Thirteeen HBA students went to South Korea this spring break, representing the school on its first international mission trip.
Planning for the trip began in the fall of 2024, when faculty and staff members Faye Takushi (English Department Chair), Patricia Chang (Director of Admissions), and Terence Li (Math Teacher) traveled to South Korea to see if there were places in need that could be served by HBA students. They returned with a list of ideas and began taking applications from interested students.
Once students were shortlisted for the trip, the group began meeting regularly and learning Korean together. The plan for the trip included volunteering at a few local organizations and spending some time touring the city.
Suseo Center, one of the volunteer sites, is a retirement home for the elderly who are on welfare assistance. HBA students helped by working in the kitchen and serving meals. For some of the residents, the meals at the center were the only meals they would have for the day. Maya Kim, a sophomore, recalled, “After delivering the food, it was meal time for those who came on their own. We split up into teams and either greeted at the door, served food, cleaned up after the seniors, or washed the dishes.”
The students also visited Youngnak International Church, where they attended their English language services. Chang said, “Youngnak Church is a Presbyterian church. It is one of the largest and first churches founded in South Korea. We decided to go to that church because my grandma and grandpa came from North Korea during the Korean War and they were one of the founding members of that church.”
The students also volunteered at Jursang Disability Center, also known as Babybox. Takushi said, “[Our] students took seven [Jursang] students with Down Syndrome to a theme park, and they spent five hours there with them. It was a really special day. They went on rides the entire time with a brief break for lunch and at lunch there was a little dance-off contest with a couple of our students and the children.” Brandon Ogimoto, a sophomore, recalled, “The best moment was being able to take the kids from BabyBox to Seoul World, which is an amusement park, and being able to spend the day with them. The kids haven’t been able to have an excursion like this in over a year, so it was amazing to see them have so much fun over things that we take for granted.”
Leina Wong, another sophomore, highly recommends this trip to students who want to be challenged. “I would one hundred percent recommend people to go on this trip. Not only does this allow you to spend time with your peers but it forces you to really reach out of your comfort zone, which I think is something that us, teenagers, prefer not to do. Most importantly, you get to spread the love of God and even if you aren’t Christian, you are exposed to works of the Lord. In my opinion, witnessing the Lord work through your peers is extremely inspiring to pursue more of God’s truth. We are given these talents and gifts from the Lord and we should use those gifts to serve others.”
The students on the trip were:
Mari Casamina, Anika Chang, Noah Ching, Ellie Choi, Olivia Choi, Paisley Chung, Hannah Garces, Anela Murata, Brandon Ogimoto, Jonathan Seo, Kylie Takamatsu, Leina Wong.
Read more about the planning of the trip in our March print edition.
