waits said. “God laid the calling on her heart and this trip just affirmed that calling.”
Steve Highfield, the church’s worship pastor, said he was moved by watching people accept Christ.
“Seeing those men calling God in their language, that was moving,” he said.
Phillips said the entire trip was worth it after seeing three Iranian refugees “come to Christ” and 15 Persian refugees be baptized.
The highlight of the trip, Waits said, was when he preached at Corinth, on the same site as the Apostle Paul.
Waits said he was not feeling well on the morning the group planned to visit Corinth. But when someone was asked to lead a devotional, he jumped at the opportunity.
“It was an automatic decision,” Waits said. “While I was standing on the very steps as the Apostle Paul, I did not feel nothing. I felt God with me.”
Highfield said the experience of watching Waits lead the devotional “made the Bible come alive.”
While Waits was talking, Highfield said he closed his eyes and imagined what it was like when Paul was talking to the people. Hale said watching Waits was “amazing” and “to see someone who love preach where Paul did will be something I remember forever.”
The youth were able to minister through a skit that they will perform for the Calvary congregation on Sunday. Hale said it focuses on different people coming together, accepting Christ and helping spread the Word of God.
While the focus of the trip was teaching God’s Word, the group kept an eye on phones because of the wildfires that threatened areas in Greece.
The group’s medical supplies were used to help victims of the fires, Highfield said.
“We drove through where the fires were,” he said, adding the group had not originally planned to encountering and helping fire victims. “It was just God leading us to do that.”
Hale said her parents were worried for the group, but everyone pulled together, even as schedules changed unexpectedly. After arriving in London, part of the group was put on a flight to Dallas while others were on a flight to Phoenix. In the end, everyone met in Midland and returned to Snyder to share their stories.
After landing in Midland, the first thing group members looked for in Texas was what Highfield called the “international sign of peace,” Whataburger. After sharing one last meal, the group returned home to friends and family.
“I did not know what to expect. I would do this again in a heartbeat,” Phillips said.