Crossroads of Compassion: Madison Campbell's Journey in Nicaragua
Episode 6 | 17 Minutes | Jul 31, 2024
Madison Campbell shares her experience of going on short-term team trips to Nicaragua with One Collective. She talks about the relationships she has built with the local people and missionaries, the cultural differences she has encountered, and the ways in which she has seen God at work. Madison also offers advice for future short-term team trip participants and discusses her plans for future cross-cultural service.
In this Episode:
How short-term team trips provide opportunities to build relationships and experience different cultures.
Lessons learned about expressing gratitude and listening well
How prayer and an open heart are essential for a meaningful cross-cultural service experience.
Supporting and staying connected with the local people and missionaries is crucial.
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Madison Campbell, 23, is a vibrant young woman who finds joy in singing and spending time with friends, particularly over meals, fostering community within her faith circle. Her journey into missions began at 16 with One Collective in Nicaragua, marking the start of a dedicated involvement in short-term mission trips. Over the years, Madison has participated in seven to eight such trips, deeply impacting her perspective and commitment to cross-cultural service. Her experiences reflect a passion for both personal growth and building connections with believers and communities worldwide.
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Introduction to Madison's Journey
We are here with Madison and we're going to hear a little bit about how God has been working through her and during her trip. Madison, just tell us a little bit about yourself.
Madison's Background and Passion for Missions
Hi, thank you so much I'm Madison Campbell. I'm 23 years old. I love to sing. I love to hang out and get dinner with friends. Just be part of that community and cultivate that kind of community among other people. Other believers and my first mission trip ever was with one collective to Nicaragua in 2017 when I was 16 years old. And since then I think I've been on seven or eight mission trips so far for short-term experiences. It's something that I love to do and I can, I'm planning on continuing to do many more. Yeah, that's amazing. So you've got some years, you've done this several times.
Recent Trip to Nicaragua
So tell us a little bit about your most recent trip that you went on. When and where did you go? And who'd you go with? Yeah, just tell us a little bit about that.
Yeah most recently was back in Nicaragua. It was my fifth time there. So I kept saying, I was like, fifth time's the charm. All right Lord, keep moving. I went with my dad, his name is Trey Campbell, and he was the one who originally started taking us the people he works with, and our friends on these trips with One Collective. And so it's been cool, not only getting closer to God, Not only getting closer to the people in Nicaragua and our teammates but especially getting closer to my dad as well. I feel like our relationship since I was 16 and my first one has just grown so much getting to go on these trips together. So he was leading that one. We went back to Nicaragua in Mazatepe. So we got to be at Beiros Bistro and we got to work with Posada de Luca and Papagayo, which is the pineapple farm. And it was just really cool getting to see people that I met when I was 16 who are still worth one collective working with them. Because it's not only just seeing them, once a year, Hey, what's up? It's we keep up with each other on social media. We know what's going on in each other's lives. And so that's my favorite part is the relationship part, but also to see the projects that they've started years ago. All of the fruit that's been coming from that as well.
Yeah, for sure. So all the people that you went on the trip with, were those people that you have been with since you were 16, or have the teams changed consistently?
So the teams that we went with a lot of them started coming from my dad's company. He works with Southwestern. And so a lot of them are around my age, like in their twenties. And so some of them, I think there was probably like this specific team was a lot of people who'd already been to Nicaragua. We had seven out of the 11 of us who'd been before. So a lot of them were people that had been on trips before and then there were a few new faces. And then the people that live there, the local people, but also the missionaries were people. Most of them we had seen before. And then we met some new faces and immediately were like, What's your Instagram?
We gotta keep up with each other! Which I love. That's like, one of the greatest things about social media. That's like a positive thing about it, is keeping up with everybody. And then, So yeah there's some new faces, but a lot of people that we've seen grow. They've watched me grow up. I've watched them grow up as well. Yeah. That's so cool. So what would you say one of your favorite moments from your most recent trip was? Oh, I think one of my favorite moments from every time that we go to Nicaragua and it just reminded me again why it's one of my favorites is we have one night every year where we Eat with someone who lives in Nicaragua, one of the local families that lives there. So we split up between our teams. It's three to four people per household will go. And it was me and my dad and two of the guys that were on our team and we were with a family. And so it's always, you walk in and hi, like, how's it going? There's a little bit of the language barrier and see ease into it.
And by the end of the night, we were laughing so hard we were crying. We even with the language barrier, we've got someone who's translating, we got a couple of people translating for us and people busted out the guitars and the ukuleles. And we were singing worship songs and we didn't want to leave. I think it was almost 11 p.m. And we were just like, That'll be fine we'll go, we'll do devotional when we get there, it's fine. So I was like, I don't want to leave, and when I come back here, I will make sure I'll be at your house again. I was like, this is, it was just so much fun. So that's one of my favorite parts. We also just working with everybody. We worked at Betos Bistro again. We worked at the pineapple farm one day. So getting to see that again as well. And then also our team specifically do devotionals at night. And so the conversations were just, vulnerable.
