Guest Post by Kazu on the Mexico Mission Trip

I went to Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, during spring break. Usually, I don't want to share my thoughts with others because someone can tease me if I talk about something important seriously. But this time, I'm willing to be made fun of. I hope someone can grasp a part of my opinions.

We were involved in building school there, for example painting, digging, and constructing wall. I belonged to the brick team and built wall there. Still, we cannot say the construction of school is completed, but I believe we could did a good job for Mexican children. I won't be able to partake in the trip next time, so I really want a lot of students to join in it till school is perfectly built.

Also, I was glad to have opportunities to think about the Christian religion through the assigned reading and discussion on the roof. Japanese people are often said to be kind and friendly, but I don't think so. I feel most Japanese including me pay attention to our personal space and don't go out of our comfort zone. I must be a person who can be more capable of sustaining others. I would like to say that this life is for others as well as for me.

In this trip, I decided to act instinctively rather than rationally. That's why I was much more active and talkative than I had been. Hence, I could get acquainted with a lot of people in short time although Ryo and Misae might get fed up with me. I was happy to absorb many kinds of things because of being crazy.

In the town, I saw a lot of differences in socioeconomic status and recognized the fact I have grown up in a favorable environment. I knew I had lived a happy life compared to people in developing countries, but the fact I saw was impacting me more strongly than I expected.

Of course, we cannot make everyone in this world happy easily. The thing we can do may be limited. But I just felt this world should be for all people's happiness. We cannot achieve this goal easily. However, we can walk into this goal. I hope my word will be the one step toward this goal. Let's start with changing our perception!

-Kazuaki Shimada