The transformation of one’s psyche with international travel

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The word “mooch” has different meanings to different people, especially in other countries. But for some of us, it took on a new meaning two weeks ago. The Mt. Of Olives Children’s Home (MOOCH) is an orphanage located on the outskirts of a small town in Baja California, Mexico called Ejido Uruapan, about 90 miles south of San Diego. It has become a monthly site for our Students for International Mission Service (SIMS) groups. Judy and I had been invited often, so we decided it was time to go on this six-hour drive to MOOCH, including the two hours to get through the U.S.-Mexico border crossing.

There were about 50 of us, a mix of faculty, SIMS staff, and students from our different schools. The fellowship began even as we were loading the vans in the parking lot. Part of the beauty of SIMS trips is the mixing of students from various backgrounds — some who had never been outside the U.S., while others were old hands at international travel. Practice certainly makes perfect as I watched the trip leaders make decisions, give instructions to the drivers, have a prayer for safe travel while holding hands in a big circle, and we were off.

Caravaning six vans through a crowded Tijuana border crossing is no small feat, but after two hours we were through and heading down the Baja coast with a beautiful sunset over the ocean to the west. After eating together at a roadside restaurant, we arrived at MOOCH after dark and took our assigned rooms in their very functional “lodge.” The children live in separate homes on the property with “house parents,” caring for each “family” of 4-5 kids as a unit. They go to regular schools in Uruapan and are loved and disciplined as any family would. Bill and Jenn Roosma manage the orphanage and accept children from many difficult situations.

Saturday morning, before seeing the children at MOOCH, we headed out to several housing clusters of the local Indigenous people who are from Mayan, Quechua, or other indigenous backgrounds. Their living conditions label them as the marginalized of the country, struggling to provide a decent living for their families. Most of the adults were already in the fields working, leaving all the children with the younger mothers. We passed out carefully selected bags of food staples, along with clothes for the children. It was an unexpected Christmas gift for them, and a startling introduction for some of our students to what living without basic life “necessities” can look like.

Finally, back at the lodge that afternoon, the MOOCH children were brought to the lodge to mix with our students for a variety of games and laughter. Most of the younger ones mixed easily, while the teenagers were shy with these new strangers. But as the evening wore on and a meal was shared, inhibitions dropped and Loma Linda and MOOCH students became one big family. It was a privilege for Judy and me to play Santa and Mrs. Claus that night, with each child receiving a personal gift, many for the first time in their lives.

I have often said that there is nothing like confronting real human need to create “teachable moments” in the lives of young professionals. This is what Loma Linda University does so well, and I need to give a shout-out to our SIMS team. Led by Ed Drachenberg, Obed Carrera, and Marisol Wilkins, they organize, coordinate, supervise, counsel, and nurture around 800 trip participants to some 20 countries each year. On this trip, Marisol’s motherly instincts were evident, as she knew many of the orphans, who welcomed her back with open arms. The MOOCH visits are monthly, while other trips to far-off places occur during student breaks at Loma Linda University.

I don’t want to overestimate what one weekend trip can do to a person’s psyche and trajectory in life. But breaking out of our usual routines, mixing with people we don’t know, and seeing how the rest of the world lives, is transforming. You don’t learn that in a classroom! Crossing cultural, financial, and language boundaries provide these opportunities. Thank you, SIMS, for a long legacy of making this part of the Loma Linda University experience so meaningful.