This summer, the Southern California Conference (SCC) Senior Youth and Young Adult (SYYA) team joined the ADRA Warm Homes project in Peru, where they stayed 90 minutes outside of Cusco, Peru, at ADRA’s Camp Chuquicahuana.

During the trip, the group of 37 installed Trombe walls for solar heat, solar panels for electricity, wood floors, a brick stove and chimney, a kitchen concrete floor, ceilings and rock paths, bathrooms with flushable toilets, solar heated showers, and sinks, 52 Pacific Union Recorder Southern California Conference PHOTOS: GEOFF SEWELL and painted in 10 homes in Japura, Peru—all of this at 14,000 feet elevation! The work was more than cosmetic. The wood floors meant the people of Japura wouldn’t have to sleep on cold dirt floors anymore, and the heating system warmed the homes by approximately 15 degrees. The stoves fueled by alpaca dung, a common method in remote, high-altitude regions, now had adequate ventilation inside the home.

Each of the One House (a ministry sponsored by SCC SYYA) leaders came and left with unique experiences. It wasn’t his first mission trip for Adam Hicks, associate pastor at the Temple City church, but the opportunity to go with young adults and partner with ADRA was one he couldn’t pass up. Christina Ceballos, a member of the Alhambra church, wanted to help the youth from her church experience a mission trip with their peers. Celeste Harrison, the Alhambra church pastor, looked forward to taking a mission trip with her fellow One House leaders and her youngest daughter. Isaac Nevarez, pastor of the Canoga Park Community church, loves participating in mission tripsand found joy in seeing others find fulfillment in serving God. Tammie Lindsey, University church associate pastor, saw the opportunity to meet an intense need for the Peruvians. Christian Botello, Eagle Rock associate pastor, wanted the young adults from his church to experience sharing the gospel in a tangible way with people of another culture. Under the leadership of Geoff Sewell, SYYA director, the team was driven by two statements from Scripture: “love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:31) and “to whom much is given, from him much will be required” (Luke 12:48, NKJV).

“This trip, the planning, the team, the adults going— everything was perfect!” Harrison remembered. “Unfortunately, the one thing I didn’t know was that the altitude and my body would be such enemies!” Three days in the hospital were followed by an immediate trip home. “Pastor Tammie volunteered to fly home with me so my daughter could experience the mission trip,” Harrison said. “Our One House team is amazing! So, my Peru experience was really a ‘thank you’ to God for keeping me alive!”

In the village, the team went right to work. “As leaders of the SYYA team, we normally take on many roles to make sure that the events/programs we plan go off without a hitch,” Ceballos shared. “But here in Peru, we got to take a step back and let our young adults lead and be the team leaders, while we did as we were told. Two of my young adults were our team leaders, and they made sure they put us to work.”

The trip was more than an opportunity to minister to the Peruvians—it allowed the One House team to connect on a deeper level with the young adult missionaries and find a blessing themselves. “This trip provided an opportunity for me as a pastor and a professional to spend time with our young adult women,” Lindsey noted. “Away from the hustle of Los Angeles, we were able to discuss God’s call for these young adults in their lives as women professionals and Christians. While we loved on the Peruvians, God’s spirit moved and loved on us through each other.”

“Trips like this give us an opportunity to share the love of God in tangible ways,” Botello shared. “Not only are you blessing others, but you are also greatly blessed and transformed in return.” Indeed, mission trips often touch the missionaries just as much as those they set out to reach. On this trip, Botello baptized one of the young adults from his church, who had felt God calling her to commit her life to Him since a vacation to Peru eight years ago. “Now she was back in Peru on this ADRA mission trip and felt that same conviction she experienced eight years earlier,” he recalled. “So she decided that this time she wanted to dedicate her life and talents to Jesus through baptism. The One House and ADRA Peru leadership team came together and made it possible for her to be baptized in a river right next to the camp where we were staying. The joy and happiness we all felt in that moment was incredible!” When asked about the most impactful part of the trip, Hicks couldn’t help but share two. “First, just seeing the impact it had on the community of Japura, as well as surrounding communities,” he said. “Seeing kids not have to sleep on dirt floors, in full-on beds, in houses that aren’t filled with dung smoke, was really a beautiful thing. Second, seeing our young adults get really excited about service and get excited about God was also incredible!”

As the trip came to a close, the new homes were blessed and presented to the homeowners. “The most memorable part of the mission trip had to be the last day that we were with the people of the village and did the blessings on the homes that were worked on,” Ceballos recalled. The young adults from Alhambra and Temple City had brought items like markers, coloring books, socks, and gloves for the children from the village. After the homes were blessed, the children were surprised with these items. “It was like a birthday surprise mixed with Christmas morning excitement, seeing their faces and reactions at all that was being given to them,” Ceballos said. “In that moment, it felt as though they were giving more to us than we were to them.”

Nevarez, too, remembered that last day as a special moment. “It was so much joy to see the look on the community’s faces, and the sense of accomplishment that it gave us to finish 10 homes in six days,” he said. “God really helped us get this work done in a timely manner and be the hands and feet of Jesus.”

“Witnessing the families’ joy during the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the 10 homes and seeing their deep appreciation for the home upgrades was truly heartwarming,” Nevarez continued. “They even crafted small bracelets for us from alpaca materials, and the community leaders gifted handmade alpaca beanies to all the pastors. Wearing my beanie filled me with honor and joy.”

The trip was a powerful way to spread God’s love in practical ways in another country, while also ministering to the young adult missionaries. “Our young adults may not always attend church, nevertheless, they hunger and thirst for a Christ that sees them and understands them in these times and in their circumstances,” Lindsey said. “We as a church need to do more to empower and equip them with a knowledge of Christ.”

The trip was a big commitment for those involved: $1,500-$2,000 for airfare plus two weeks off work. But the group received significant support from SCC members. “The SYYA leadership team is truly grateful for the fundraising from the Southern California Conference and our churches to cover the $65,000 required for the trip—to buy all the equipment and supplies for the homes and the living expenses for the young adults. Thank you!” Sewell said.

“Is it worth the money and the sacrifice of time? Yes,” Ceballos said. “Would I do it again? Yes! In a heartbeat.”