Disability is often a Perception

You might be wondering how does a girl decide she wants to do mission work, does she just wake up one day and decide she's going to do it? Well it didn't happen exactly like that but pretty close! I decided that I wanted to make a difference. I had been blessed with so many opportunities that I am very grateful for and one of them is being able to travel to Montego Bay Jamaica to participate in Mission work.

 Since the church I attend does not travel to do Mission work in other countries, I got in contact with Lord of Life Lutheran Church in Maple Grove, Minnesota. By the time I knew it I was traveling across the country with my mom,Tami, to help those less fortunate.

Being a 17 year old, small town girl I was scared I didn't know what to expect, as I had never been out of the country before let alone been to a poverty stricken area.

We spent 7 days in the mountains of Jamaica, at an orphanage called West Haven. The orphanage contains 6 cottages and houses many children ages birth to 18 who have either a mental or physical disability. I bathed, changed, and fed many of the children. We colored, read books, laughed, and made many memories together.

One thing I discovered was that there are many people who face many obstacles daily. People who don't have the resources they need or the help they need. Lending a helping hand to those around me who are less fortunate was very a very humbling experience.


In 2014 I returned to Jamaica to all my kiddos at West Haven with my mom and brother, Reese. The second I stepped out of the van the kids were running towards me, greeting me with open arms! They remembered me and they remembered me because of the prior impacts I had made on them. People remember how you treat them, they remember how you made them feel. It was like I had never left, they were so excited to make even more memories. The second year I did a lot of the same things with the kids that I had the prior year. We read, sang, played ball outside, and I even attended school with some of the kids! One experience I would like to share is about a girl named CarrieAnn. As you can see she is restricted to a wheelchair but can tell time like no other. I sat in the schoolroom with her one day while she read me the times on the clock. My heart pounded and goosebumps appeared, she is so intelligent yet she is not able to attend normal school because of her disability.



"There is no greater disability than the inability to see a person as more"- Robert M Hensel