In a flash spring break has come and gone. While everyone gets back to hitting the books and biding their time until the end of the semester, we can’t help but reminisce about our past weeklong adventures. Wildcats spread out far and wide during last week’s break and this is just a short glimpse into who went where.

Christen Scaggs, senior biology major from Frisco, spent her break on a medical mission trip to Thomazeau, Haiti. Scaggs served at LiveBeyond, a faith-based organization that specializes in medical and maternal care, while also providing education and clean water. Alumnus Dr. David Vanderpool and his wife Laurie founded the organization.

While on her trip, Scaggs spent her time assisting medical patients at LiveBeyond’s clinic and interacting with children at the mission’s childrens programs Kè Pou Timoun and Johnny’s Kids, a program for special needs children.

This was Scaggs’s first time traveling to Haiti, but the trip made a lasting impression on her.

“Before the trip, I had a feeling that I wanted to do mission work later in life and this trip kind of sealed the deal. I really got a taste for helping others,” Scaggs said.

Bailey Cate, senior communications major from Nebraska, spent her spring break in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Cate participated in the annual mission trip Angkor of Faith, which has served Siem Reap for 10 years. Cate says the group she worked with was made up of team members from 10 countries. The diverse makeup of the group was something Cate says was a touching thing to witness and be a part of.

“It was spiritually impactful to serve on such a diverse team and to see God at work in our hearts and the heart of those we were serving,” Cate said.

Megan Kriger, senior kinesiology major from College Station, traveled to San Cristobal, Guatemala, with her home church. The group Kriger was with was made up of 47 people, including several doctors, dentists, physical therapists and nurses. The group would travel daily to the surrounding areas of San Cristobal to assist people with their different ailments or injuries. A case Kriger recalls was that of a 97-year-old man who could not move his arms because the muscles in his shoulder blades were atrophied. The patients helped were extremely grateful, Kriger said, with nearly every patient holding the hands of those who gave them medicine and praying over it with them. The experience of serving others was especially meaningful to Kriger, as it took place close to Easter.

“I had to wash a lot of feet and trim a lot of toenails, which really hit home because it sounds really biblical,” Kriger said. “It really reminded me to just be humble and to just love people.”

Rachel Murphy, junior nursing major from New Jersey, kicked back in sunny Costa Rica where she was visiting alumna Katie Cranfill. Murphy and friends stayed in a small house on a coffee farm with their host Hermida.

“My favorite part was just chilling in this little tiny house with Hermida and her showing us how to cook different things,” Murphy said. “It was amazing getting to spend time with her in this little house in the rainforest.”

A staple activity for those visiting the rainforest is doing an adrenaline boosting zip line, an activity Murphy tried. Murphy and her friends also went for a night walk through the rainforest where they encountered many spiders. After getting away from the eight-legged friends, Murphy spent much of the remainder of her break by the beach.

Jace Pimentel, sophomore accounting major from Abilene, traveled with Beltway’s college ministry on a mission trip to inner-city Dallas. On the trip, the group of about 120 college students sought to bring the gospel to the low income and impoverished people of the city. The group did a few service projects on the trip as well as outreaches at apartment complexes all around the city. Pimentel said an amazing thing to witness was the spreading of the gospel by word of mouth in the “rough” neighborhoods.

“It doesn’t make sense to take word of mouth good news to these rough neighborhoods, but we definitely saw a lot of people come to the Lord and saw people’s hearts who were touched by Jesus in a powerful way,” Pimentel said.