And I feel like so much like watching it, so much healing happened within our team as well. That people in Nicaragua, the missionaries got to be a part of as well, because we're always like, anybody that wants to come be part of the devotional at night, you're more than welcome to. So they got to see that as well, which was special.
Yeah, that's awesome.
Cultural Experiences in Nicaragua
I hear two things in your favorite moments, I hear the aspect of just experiencing the culture and then also just seeing how God worked. And I want to touch on both of those. Because clearly, Nicaragua is a new culture. It's a new space. It's a new environment. And so what were three things that you experienced from that culture that was new to you maybe as a 16-year-old or now that you come back and there's still something new? Talk about the culture a little bit and what was new for you to experience.
Yeah. So Nicaragua specifically, I think this is a lot of Latin American culture, but Nicaragua very specifically, they call it Nika time. So it's very much like it's more relational to more of a warm culture where when we were at the family's house, we said we would probably be home by eight or nine back at our, like a little place we were staying. And then it was nine and we were like we don't need to leave yet. It's fine. We'll get there. And that's how it is pretty much everywhere. And you show up when you show up, if you're talking to someone at someone's house And it's not like a we got to go, like we would in the States. It's very much no, I'm going to finish this conversation and be intentional with this person and we'll get to the next place when we get there and it'll be okay. It's the same thing with church. We just, okay, when we're ready, we go to church and church will eventually start. And it's just, that the time is very much more relaxed there. And Americans aren't as used to that. So it was, something we had to get used to is it's 9 am and we're late. No, it's okay. Just relax. We'll get there when we get there. So that was something that we had to get used to. Everyone always jokes and I joke about it too. I'm like the world's pickiest eater. So I'm always every time I go there I get my peanut butter crackers. I got my goldfish. I got all my snacks and So the food every single the first time I went when I was 16, I was like, what am I gonna eat? Oh no, and every time I've gone I've eaten more and more just because I've been Become more used to it as well.
And their food is really good there. Like it's a problem. No, no one else's problem. It's just me. But yeah, and thankfully they're the, they have the bistro and they make the most amazing smoothies. They've coffee. And so it's nice to be able to order like 17 smoothies a day, which is, helping the business out as well.
Yeah, that's awesome. Yeah, I love that. A lot of notes that Western culture can take.
Spiritual Reflections and Lessons Learned
And then the spiritual piece talks to me about how you saw God at work since this trip in your own life. Since you've come back, you've come back to the States, how have you seen God working in your life as a result of your experience?
Yeah There are a couple of things that I learned and some of it was from our teammates one of the guys, his name is Brayden, he's been a couple of times, he talked a lot about gratitude, and so was something that I realized, I was like, I need to say thank you more not I need to say thank you to people more for things that, they're doing for me that I don't deserve, but I also need to just thank the Lord more every single time, it's hot in Nicaragua February is super hot, Like the hottest we've ever, we normally go December, we went this February for the first time and I was like, it's significantly hotter than in December. And so anytime there was a breeze if a cloud covered the sun, I just immediately was like, thank you, Jesus. You didn't have to do that. Thank you. And little things like that just, expressing more gratitude and then also listening better. Some of the mission trips I've been on, I'm in a place in my life where I am just, I feel like I'm word vomiting constantly.
Just this is what's going on. And that's fine to be vulnerable. But more recent ones like this one, I feel like I listen more. So just practicing James 119 Being quick to listen and slow to speak, being able to listen more and learn more from people. And just absorbing that like a sponge has been something that I learned a lot from this last trip that we went on. And then I think from all the local people that live there and the missionaries just the vision that they have and the hope that they have even if they don't have, As much material stuff that we have in the United States, like they are so filled with faith that it's we don't need all this stuff.
You get home and you're just like, I, why do I have this much stuff? Like I need Jesus and everything else is just extra. And they have that attitude and they also make do with what they have. They come up with the most creative ways to use what they have, which is also really cool because everyone's so resourceful there too, so yeah those are some of the things I think that I learned, especially, specifically from this last time in February.
Yeah, those are really good reflections. You've clearly, processed this trip. And yeah, that's equally as important. You go on this trip and you come back and you can't just jump back into normal life. You have to see how it affected you.
Advice for Future Missionaries
After you've done this trip multiple times, but as you've come out of this trip, what advice would you have for someone who has signed up for a short-term team trip in the future? How should they prepare?
I would say check your emails. Like I always check your emails. That's very important. And anything that One Collective sends you, anything that anyone From where you're going to send you check those, and I would also say, with wherever you're going, whatever language they speak, definitely start practicing basic conversational. It can never hurt. And also pray. Prayer is one of the biggest ones. I don't think that I did that as much going into mission trips. And so this one before February, I was way more intentional about praying for. The trip itself, safety getting there, but also while we were there and praying for the missionaries there that are there as well. I think I am more likely to remember the people, like the locals, the people who were serving there, or our teammates. And I feel like the missionaries that live there 24 seven kinds of can be forgotten about. And so just pray for them even if you don't know them yet. But you know their names from the emails praying for those people as well.
