Kyah Preston 

2/22/2023

Feature #

Ever since I was young I have always wanted to travel around the world and tell others about Jesus. When I got asked to go on a mission trip with my best friend Cana Jones and my dad and a ton of other amazing people, I was so excited. I didn’t know what exactly to expect, but I knew that it was going to be an awesome experience. At three a.m my father and I and my best friend Kenzie and her father left for Chicago. When we arrived in Chicago we got on a plane and flew to Florida, and when we arrived there we flew to the Dominican Republic.

When we walked out of the airport there were so many beautiful Dominican people waiting for friends and family coming to their country.  Everyone is so welcoming and even though you are dead tired from all of the travel there, happiness wakes you up. One of the biggest differences about the Dominicans compared to the United States is that their traffic and travel is insane. There is no such thing as road rules and people take a red light as a sign to go. 

I went with an organization called Score International and we got to stay in a hotel as a big mission group. When we got to the hotel we all as a big group went to eat dinner and then we had a service time. Over the span of the 3 days we were there, we visited orphanages, schools, communities, churches, and homes. It was so amazing to learn more about their people and land. I never wanted to leave. 

One of the coolest parts of going on my first mission trip was hearing Spanish a lot more than usual. When we would come to places around the community we were staying in, a ton of translators came with us as well. Whenever we wanted to talk to someone and we didn’t know what to say, they were an amazing help. We got to meet and learn more about each other through two different languages.

One of the coolest moments of my first trip to the Dominican was all based around bringing them food. In the Dominican many go hungry, so we decided to take an offering to buy them as much food as we could. We chose a neighborhood to bless with food and drinks and prayed over each family we got to bless. It was such a blessing to me and I am sure it was to them as well. While I was in the Dominican I got to learn so many things, hear testimonies and learn about their people. The Dominican Republic will always be a special place to me. 

I actually had the opportunity to go again this past November. While I was there, I got to see the places I saw in 2019. I got to sing on the worship team in the Dominican Republic as well. It has changed my life in so many ways. My next mission trip will be to Panama this coming November.

 If you would like to read more about the organization, I went with:https://scoreintl.org/