Shortly after the new year, a select group of our students had the privilege to embark on the first ever CN mission trip! This trip has been years in the making, and was unfortunately postponed many times due to Covid and travel restrictions. The students, teachers, administrators, coaches and Father Frei spent a week serving Mayan villages in the rural areas of Quintana Roo, Mexico. The team spent each day working on painting projects, playing sports and doing arts/craft projects with the local children. They were welcomed into the homes of Mayan locals for meals, and fortunate to experience real Mayan hospitality.
Precious Ochweri, a sophomore team member on the mission trip, said, “Every day was an opportunity to live in the image of God. God was in our minds, our hearts, our hands and our actions.”
A mission trip like this takes time, planning, coordination and money,and it’s worth all of it. It is such an incredible experience that reinforces what students are learning at school; to put others first, have compassion, to get angry about injustice and be motivated to make a change for the better. It allows students (and adults) to discern what is really important in life. It gives them some needed perspective on how blessed most of us truly are.
CN Junior, Kemp Wilson added that, “Traveling to Mexico for the mission trip was really an eye-opening experience for my classmates and me. Hearing the laughter from the children we visited, seeing the gratitude in the eyes of the elderly we met, and the thankfulness from all the families we came in contact with, made the long trip completely worth it.”
Cardinal Newman parent, Erin Timmons said, “The students were so eager to put their faith into action and serve the villagers. An experience like this is life changing; service, mass, prayer, time in the community…their schedule sounded exhausting, but so fulfilling! I know the students will now be looking for more ways that they can be the hands of Jesus in the world, not just on trips abroad but at home too. I’m so grateful my daughter was given this opportunity.”
View all of the photos from the Mission Trip here.
Adult Team Members
Lara Druffner
Laura Chambers
Marcus McGill
Father Frei
Student Team Members:
Aguilar, Gloria
Allert, Erin
Argoe, Aidan
Austin, Leif
Burch, Payton
Darby, Gibson
Diehl, Sheridan
Fallaw, Ella
Farr, John
Harris, Sofia
Hydorn, Thomas
Jacobs, Aaron
Kingston, Kathryn
Kopec, Alexander
Linfert, Sarah
Lionetti, Madisen
Lorick, Keirston
Ochweri, Precious
Presnal, Renner
Simmons, Nicklaus
Thompson, Owen
Timmons, Caroline
Trimmier, Adam
Wilson, Kemp
Woodham, Caroline
Woodham, Grace
Horn, Mya