Ambassadors of Jesus

"We don't go to the margins to make a difference, we go to the margins so that folks at the margins make us different." We can all agree with Father Gregory Boyle that this 2018 LA Immersion trip created such a change within each and every one of us. Though this change may not have come as quickly for everyone, it surely did eventually come. Being exposed to various challenging environments broadened our horizons and helped us to develop a deeper understanding of struggles that is hidden from society.

We served men, women, and children with no place to call home. Through them, we learned a little more about what it means to be human. We tried to acknowledge and honor the dignity of each and every human being we encountered, along with the dignity within ourselves. These beautiful people with barely anything to give but God’s love showed us the gift of being grateful for what you have, though it may not be much.

Not only did we serve the people in need of LA, but we served one another. From day one, we grew each day in teamwork and trust to quickly become a force to be reckoned with. We strived to be vulnerable with each other, and show our true selves to our new found community. It will be weird to no longer wake up to the laughs in the kitchen that we so quickly became accustomed to. While we are extremely sad to leave one another, we are excited to bring the changes within ourselves back to our everyday lives. We have had many conversations about how to bring our experience back to our individual universities, and we know it will be challenging, but we plan to support each other through it.

As we sit in the chapel at 3am on our last night together, we gather around the quote, “The Love of Christ Has Gathered Us Together”. How fitting this quote is to end off our life changing trip.