By Aracely Pérez
Buckner International

My mother received her first pair of shoes when she was 14. She reminded me of this while we sat in my parked car reading the latest issue of Buckner Today.

I brought the magazine along to show her how Buckner dedicated an entire magazine to exploring children’s needs in the Americas. In particular, I wanted her to read an article about a little girl living in a Zapotec community outside of Oaxaca City.

I was surprised to hear my mother start reading the article out loud halfway through the story. By the last sentence her eyes were filled with tears as she began to choke on her words.

She looked at me with different eyes that afternoon. I could see the 14-year-old girl she once was in Zacatecas, Mexico.

My mother knows first hand what it means to live in poverty and not know whether children will live to be adults. As the oldest child in her family, she saw six of her siblings die before the age of two due to illness, various diseases and malnutrition.

“I want to go on a mission trip,” she told me in Spanish. “I want to help children like this baby who need the hope of Jesus Christ.”

That Monday, we signed up for the Mother-Daughter mission trip to Guatemala.

During our trip I saw my mother give hugs, kisses, share the Gospel and so much love with very child she met. Every day throughout that whole week, I saw her give of herself like never before. She gave as a servant. She gave as a mother. She gave as a child who shared a similar experience as those she met.

My mother did not have to tell me how much the trip impacted her. I could see it in her face, her mannerisms and in how she talked about the trip when we came home. She left a part of herself in Guatemala and brought a piece of it back with her.

Even now my mother has not stopped sharing stories about her trip. Share your stories with your family and friends. God may be working in you to share an experience you had on a mission trip to inspire others to serve “the least of these.”
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Buckner is now accepting story submissions for Buckner eNews Now and the Buckner Web site from people who have participated on mission trips or local volunteering.

Send your story in a Microsoft Word document to news@buckner.org. Include your name, city and state in the subject line along with the title of your submissions. Stories should be no longer than 1200 words. (ex. Your Perspective – John Doe, Houston, TX)

Send any photos as jpegs. We can accept anything up to 10 MB in one email.