WRFH/Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM - A Summer of Service: Interview with Carissa Nisly

Episode Date: December 13, 2023

Emma Church interviews sophomore Carissa Nisly about her mission trip to Guatemala during the summer of 2023. 

This is Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM and I'm Emma Church. And with me today is Carissa Nisley talking about her experiences and thoughts after her missions trip to Guatemala the summer of 2023. Carissa, do you mind introducing yourself to us just a little bit about who you are? Absolutely. I'd love to. I'm Carissa Nisley. I'm a sophomore here at Hillsdale studying religion with a potential journalism minor.

and a big thing that I do here on campus is a radio show called It Is Well, where I talk about the gospel and how it applies to our everyday lives. So that's a little bit about me. Amazing. Krista, thank you so much for being here today to speak on this topic. It is a very unique experience to travel to another country and spread the gospel, and we want to hear all about it. So, walk us through. What led you to the decision to take this mission's trip to Guatemala and why Guatemala? Yeah. Well, thanks for having me, Emma. I'm happy to be here. So the opportunity to go to Guatemala presented itself to me the end of my second semester freshman year. So March-ish of this year. And so a friend brought it up to me. He was like, we're doing this mission trip. We're going to come. And like immediately I was like, yeah, yeah. Like I'd love to do.

do that. And then it just becomes super practical of like how do I make this happen. Right. And so it was really like up in the air for a good couple of months because I'm, I wasn't sure how I was going to raise the money to be able to go. But I reached out to friends and family and God provided and that was the moment when it was like, yep, this is real, this is happening. Like it's so exciting. I'm going to Guatemala to spread the gospel. And I think like for me, when an opportunity presents itself, like I'm going to take it. Yeah. Because it's just kind of how I live my life. I know that life is short.

And so if like something pops up like that, I'm going to do it. Yeah. And like the Lord is obviously going to help me do it like he did if I'm supposed to. And so that was kind of how it all came about. Wow. That's amazing. Was this your first missions trip nationally or internationally? Yeah, so I went on actually quite a few mission trips throughout high school, through my youth group at home.

Okay. So I went to, we did a homeless ministry in Atlanta, Georgia, which is crazy. We went to Flagstaff, Arizona and did like work projects on a Bible college. internationally I didn't necessarily do a mission trip but my sister actually did missions in Costa Rica for 10 months yeah and so I visited her during that process and so I got to kind of see from the outside what a kind of long-term mission trip like that looks like you mentioned that you had a friend that brought this up to you was this a big group who did you go with was this some sort of organization or independent venture it it's actually crazy to look back

at the group of people that we were with my friend jacob beckwith was the one who planned and had this idea so um he it's a long story he um worked with someone who was from guatemala and whose family still lived in Guatemala. Really? And it's this very specific called Santa Gertrudis in Guatemala. It's a very small town. So that was, I think, two or three years ago. And so the year before we went, he had already gone on a mission trip with some of his friends from Massachusetts back home for him.

And so he just threw the idea, excuse me, he threw the idea out there. there for some of his friends from Hillsdale, which is how I got connected. And then there were a couple of a couple other students here at Hillsdale who went along. But then the rest of the group consisted of friends from his high school, friends from his church, his mom and dad, other family friends. And it was a mage pod of people. Yeah. Because the people from his church didn't know the people from his school.

and none of us Hillso students knew either of those. So we were all connected to this one kid who was kind of running the mission trip. Wow, wow. That's so cool. The whole program in general was run by an organization called Praying Pelicans, which they will help churches, people like Jacob, to send a group to across the country and across the world. And so even there, like there were a couple translators who accompanied us and like a group leader.

But even though we were all from different walks of life, different areas around the country, we, you could see how God worked through the team. Yeah. Because we all connected so well. And it was crazy just to see how like he worked not only on the mission trip, but through the team. the team. We all made like really great relationships and got to know each other really well. And we were able to serve the Lord as a team, even though we were in a team like two hours before we landed. So it was, that was really awesome. This is Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM. I'm in a church talking with Carissa Nisley, all about her fascinating mission trip to Guatemala this summer.

So, Carissa, just some more questions for you. What were some of the objectives and goals of this mission trip? I think coming into our number one goal was to share the gospel. And so the kind of practical things that we did to fulfill that goal were, number one, we ran a vacation Bible school, if you will, for the kids in the community. And that was just crazy to see like how far the words spread about that vacation Bible school and how many kids came. Yeah. We had over 200 kids show up.

And this is a small village, a very small village. And so we were bringing buses of kids from surrounding villages. And so that was awesome. We sang with them. We did Bible story skisks. with them. We just wanted to show them the love of Christ. And we told the story of the gospel through the Bible stories that they already knew.

So that was one thing that we did on the trip. Another thing was called food distribution. And so there are parts of Guatemala that are very poor. And so we went to those parts of Guatemala and we brought them food and supplies. cleaning things, things that you just need to live truly. And we went and delivered them to people who needed it. And then we talked with the people and we prayed for them if they wanted it. And we just, yeah, we gave them Bibles.

We shared the gospel with them and talked about God. But Emma, the people in these parts of Guatemala were crazy. It was crazy because we're talking huts. We're talking like no doors, no lighting, no electricity. Your ground is the, like where there should be carpet or flooring is dirt. It's dirt. There were like, you know, like a shower curtain is your door. Like most of them didn't have running water.

No air conditioning. Like things that we take for granted in the United States, they didn't have any of it. And so that was crazy. But the craziest thing was their faith that they had in God. Wow. When you have, like they had next to nothing compared to the grandeur and luxury we have in the state. But yet they were, they relied on the Lord. Like I've never seen before.

