CIARAN BUTTRESS worked for six months with the Christian charity Youth with a Mission (YWAM).
Before he left, Ciaran said: “I am thoroughly grateful for the support of the Old Burians and their generosity. The fantastic provision for this adventure has been a miracle and I am truly blessed. The Old Burians’ assistance will help pay for vaccinations, trip equipment and general costs.” On his return, he sent us the following report:
Youth With A Mission is a non-profit Christian charity currently working in more than 1,100 locations in over 180 countries. Their aim is to teach and equip young people to ‘know God and make him known’ and in doing so bring freedom and hope to a world in need. This is seen in a wealth of ways including practical humanitarian work, medical aid, community volunteering, orphan care, teaching English to the uneducated, and the list goes on. I decided to commit to a 6-month trip organised by a base in Hawaii, Honolulu. Consequently, I was complimented rather frequently on my great sacrificial servitude to endure the hot tropical beaches Hawaii has to offer! In fact, with a smirk upon his face, dear John Ottley specified the donation from the Old Burians’ Association was only for the following three months of outreach work in Cambodia and Japan.
However, the learning started before the trip in the task of accumulating the £5,000 to fund the 6 months. Being a Christian, I had grown up on stories of God’s financial provision for his children and I was truly reliant on this to get me to Hawaii. The first £3,000 came while working at Tesco. Only another £2,000 to collect in 6 months… I wouldn’t recommend this in every situation of life, but for this purpose, I strongly felt urged not to ask for a single penny at all, either through donations or fundraising, but completely trust God. A few weeks after this decision, and prayer, I bumped into John at the A- level results day. He suggested applying for Old Burians’ funding to support my trip. Further generous donations followed from people who wished to support my venture – a true testament to God’s faithfulness.
Hawaii lives up to the tropical paradise you imagine, however, when you start looking below the surface it still has the same problems as everywhere else. Every Tuesday we had the privilege of going to China Town in Waikiki. We would simply chat to the homeless people of which Honolulu probably has more than beaches. In fact Hawaii has the highest homeless population per capita in the USA. This wasn’t the heroic salvation of 3rd world Orphans I often imagined would happen, but it helped the rejected and marginalised in our own culture on our own doorstep. It was amazing and humbling to be friends with them although it was always painful as we couldn’t fix their problems. The night would often end with our arms around someone crying. However the small help we offered spoke masses to them: that they are loved. This trip was filled with many highs and lows but one of my most enjoyable memories of Hawaii was hiking up the valley at midnight and swimming in a waterfall under the full moon. The stars in Hawaii are AMAZING due to the lack of clouds and light pollution. This was experienced on our last week with nine other friends from five different nations – I was the only Englishman on the trip.
It took us a week of travelling to get us to our destination, Cambodia, which felt very orange and sweaty. Our first location was an hour outside Battambong. The countryside was vast, flat land with random houses along the dust roads which occasionally clustered into villages of hand-built wooden and tin houses. We were dropped off here with one translator for 13. There was no running water but there were a couple of hours of electricity in the evening. Thank goodness, too, because it was 40-48 degrees all week and so humid! We needed those fans. We were awoken at 5:30 by the Buddhist chants and the cockerels to a massive glowing hazy red/orange/pink sphere rising up the pale sky. Watching this, while standing in a field, pouring cool water from a giant pot over your back with nothing but a sarong around your waist and cows in front with palm trees behind and life-long friends at your side is a rather unique thing. That peace didn’t last long however as you’re dripping with sweat in five minutes and having to entertain 20 hyped kids!
The most bizarre memory was fishing. The water holes were running low revealing thick grey squelchy mud. Somehow fish mate in this and it was our task to wade through the mud and snatch the fish with our hands! There are so many stories I could tell not least Khmer new year which is a nation wide water fight. We spent two months in Cambodia over four locations and our main work was providing company for hospital patients. Emotional recovery is often overlooked in Cambodia. This was followed by three weeks in Japan teaching Christianity in a high schools’ religious education classes. I learnt so much on this trip, but to finish, a recurring thought which helped me during the hard times away was this quote by Jim Elliot: “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain that which he cannot lose”.