Missions Club Travels to New Mountains in Ecuador
Photos provided by Daniel Mullins and Stephy Estrada
While most Bluefield University students went home for the summer after the 2023-2024 school year, a select group of students from the Bluefield University Missions Club traveled to Ecuador.
In fact, the BU Missions Club sent two teams overseas. The first trip was to Madrid, Spain, during Spring Break 2024, but the most recent venture was to the beautiful country of Ecuador, May 6-14.
The Ecuador team consisted of students Sara Dunphy, Kaylei Newman, Savannah Holmes, Alex Drake, Ethan Roberts, and Kyle England. The students were led by Bluefield staff member Daniel Mullins, BU’s coordinator of creative content and social media, and local Spanish teacher Alisha England. Dunphy, a sophomore on the Bluefield women’s soccer team involved in campus ministry and a Bluefield Ambassador, spoke about her experiences leading up to and in Ecuador.
“For me personally, I didn’t really think much of it going. I knew that I wanted to grow in my faith, and I was like this is going to be a lot of fun to go to another country, but coming back, it was truly a life changing experience. It gives you a perspective that you never thought you would have, especially in a third world country like Ecuador.”
Sara Dunphy
During the trip, the Missions Club visited two locations in Ecuador: the capital, Quito, and Latacunga. At both locations, the team worked with the orphanage organization For His Children. The focus of the trip was to interact with and serve the kids at this orphanage, but to also serve and help the caretakers, also known as “Tias.” The team cleaned, cooked, and conducted Bible lessons for the children and adults.
When it came to teaching the Bible, the Ecuador team broke off into groups of two and took turns planning Bible lessons. Dunphy described what she and fellow team member Newman prepared for their Bible lesson for the kids at the Latacunga location.
“Our lesson was how God is the molder, and we are the clay,” Dunphy said.
They purchased tubs of clay and instructed the children to sculpt figurines of themselves. This was to show the children that similarly to how they made their figures, God made us. Dunphy and Newman also made a book that referenced different Bible stories and verses connected to this lesson.
“Even though we went to teach the kids about the Bible and to give them lessons and to teach the Tias, too, I feel like the kids and the Tias ended up teaching us more,” Dunphy said.
One of Dunphy’s favorite memories from this trip involved spending time with the children, especially the babies, when they went on a field trip to an arcade. Another fond memory was during their “tourist time.” The team traveled to the mountains to visit the small town of Banos where they shopped, rode a double decker tour bus, visited a waterfall, zip-lined, and even saw an active volcano.
Dunphy shared insight for someone who may be hesitating to join the Missions Club.
“For missions, you don’t have to pay anything out of pocket…so it won’t be a personal burden,” she said.
She also shared that, if given the opportunity, a mission’s trip is something that everyone should experience at least once in their lives.
To fund the trip, the Missions Club raised money in various ways, but two of the main methods were through personal letters and working at the concession stands at sporting events. Personal letters were sent out to friends and family asking for financial support, and members of the club worked the concession stands at community basketball games and Bluefield athletic events to pay for their individual trips.
The Bluefield Missions team will return to Ecuador in May 2025, along with a trip to Madrid, Spain, during Spring Break 2025. Interested students are encouraged to get involved to have their own life-changing experience.
