This past March, students from Christendom College journeyed to various destinations within and outside the United States for the college’s annual spring break mission trips. Traveling to the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Chimayo, New Mexico, and Chicago, Illinois, the students dedicated themselves to serving others during their spring break, embodying the mission of Christendom to “restore all things in Christ.”
Over the last 25 years, Christendom has sent over a thousand students abroad to aid the impoverished, build new homes, evangelize, and more. In the past, students have journeyed to the Dominican Republic, Malta, Peru, Colorado, the Bronx, and elsewhere. Each year, students undertake personal fundraising for these trips, demonstrating the generous spirit that propels the student body to acts of kindness throughout the academic year.
While Spring Break is typically seen as a time for relaxation and vacations, 45 Christendom students and staff members instead dedicated this time to bringing Christendom’s mission out into the world. In the Dominican Republic, 12 students and two staff members partnered with the Diocese of Arlington to serve at their mission in Banica. Together, they renovated a school kitchen, laid a concrete floor for a chapel, and taught English to children in the mountain village of Bartolo.
12 students and two staff members partnered with the Diocese of Arlington to serve at their mission in Banica.
For senior TJ Yee, the experience was incredibly impactful, giving him a greater perspective on how to be more joyful in life.
“What touched my heart on this mission trip was observing the behavior of the Dominican Republic’s inhabitants in the poorest part of the country,” says Yee. “Despite living in an environment where food is scarce, water is more scarce, and many families have less than a quarter of the possessions of even the most impoverished American families, the natives are focused on giving what little they have to their neighbors.”
Some students and staff also traveled to Honduras, evangelizing with the Missioners of Christ in various mountain villages near Comayagua. Each day, the students were split into small groups and went house to house visiting Catholics in the different villages, while also putting on programs for different age groups. Pamela Plasberg, Christendom’s Director of Residence Life, served previously on the Honduras Mission Trip, seeing the mission trip as an opportunity for evangelization as well as service.
“The Honduras Mission Trip is not about completing a project for someone — its heart is encountering people in their poverty and brokenness and sharing this burden with each person, as well as sharing our Catholic faith with people who do not have regular access to the Mass or Sacraments,” says Plasberg.
That same spirit filled senior Monica Nachtegall during her time on mission. While in Honduras, she grew to better understand how to better bring Christ to all she encounters.
“I recognize that I don’t just want to learn how to teach and preach to people,” says Nachtegall. “This was something the Missioners of Christ emphasized for us before we left to go into the mountains. We had to learn and be prepared to enter into other people’s sufferings and be vulnerable enough to share if we had similar struggles. This mission trip helped me understand how to reach out to people and bring Christ to them. Academics certainly have a place, but it is also important to learn how to be present to another and offer them the support and encouragement they need with their sufferings and current situation.”
9 students and three staff members traveled to Honduras, where they spent their time evangelizing in various mountain villages near Comauagua with the Missioners of Christ.
In Chicago, a group of students, accompanied by Christendom’s Director of Student Activities Marilyn Charba, worked in the “border towns” of Momence and St, Anne to serve the migrant communities who work on local farms. This was also senior Catherine McLaughlin’s first mission trip, and she was struck by Momence’s welcoming community and generosity.
“They not only provided us with a house and food, but they also took time out of their busy days to spend with us after the various projects were completed,” says McLaughlin. “We went on retreat at the Mission of Camino de Esparanza, visited the impoverished areas of Hopkins Park to clean homes, and assisted at the home of special needs residents at Good Shepherd Manor. The rewarding part of the mission was not the work we had done, but the people who had opened their hearts to us! We were complete strangers to them, but their generosity and welcoming disposition made us feel like family. I will never forget their example of the Corporal Works of mercy.”
In Chicago, 15 students and 1 staff member worked in the “border towns” of Momence and St. Anne to serve the migrant communities living there.
Christendom’s Spring Break mission trips provide students with a variety of opportunities to perform spiritual and corporal works of mercy during the Lenten season, helping them grow while they assist others. Christendom exists to educate the lay apostolate and “restore all things in Christ.” The spring break mission trips are a natural extension of that mission, as students work to bring Christ to the less fortunate throughout the world, both this year and in the years to come
Contributed by Samia Clerico ’24.