And they went to church multiple times a week. and it was it was just beautiful to see and then getting to pray for them was such a beautiful beautiful thing as well and so those were the main things that we did on the trip we also painted a school with the kids which was so fun wow I'm just reflecting on this right now because one of the days that I painted we kind of took turns as groups and they were still in school when we were planting and lots of these kids had come to

the BBS so we had gotten to know them throughout the week and so you're walking, like you're walking down these hallways in these schools and their windows are like like just rods kind of. They're not glass windows

and so you can look in and see the kids and you're walking down the hallway and you just hear your name. Just like shout like you go down it's like Carissa, Carissa. And they're all like looking at you smiling and waving like in the middle of class. And it was just so it was so cool. Yeah.

And so that was another opportunity where we were able to serve the community there. And so I took her truthus. What was just running through your mind, like seeing all that and experiencing that? I know that's a vague question, but like there's a lot there. Yeah. I think like I was just reminded of the goodness of God. Yeah. Number one, that I had the opportunity to experience all those things.

And number two, just like how he moved and how he works in all of these people's lives. And one thing that I was really struck with while on the trip was the idea that my life was planned by God. And you go out and you experience other cultures and you live with other people. who are in very different places than you are, and you realize that this could have been your life. Yeah. Like a little switch in God's direction for my life could have been completely, wildly different.

And so I really was struck with a lot of gratitude for the things that he's given me and how he has blessed me in my life. And that was a big thing. It was just that realization that I could have been born anywhere to anyone. But I was so thankful for the life that, you know, the Lord has planned for me. This is Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM. And I'm in a church talking with Carissa nicely on her experiences throughout her mission trip to Guatemala this summer.

Okay. So, Carissa, you say that this has just been, you know, life-changing experience, I'm sure, seeing all these people and the way that your physical abilities can also affect people spiritually and emotionally and stuff like that. So what would you say you learned the most about leaving the country and spreading the gospel and just being the hands and feet of Christ? I think one of the biggest things I learned was the importance of servitude because Jesus Christ humbled himself and came to the earth, not as a wealthy man who was here to be served by other people, but it says that he came to serve and to lay his life down as a ransom for many.

And so I think that was the biggest thing I learned was this harder servitude that is like illustrated to us by Christ. in the Bible. And along with that, I realize, you know, the good that comes with serving others. And this is not why you do it, but whenever the experience that I've had serving others, I always almost receive so much after doing that. And I am transformed by that process. This is a little bit of a different tract,

but I grew up fostering other kids. You receive so much love from doing that too, even though you're giving up your home, you're giving up your heart. But you were so filled up at the very same time. And so that was a big thing that I realized is that whenever you lay yourself down, we are always filled spiritually and emotionally and just with the best things.

And we got so many great relationships out of that. And I learned so much about who God was during that. And so I think I learned the importance and the beauty of servitude and laying your life down in imitating Christ in that way. So did you have any fears or worries about leaving to go on this mission strip? I didn't have any. No, I didn't have any crazy fears or worries. Obviously, you're going to a new place, and that's going to be out of your comfort zone.

So maybe I was a little bit discomforted. Nervous. I'm not sure. Really? Maybe nervous just because you're meeting new people, and I think we all get nervous in those sorts of environments. One thing that, like, even before the trip, and we kind of already talked about it, It's just like how is this going to happen? Like is this even going to happen even though I really, really want to go?

And so that was the big thing that I was kind of like maybe scared for like, what if this doesn't work out? But again, the Lord provides. And I think that goes for like any people who have fear or like nervousness or are scared of certain things. I think it's important to realize that the Lord provides for us. And he has promised us so many wonderful things that are in the Bible. We can go and see them. And so to rest in the great assurance that he is sovereign and that he loves us is just beautiful. So yeah.

Yeah. So yeah, you kind of already touched on this, but what would some advice be to someone that might be kind of thinking between going or not going? maybe this isn't for them, should they be called to go on a mission trip? What would you say to that? I would say go. And I'm not just saying that. I'm not just saying that to say that. I am entirely convinced that you should go.

I'm entirely convinced that you should lay down the comfort of your own life to go do something discomfortable for the glory of God. And I think that a lot of times because we are so comfortable, we kind of like take the gospel to ourselves and we're like, God, like, died for me and my sins are forgiven and I can worship him on church on Sundays. But that's kind of the extent of what I'm going to do. Yeah. But I think that the gospel should so, we should be so enthralled with the gospel because, I mean, it's a crazy thing. And that's my soapbox. Christ laid down his life for us. And so we should do the same for other people. And this is good news. The fact that we get to spend eternity with God, that is good news. And we should be going to share that with as many people as we possibly can. I don't care if you're comfortable in the life that you're living right now.

We are cold to share it. Matthew says, go and make disciples of all nations. We need to be going and sharing the good news of Christ. And I'm reading a book right now that just talks about wasting your life. What book is this? It's called Don't Waste Your Life by John Piper. Okay, nice. And so it talks a lot about kind of,

of our comfortability as Christians and how life isn't about making six figures or living on a lake. It's about glorifying God. And so how's the best that you can do that? Is it by, you know, doing nothing? No, I think it's about going out there and serving other people and serving the Lord. And like I said, laying down your life to share the gospel and to. show Christ's love to other people. Amazing, amazing story, beautiful testimony.

Thank you so much, Carissa, for coming on here and sharing your story. What an encouragement you are to everyone listening. That is amazing. So our guest today has been Chris and Nicely speaking on her mission trip this summer to Guatemala, and I'm Emma Church on Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM.