A Road Trip with Eternal Results

Christian Academy of Lawrenceburg students’ lives are changed by mission work

While many high school students were prepping for March Madness, two Christian Academy of Lawrenceburg students spent their time getting ready for a road trip like none other.

Will Cummins and Esther Wingfield, both sophomores, journeyed to Malawi for a weeklong trip sponsored by Akonda Ministries, a mission organization based in Louisville.

“We did medical work in a newly opened clinic,” said Wingfield, who has made six trips to the country and feels called to devote her life to mission work in the small country located in the southeastern portion of the African continent. 

Cummins, who is a three-sport athlete at CAL, was making his first trip overseas and admits he did not know what to expect. “I was scared about the packing and everything, but I was just looking forward to getting there.”

Cummins said his mother, Tiffany, also went on the trip, as did another medical team. They provided services to people who have very little by American standards and are very receptive to the message of the gospel.

Despite having many needs, Wingfield said, “they were always so joyful when they received it. I just fell in love with the people right away. It hurt my heart for their needs.”

Cummins added, “They didn’t have a lot but they gave us so much. God is their main priority and He was the first thing on their minds when they wake up.”

While the mission trip was designed to meet some physical needs, the ultimate reason for traveling more than 8,000 miles was to share the gospel message. Two interpreters traveled with the group.

“They were very touched by what we had to say,” Cummins said. “When we were fitting some for glasses, nine out of 10 of their problems were they couldn’t read their Bibles. That showed they were into the Word.”

While Wingfield started going to Malawi with her family when she was 12 years old, Cummins’ journey was filled with victories and setbacks.  “I actually wasn’t supposed to go, but I was told I could get my trip paid in full, which helped my decision.”

But Cummins’ script began to read in a way that Kentucky Wildcat fans could relate as he suffered a severely sprained ankle during the Rams’ basketball game on December 19. Cummins wasn’t going to let the injury keep him home. “I was worried at the start but once I started recovering, it was very fast and I wasn’t really worried about it,” he said.

Cummins had played 10 games for the Rams before being sidelined.  Earlier in the year, Will had placed ninth in the Kentucky Christian Athletic Association state cross country meet. He also tees it up for the school’s golf team. 

Wingfield does not participate on any of CAL’s athletic teams. 

During the trip, both Wingfield and Cummins were challenged to continue to work in cross-cultural missions, perhaps in full-time ministry. And they were stricken by the poverty in Malawi, a country where the vast majority of people live in extreme poverty. 

“These people are helpless and don’t have jobs,” Wingfield said of the Christian communities she serves in Malawi. “Our ministry likes to go and empower the locals and make sure things are locally done so they can sustain themselves and help them create solutions to their problems.

“My whole family goes and I have felt a calling on those people. Those people are drawn to me for some reason. Every time I leave, it gets harder and harder. Our ministry has a spot open for someone just like me.”

Cummins was taken aback by the fact that most people did not have completed houses and says the trip transformed him. “It definitely changed me,” he said. “Just seeing the difference between Malawi and America.

Cummins is not sure about the future but wants to include mission work in his life journey. “I don’t know what God has planned for me yet, but I want to do something medically and hopefully be able to help on mission trips or help sports teams whether that be as a trainer or to help people out,” he said. “I feel like God is calling me to these places and I want to go where God is calling me.”