Braving the humidity and culture shock of Central America, Allison Hidinger, along with 25 university students and 10 staff from across Canada, set off for Panama from May 3 – June 7, 2011.
The missions trip was organized by Campus for Christ, an international organization that strives to help students discover Jesus and change the world.
After spending six weeks of her summer in Panama the previous year, Hidinger was no stranger to the culture and livelihood of the city.
“I was so excited to be back in Latin America,” said Hidinger, a fourth-year journalism student at Carleton. “I love the culture and any chance to use my Spanish is a plus.”
Originally from Whitehorse, Yukon, Hidinger has been involved in the church and in missions work from a young age. At 14, Hidinger travelled to Mexico to help repair an orphanage for children through Youth Unlimited Gospel Outreach Ministries, a house building ministry.
Since that first taste of changing the world, Hidinger hasn’t stopped.
While in Panama, she and the other Campus for Christ volunteers spent their time at the Universidad de Panama. They worked with the students to help plan events, speak about Christ and understand their needs on a physical and spiritual level.
The first time she went, the second part of the trip was spent in the Panamanian mountainside, helping indigenous families living in poverty.
“There were five of us that helped the family with their coffee plant crop,” Hidinger said. “We worked outside chopping down unwanted weeds and bushes with machetes.”
Though the country is lush and the temperatures are warm, a missions trip is anything but a vacation, Hidinger said.
“The hardest part was spending a long day on campus, sweaty and tired, and then we’d pile onto these buses called Diablos Rojos, or Red Devils,” she said. “You’re crammed up against everyone and the drivers are crazy. It’s definitely a culture shock.”
Hidinger said her parents were wary of her missions work at first, insisting she spend her summers at home or at work instead. Despite her family’s trepidation, Hidinger continued to volunteer. Now, she said her family is very supportive of her, and proud of the work she has done.
“The thing I love about missions work is that you always get more than you give,” she said. “I’ve learned so much from all the students and faculty. My experience has been wonderful.”
Hidinger said she plans to continue her missions work in Latin America and with Campus for Christ even after she graduates from Carleton. The Canadian partnership with the Panama ministry has ended, as they no longer need the support of missions trips, but Hidinger has been given the opportunity to return to Mexico in the next year.
Hidinger is building ministries and movements and she said her work, though difficult, has helped her to grow and succeed in helping others.
“All the reasons that take me to Latin America outweigh the inconvenience or the differences of culture,” she said.