Last weekend, a group of about thirty students from the Department of Agriculture completed a mission trip to the Medina Childrens’ Home, the same trip that ended in a life-changing bus accident last year.

Anna Ciufo, sophomore animal science major from the Woodlands, was involved in last year’s accident and suffered several injuries. This was her first year to make it to Medina on the mission trip.

“A couple of my friends were a little nervous about the actual bus ride because of the experience we had,” Ciufo said. “But overall, especially toward the end, it was more of a positive healing experience and that was a blessing.”

The students spent the weekend helping the childrens’ home with different projects that required some manual labor. They sorted food in the pantry, did tile work, organized the hog barn and cleaned some of the childrens’ toys.

On Saturday night, as is tradition, the group prepared a meal for the kids and their families and held a devotional, Ciufo said.

“I really love getting to talk to people and getting to serve them,” Ciufo said. “It’s just great to see their reaction and appreciation and just knowing that you hopefully made a difference.”

Ciufo said the home had dedicated a prayer room in their new chapel to Anabel Reid, the student who died in last year’s accident.

“The chapel had just been built,” Ciufo said. “And that was cool because it was built on the land that the ag department had cleared over the past few years.”

Ciufo said she enjoyed being able to spend time with the students in her department, because they are so much like a family.

“I’ve just really had a shift in perspective in the importance of things,” Ciufo said. “I learned to never take people and relationships for granted and to really invest time in people and helping them, talking to them and getting to know them. God is in control of everything and if you rely on Him, even when things don’t seem good, they will be good in the long run.”