Mission group to journey to South Africa

PLAINS - A multi-denominational mission trip is on the horizon for a local group of strangers to South Africa. Many have never been to South Africa, few have never been out of the country, and up until their final group meeting at First Lutheran Church on Sunday, the eclectic cache of individuals have never met each other. 

“We’re getting churches together to make a real impact 11,000 miles away,” United Methodist Church pastor Thomas Hall said. Hall has previously led the mission trip, and this year, his wife, Dixie Hall, daughter Liz Hall-Constanzer and son-in-law Drew Constanzer will accompany him as well. Sunday’s gathering was the group’s last meeting prior to the departure, which is set for Oct. 15 out of Missoula.

In total, there are 12 indivuals making the trip across the country and sea; 11 of which are from the Plains-Polson areas. These people are: Thomas and Dixie Hall, Drew and Liz Constanzer, Whitney Tanner-Spurr, Lesley Dubay, Catalina Mitchell, Mahala Harris, Abram French, Daniel Damschen, and Jean Morrison. Of the 11, three are under the age of 18, three are in their mid-twenties/early thirties, and the rest are above the 30s age range. They all feel called to South Africa; however, each participant has different reasoning and backstory as to why they wish to journey to South Africa.

“I was not originally going to South Africa, but two weeks into it, I felt led that I should be going and things kind of fell into place that have allowed me to go, and I don’t know why I’m going but I know there’s a reason for me to be there,” Drew Constanzer said. “I’m looking forward to finding out why.”

“I’ve never really thought about going on a mission trip before until I met Liz and Drew [Constanzer],” Tanner-Spurr said. “They talked me into it and after a lot of thought and prayer, and discussion with my family, I decided that I want to be part of something bigger than me.”

“About four months ago, Abram [French] was telling me that he was going to go to South Africa and I jokingly told him, ‘dude, I’m totally going to go with you!’” Damschen said. “But then, a week later, Susan [Damschen, his mom] told me that could become a reality. So I started thinking about it, and decided, yes, I’m really going to do this, and I kind of feel like I need to do something important with my life. So this is why I’m going.”

Damschen, who along with Harris and French comprise the group of teenagers going on the mission trip, plans to not only gain spiritual education from the journey, but also use his experiences towards his academic education. His photography and English classes at Plains High School will accept entries for grades from his trip to South Africa. Harris and French may do the same.

“I think it’s interesting how varied the perspectives will be between the age groups,” Lenka Harris said. “The youth will come to know that they can do things, build things with their two hands and make such a difference, while the adults will come back with more empathy. They’ll both come back with such different perspectives, I think.”

The group will embark upon an 18-hour flight to South Africa. Their work base will be out of Ikageng, which is a “black township” 15 minutes from the center of Potchefstroom, South Africa. They will stay in Akkerlaan Guest House, and the main focus of the trip is to build not only housing for the locals, but also relationships. 

While over there, the group will also spend one night at the Pilanesburg Game Reserve, and take a guided game drive. The final FAQ sheet emphasizes the point of being there is to explore, build, and to “not simply feel good about doing good, but to let them know that we care.” Participants are encourged to play with the community children, use more than words to communicate (since English is not the native language there), and interact often, “sharing in the light of Christ.”

 “It’s a personal journey and a mission to touch others, it’s a lot of both,” Whitney Tanner-Spurr said. “A lot of what we’re going to get out of it is not only a better appreciation not only for other people and places, and to have empathy for them, but also to appreciate more what you have. We have so much, and want for so little, but it’s still never enough for us. So I think doing this for other people will help teach us to appreciate.”

“We’re going to help as a group, but individually, we’re going to get back a lot more than we put into it, in a sense,” Liz Constanzer said.

“‘Ubantu’ - we are family, and it’s like we’re all coming together, as strangers, it’s really different and cool.” Harris said.