Some members pose in front of the Greek coast (Photos courtesy of Kelly Hanson)

Many students rested up at home, partied in Mexico, or ventured on a family vacation last week. One group of students went to Greece, picking up trash and reaching out a small church.
 

Junior Kelly Hanson, was one of 27 people who went on the Reformed University Fellowship’s mission trip during Spring Break. Joining Greece’s First Evangelical Church of Volos, they did various tasks throughout the week.
 

“It is very heavily based on tradition,” Hanson said about the area.
 

The population is majority Greek Orthodox, making the small church they worked with a minority. Those watching the Americans pick up trash on the side of the road were confused by their presence.
 

Hanson said it was as though the locals were asking, “What are you doing? Why are all those Americans picking up trash?”
 

Tradition is one of the reasons others don’t do this in the area. Even the government won’t take on this task in certain areas, Rev. Chad Scruggs, campus minister, explained.
 

Besides the language barrier, there were some hurdles to jump with the Greek people.
 

“They’re not nearly as schedule-oriented as we are,” he said. “They go with what needs to be done.”
 

The highlight of the trip was “less what we did, but being with the people,” Scruggs said.
“The most important thing we did while we were there was encourage them,” she said. For many, the fellowship with the church made the trip.
 

“I feel like [we had] too much fun” for a mission trip, she jokingly said.