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The youth team sang, played musical and taught Christian songs to the crowd, who danced and sang with the music.

Youth Team Repairs School and Restores Hope

March 14-28, eight Canvasback young people travelled 6,370 miles to spend their Spring Break volunteering on the remote island of Yap, in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). Their mission: to refurbish one of the schools that had been severely damaged by typhoon Sudal in 2004, along with 90 percent of all the other structures on the island. Canvasback Missions also shipped a 40-foot ocean container loaded with supplies that helped replenish the classrooms with books and furniture.

The teens traveled with an ophthalmology team that provided free cataract surgery and vision services for the islanders. While some worked on projects at the school others assisted in the eye clinic. The mission also gave the students an opportunity to share their faith with the people of Yap through service, friendship and prayer.

Youth leader Chris Howell and his wife, Debbie (Baltimore, MD), led out in the program that kept the youth busy with building projects and mission outreach. Assistant youth leader Leonard Grado (Placerville, CA), was amazed at how much was accomplished. “Any time a young person can be involved in a project, it will one way or another shape them as an individual to do more service as they grow up.”

During their two weeks on the island, the teens repaired the athletic grounds and completely refurbished a number of school buildings. Sterling Spence, 17 (Benicia, CA) and Scott Wilson, 17 (Benicia, CA) were appointed team construction leaders, rebuilding a rickety, storm-battered staircase that was still being used by a schoolteacher and her infant, building a stage for performances, replacing basketball hoops and installing tether balls. Lauren Grado, 17 (Placerville, CA), Lauren West, 17 (Pleasant Hill, CA) and Liliana Archaga, 18 (Antioch, CA), Jasmine Howell, 14 (Clarksville, MD), and Camillia Howell, 7 (Clarksville, MD) worked as part of the team.

Savannah Able-Smith, 14 (Placerville, CA) paid her way to Yap by selling Christmas trees at her family's lot in Sacramento. Savannah and Lauren Grado spent time in the optometry clinic distributing free pairs of eyeglasses. “Wow,” says Savannah, “working at the hospital gave me a completely new perspective on life. I never had any idea how lucky we are in America! All of the doctors and nurses that I worked with were wonderful and I quickly learned how to use the majority of the instruments.”

Lauren Grado, 17, assists in the optometry clinic.

In addition to helping in the eye clinic, the youth team brought over 1,500 toothbrushes to give to the people. Canvasback co-founder Jacque Spence said, “Last year, the Canvasback dental team worked on Yap and found the dental needs overwhelming. There are so many children who have a mouthful of cavities. There’s a great need to teach the children to brush their teeth.”

“We toured around to all the public schools and shared Jesus and toothbrushes,” said Savannah, who had collected more than 600 toothbrushes and packs of dental floss prior to the trip. “I even learned a magic trick that went along with the theme of brushing your teeth and learning about Jesus. All the kids, K-12, were very receptive to the teaching.”

The youth team also shared music and prayer in the villages, with residents asking the group to pray with them about specific matters in their lives. They sang, played musical instruments and taught Christian songs to the crowd, who danced and sang with the music. In a land where opportunities to receive medical treatment can be few and far in between, the enduring combination of music, prayer and faith goes a long way toward healing the people.

For Lauren Grado, one of the most touching moments occurred during a visit to the outer villages. “We had been going through these small neighborhoods of little huts and singing to different families,” she explains, “One of the mothers had heard us singing so she came out of the hut dancing and clapping. To me it showed that two people can live thousands of miles apart and still be dancing together for the same great God.”