Valor mission trips bring discovery and compassion
Mariah Soby (first person from left on second row) and her friends/classmates helped in a medical facility for several days in Juarez, Mexico.
Twenty hours of community service is the requirement for every high school student in Colorado to graduate; Colorado passed that requirement starting with each class that followed 2023.
At Valor Christian High School (Valor), the requirement goes much further, requiring its students to commit to 100 hours of community service to earn that diploma. For one week during their two-week spring break in March, Valor students of all grades choose from service opportunities close to home, out of state, or out of the country in what they call Valor Discovery and Engage Week.
More than 170 Valor students took part this year, serving in Memphis, Mexico, Quebec, Albania, Belize, Costa Rica, Italy, India and Thailand.
Valor Junior Mariah Soby chose Juarez, Mexico. She was one of 27 students who went on the mission trip. Mariah said it was impactful, opening her eyes to the less fortunate, much different from her home in the Knightsbridge neighborhood, while teaching her to put others first.
“I think it is so important for young people to be exposed to that kind of poverty. It gets teenagers who live in a very rich part of the world to see how blessed they truly are and how compassion and love to others means so much more than their phones and material things,” said Mariah who stated that students were required to leave their phones at home. “It humbles us and teaches us the true purpose of life.”
The group built two houses for two families that were chosen by Mission Ministries. Then they participated in outreach at mental institutions, the local church and a senior center.
Mariah is interested in the medical field and was able to get hands-on experience on the trip. “We also worked in the clinic where we shadowed doctors and got to assist them in charting, taking vitals, surgical procedures and prescribing medications,” shared Mariah. “They taught us a lot about how to observe, diagnose and treat sickness and other serious illnesses or problems.”
Mariah is excited to see where her next discovery takes her.
Mariah and her school mates played games with local kids during their time in Juarez, Mexico.
Valor Discovery students helped build two houses for two families with Mission Ministries while in Juarez, Mexico.
By Karen Leigh; photos courtesy of Mariah Soby
