By Tyler Hughes

Reach the Unreached, Touch the Untouched

At Jeffersonville High School, a lot of people make assumptions about one another and really just look at their peers and basically judge a book by its cover. Some, maybe most, kids at Jeff look at me as the “Jock of the School.” They see me as this kinda big headed guy who thinks he’s better than everyone and someone who has no heart when it comes to certain things. My peers look at me that way until they get to really know me. Yes, I can be a little confident about certain things because for the most part I’m a humble, kind hearted, funny and enjoyable person to be around.

Over spring break, my senior year of 2019, I took time out of my life to make a difference in someone else’s. I went on a mission trip to San Reymundo, Guatemala, and helped build six houses for families who only lived under sticks and tarps, if they were even lucky to live in that kind of “shelter.” We started from just dirt on the ground, to making a concrete base, building walls with wood, to making a roof with pro rib, to installing electricity in their new home. We supplied them with beds, blankets, couches and a TV. The house we built may have not have been the biggest but to them it was a mansion. We
built this house with every ounce of love. Over the course of us building this house for these families, we got to spend time and connect with the kids and families. If anyone really knows me, I’m a sucker for kids and am so easy to connect with kids easier than anyone else. I connected to each and every kid of the families in such a beautiful way that I’ve never felt before with anyone. Each and every day we arrived and left the site where we built the house, the kids would line up and give me a hug and a kiss on the cheek and tell me how much they appreciated me.

This trip was definitely life changing and I couldn’t have been more blessed to be able to create a huge impact on each and every one of their lives. And I just wish people would just take a second and truly get to know me and who I am really am.