The senior trip is a mission adventure that our graduating seniors embark on with excitement and dedication! This trip allows our seniors to fulfill the Great Commission beyond the local area as they have the opportunity to go into the world and share the Gospel! It is also an opportunity for spiritual and personal growth. The students participate in daily devotions from the book of Philippians and experience the practical lessons of loving others, serving others, and considering others as more important than themselves. Last but not least, the students have the opportunity to appreciate other cultures. By immersing themselves in a culture and language other than their own, they get to see the body of Christ which transcends cultures, and they get to worship with believers in a cultural setting which is unique to the country they are visiting. Silverdale students have participated in senior trips in countries like Greece, Mexico, Jamaica, and the Caribbean.
Check out the video highlighting their trip to Greece in 2018:
Senior Trip 2018: Greece from Silverdale Baptist Academy on Vimeo.
Wow Moments: Greece 2018
Zoe: It is truly hard to put into words to describe how eye-opening and miraculous this trip was. It was life-changing to be able to experience God’s reckless love in the beautiful country of Greece. There were countless amounts of wow moments that we all endured on this trip, but a couple that stood out to me was the worship service (which gave me a glimpse of what heaven will be like), the hike up Meteora (walk with Christ), and the night spent in Limeni where my life and other lives were changed forever. It was heartwarming seeing the day and night change that occurred between the lives of those who were saved. I am thankful that I was able to experience this trip with everyone and be able to unite as a grade as we finish our senior year.
Isabel: I loved the fellowship between our own group but also with other Believers we met at church and at the CVC - God’s love really pours out in a mysterious way between individuals who love Him, like how Mrs. Ioannidis said it’s like knowing someone a long time ago and reuniting with them after decades even though we’ve never even met these people. It’s hard to explain but the fellowship we experienced among ourselves is deeper than before because God moved in our hearts individually.
Keerthana: Hearing the locals sing in Greek and us sing in English during the service on Easter. It was cool to see how regardless of the language barrier, we were all singing to and worshipping the same God.
Colton: seeing the Bible come to life and seeing where Paul walked and experiencing God bring our senior class together into one. Also during church, we worshiped in different languages but served the same God. That was pretty neat.
Cole: just seeing how God is so amazing as a creator and seeing all the amazing views. It shows us how much he loves us and I also loved seeing our class, in general, grow closer and have unity.
McCall: Corinth - seeing how Paul’s words in Corinthians related to the time he visited Corinth and the temple of Aphrodite - our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit
Macy: hiking through mt. Olympus and seeing the insane views and God’s creation!
Abby: hiking up the mountain to Meteora, being able to see the sunset at the top. Like a great accomplishment. Corinth; being able to walk where Paul walked and see the Bema. Then when we watched the sunset by the Aegean Sea and that night.
Jordan: OH MY WORD. This was by far the most life-altering and eye-opening trip I have ever been on. I had so many wow moments throughout the entire time, but the one that stands out the most to me is the pure love and compassion that our chaperones showed us throughout the entire trip. Being with them and seeing how they interact with others outside of the trip was great. Growing close to them and them helping us grow our relationship closer with God was definitely worth it all. Also, seeing the sunrise and sunset each day was a simple reminder that God was there with us even 5,000 miles away from home. &&& my best friend’s lives were radically changed by our AWESOME God.
Ryan: The sights and sunsets were unreal. Tuesday night before the revival I truly felt the Holy Spirit as we sang and watched the sunset. This played a part in what lead to me fully surrender my life to Christ that night. I am beyond thankful for this trip just for that reason but I also became friends with people I wouldn’t normally associate with but I’m glad I could add these positive influences to my life. Some of my other favorite parts were experiencing the culture of Greece, especially the cheap food and the guardian dogs.
Emma: This trip was the trip of a lifetime. Being able to worship our God and the Creator of all things in the church together while they were singing in Greek and we were singing in English gave me goosebumps. The fact that we got to worship the same God even though there was a language barrier was amazing. Watching my classmates play with the kids in the street and the refugees and seeing how this trip changed some people have answered prayers for me. Watching the sunset in Limeni and experiencing the Holy Spirit through singing and digging in the word and becoming more unified as a class. This trip brought us together and now we're on running in this race together and we're all here to hold each other accountable. These memories will last forever and this trip will forever be one of my favorites. (Hebrews 12:1-3 and 1 Corinthians 13)