Tell Your Story

A week in Harmons can be life-impacting and we have heard many powerful stories over the years from people who have come on trips.  We would like to make this a place where you have the opportunity to share your story!  If you would like to be included on this webpage, please email Wendy a picture and your text and we may post it!

Sam's Story

I had a really rough year leading up to our trip to Jamaica. I reached a point in my life where I decided that I wanted nothing to do with God and Christianity. I was very against church in general and what I believed was the typical American Christian. I came to a point where I told God I wanted nothing to do with him and that I could figure things out on my own and live according to my own rules. This decision eventually threw me into one of the darkest points of my life. At first I admit I liked living with no rules but it was extremely difficult for me to live this double life; on the inside I was living how I wanted, without God; but on the outside I had to act like I was still a Christian around my friends and family. This was very hard and I was terribly lost and was searching for something to fill this mysterious void that developed in my life. I was looking all over for a label to give myself: Buddhist, humanist, agnostic. None of these seemed to fit. I had become depressed and developed bad anxiety. I think deep down I knew why I was feeling this way but I was too stubborn and selfish to fix what was wrong. Through all of this I know that God was trying to get my attention but I kept ignoring him until finally I reached a point where I couldn't ignore him any longer. I was all out of my own ideas so as I approached this year's Jamaica trip, I told God that I would go into the trip with an open mind and an open heart and see what happens.

I came on this trip hoping God would spark something within me that would give me the push I needed to kind of start over. This being my fourth year to Jamaica, I had learned to come with no expectations and that's exactly what I did. I had no idea what was in store or what I thought God would do. And I definitely didn't. As I have learned how God tends to do things, He didn't "spark" something inside me, but instead turned my life completely upside down on this trip. There was not a big "aha" moment when I suddenly realized everything but instead it was more subtle. I saw how OBC and the group from Pennsylvania worked so well together serving the Jamaicans and God, I saw how beautiful the locals are, I saw how much God has done in Harmons. I saw Jesus. And this changed my life. On the last night when we were sharing I was trying to think of what to say. All of a sudden it just came to me: this is it. This is what I've been looking for. This is Christianity. No matter how much I get caught up in how sad I think our culture is and how it frustrates me, I know what true Christianity is, for I have experienced it firsthand and it is beautiful. Whenever I find myself getting too caught up in this culture, I remind myself of Harmons, the beautiful place where God has put my heart. He has revealed to me what life is truly about: loving Jesus and loving others.

After Jamaica, my life has been a lot different. I have this wonderful sense of peace and joy. I feel free.

The world is mine and nothing is holding me back. I am very excited to see what all He has in store for me. In no way is this the end of my 'story,’ but instead, the beginning.