Yeah, I think prayer is the biggest one. And then just make sure your heart is in a good place. It's not the easiest thing. That's why a lot of people go on mission trips because they're in this weird place in life and they want clarity and they want to experience something new. But just, Allowing your heart to be in a place of just openness and in a place to receive whatever the Lord's gonna do in your life That week two weeks. However long you're there. I think is something really wise to do beforehand So that whenever you're there, you're ready to receive and be open to anything instead of being more I've struggled with that before. I wanted things to go a certain way and missions and ministry is messy. It's not perfect. And so plans change all the time. Being able to adapt to that was something I had to learn the hard way, but eventually, it got easier. The more times that I got to go on them. So if you go on your first one and you're already in that mindset of whatever happens, and I'm just here to serve and learn, then you'll be golden.
Yeah, that's awesome. That's all super helpful so the last question I have for you as someone who's done trips multiple times and now just finished another one.
Future Plans and Aspirations
What will cross-cultural service look like for you now? Do you plan to do another one with your dad? Do you plan to do cross-cultural service differently in your life right now and currently? What does that look like for you?
Yeah, so recently last night I had dinner with a friend who works with my dad who's been to Nicaragua before. And we talked about possibly co-leading a trip next February. I think my dad is trying to get on the books for one trip, so we're going to do maybe a back-to-back trip.
This would be my first one leading one 401 collective mission trip. And so that's something that I'm praying about. But we said, Hey let's start moving with this, moving forward, and let God guide us. And it was funny cause we were talking about it and I said, I would love to lead a trip and I'm confident in the spiritual part of it. But the Logistics part of it is what makes me nervous because I've never dealt with the traveling and keeping up like, you know Constantly one two three four how many people is everyone where they need to be? And my friend Sarah was like, oh, I love that part it's the spiritual part that I am still learning a lot about as am I but we just looked at each other and we were like, oh Wait, we could co-lead one together, get the best of both worlds.
So we had dinner last night, and that's a plan to see what maybe we could do next year to lead a trip back to Nicaragua. That'll be my sixth time there, so I think at this point I'm Hey, y'all like we, we know each other. Let's go. What do we need to do? Let's just jump right into it. Headfirst. Yeah, that's the plan right now. I know my dad is planning on going back. We're, we always say that. And that's the other thing too, is once you go on one, it's really hard not to want to go on another one. Mainly not only because of what you get to do there and what you learn, but because of the relationships, I love that about One Collective is it is so relationship and they are so like, that's one of their core values is like the people that you're going to meet. That's the most important part is the people. And keeping up with those people and praying for those people and doing everything that you can to serve them while you're there. And so that's something too, that keeps me coming back is I, it's not just me walking in and saying, hi, these are people that I met one time. It's no, these are my friends. Like these are my friends now. And so not only is it, Serving and helping the community doing whatever they need, whatever the need is there, but it's also like an opportunity to visit with some of my close friends there as well which I think is neat that we have that culture right now where we're able to travel and go see each other.
Yeah, for sure. And I'm just curious What do you plan to do long term? Do you what is the career passion for you? Where's that like in your heart and your passion? Yeah, I've always loved missions, ministry, that kind of like route, that's always been something that I'm passionate about and so for right now, it is still short term, little bite size, little trips here and there.
I wouldn't be surprised if the Lord called me to do something a little bit longer term. But that's up to Him right now every time I go to Nicaragua, they're like, when are you moving here? And I'm like ha. Ask God. Okay. I'm like, I don't know that. Which is sweet, but yeah that's where I'm at right now is just, if I'm not there, then supporting people who are there. And then when I get to go like fully. Going with everything I have for that week because as much as it is like the first day you're there wherever you are, you're like, whoa, long days, long hours working hard. You're talking to a lot of people, which is awesome, but it can be draining. But then by the end, you're like, that was the fastest week ever. I want to be here for three more weeks or let's stay here for three months. Yeah, that's the plan right now. But anytime anyone asks me that I'm like, Oh, me and God are talking about that. I don't know. Hey, that's the healthiest way to handle it. That's the way to do it, for sure.
Yes, absolutely.
Conclusion and Final Thoughts
This is all super helpful. I loved hearing your answers. Thank you so much for joining us and sharing with us. Loved hearing your story and I think this will benefit future short-term workers as they start to entertain that process and start to think it over and ultimately start to join the field. And I think you are perfect testimony to God's work throughout short-term team trips and what he's doing to this world. So again, thank you so much, and hope to hear from you soon. Goodbye!
Yeah, absolutely!