
DATE: Friday, July 18, 1997                 TAG: 9707180071

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E1   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: LAURA SANTACRUZ, HIGH SCHOOL CORRESPONDENT 

                                            LENGTH:  109 lines

FAITH, CONCERN FOR OTHER LEAD SOME ON LIFE-CHANGING TRIPS

LAST YEAR, 17-year-old Jeremy Mullen spent his summer in Australia. Candice Werts, 16, traveled to Haiti. Zach Taylor, 16, took a journey to Fiji.

They weren't on vacation, relaxing on exotic beaches or sightseeing. They were helping strangers fix up their homes, caring for orphans and learning about other cultures and people. They were involved in mission trips that lasted from one week to the entire summer.

Their reasons for going: faith, curiosity and concern.

``I wanted to help people in other countries who don't have the advantages we have here,'' said Trisha Bebee, 17, a rising senior at Norfolk Christian High School.

Trisha has spent four summers on mission trips. One of her shorter trips was a one-week adventure to Cherokee, N.C., where she helped repair homes of Native Americans.

She's also traveled to the Philippines and to Venezuela, where she helped paint a church.

Mission work isn't easy. Teens sometimes arrive in areas with no showers, plumbing or electricity. They may work with recuperating drug addicts or abandoned children.

Although the conditions can be difficult, the teens are under 24-7 supervision by team leaders and mission workers. They take precautions, such as immunizations, before leaving for their trip. They undergo rigorous training and may spend a week or more in a boot camp, learning about their project and about the people they may encounter.

The students in Trisha's group took classes in construction or masonry before they began their mission trip. Every morning, they went through a timed obstacle course for physical fitness and team building.

``We washed our own clothes and slept in tents to prepare us for what lay ahead on the mission field,'' Trisha said.

Despite the preparation, it still may take time for the missionaries to adjust to their assignment.

Christianne Crabtree, a 17-year-old rising senior at Norfolk Christian, went on trips to Ecuador and to Thailand for two months each with Teen Mania, a Texas-based group.

``It was a little hard getting used to at first, but I got past the lack of utilities pretty fast,'' she said. ``I'll admit, I was a little intimidated in the beginning.''

Teen-agers can apply for mission trips through churches or organizations such as Teen Mania. Tabernacle Church of Norfolk has organized youth mission trips for the past four years. Other local churches and church organizations, including Word of Life in Virginia Beach and Presbyterians of Eastern Virginia, sponsor teen missions.

``Tab Church feels it's necessary to have short-term trips available to give teen-agers a broader look on what is out there in the world,'' said youth pastor O'Neil Arrington.

The mission sponsors coordinate the trips and train teen-agers for the work that lies ahead. It's up to teens to raise the money needed to cover expenses for the trip. The price tag can run as high as $3,000, as it did for Zach Taylor's two-month mission trip to Fiji last summer.

Zach, a rising junior at Norfolk Christian, raised the money in seven months with the help of family and friends. When he reached Fiji, he and his 35 teammates laid a church's foundation.

For many of the teens, mission trips are life-changing experiences.

Candice Werts, a rising junior at I.C. Norcom High in Portsmouth, spent her two-week spring break in Haiti. Her team built a frame and a roof for a church, an experience that Candice said opened her eyes to the poor conditions under which some people live.

``I feel very fortunate to live in the U.S., because in Haiti, there's so much poverty and famine yet the people are so nice and friendly,'' Candice said. ``I'm more willing to get out and do community service now and help others. I definitely want to go on another mission trip the next opportunity I get.''

Eighteen-year-old James Arrington's trip was much closer to home. Two years ago, the Granby High School graduate went with a group to Fairmont, W.V., to work on several houses in a dilapidated neighborhood.

``I worked on the paint crew mainly,'' James said. ``It changed my attitude to help people more, because I saw how it made a difference in these people's houses and lives.''

Jeremy Mullen, a rising senior at Norfolk Christian, has gone on four mission trips. He plans to go to Arizona this summer to do repair work on a church with his youth group from Word of Life Church.

``I see it as my responsibility as far as my religious beliefs, and I have plenty of my own (materially), so I want to give back to those who need it,'' he said.

Church leaders agree that mission trips leave young adults with positive changes.

``They're (teen-agers) getting a better understanding of cultures outside their own and that others are in great need of assistance,'' said Rob Taylor, an assistant youth pastor at Tabernacle Church of Norfolk. ``They are starting to feel an obligation of helping others.''

With so much hype about Generation X being ruled by crime, drugs and violence, Trisha said it is good to see what some teen-agers are doing to benefit the world.

``I think adults need to encourage us to get out and do more for others instead of putting us down,'' Trisha said. ``They shouldn't stereotype us; what's true about some teen-agers doesn't apply to all of us.'' MEMO: Laura Santacruz is a rising senior at Norfolk Christian School.

She was a participant in the Virginian Pilot's 11th annual Minority

Journalism Workshop. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

Christiane Crabtree enjoyed meeting the children during her trip to

Thailand.

Photo

ZACH TAYLOR

Zach Taylor on a mission trip in Fiji, where he helped lay a chuurch

foundation.