JACKSON, Tenn. — Jan. 21, 2005 — Amy McCutcheon is nervous.
She鈥檚 afraid she might get sick. She鈥檚 afraid she might get stranded in a distant land. She鈥檚 afraid of potential violence from different militant groups.
But that鈥檚 not stopping her from going to Indonesia. McCutcheon, a senior athletic training major at 51社区, is heading that way today with a group from her church to help tsunami victims rebuild their lives. She鈥檒l spend 10 days there.
鈥淔irst and foremost, as a Christian I am called to go out into the nations,鈥� McCutcheon said. 鈥淲hat I鈥檒l tell the Indonesians is that Jesus was a lover of all people, and he loves you. Therefore, I want to help in any way I can as a follower of Jesus.鈥�
Germantown (Tenn.) Baptist Church is sending teams to Indonesia every Friday through March to provide disaster relief. Shortly after the tsunami hit in December, a team from the church led by senior pastor Sam Shaw and missions pastor Mark Morris went to Indonesia to determine what the most pressing needs were and how the church could help.
When they returned and reported their findings to the church, McCutcheon became interested in helping. Since Union鈥檚 spring semester doesn鈥檛 begin until February, she knew she had the time to go.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 figure God鈥檚 given me the time for any other reason,鈥� she said.
The church is focusing on one village in Indonesia that sustained heavy damage and that lost 10 percent of its population in the tsunami.
鈥淥ur task is to help them rebuild their village,鈥� McCutcheon said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 slow, and that task will probably change day by day as different things come up. One of our goals is to cook one hot meal a day.鈥�
McCutcheon said she wanted to participate in the relief efforts because the need is so urgent.
鈥淢issions is something that I would like to do on a more long-term basis,鈥� she said. 鈥淵ou can go on little short-term mission trips, but not very often are you going to have the opportunity to go and experience such a natural disaster and such a need. People all over the world have a need, but this is an immediate need for right now.鈥�
In addition to meeting the physical needs of the Indonesian villagers, she also is hoping for opportunities to build relationships and talk to them about Jesus. And McCutcheon thinks this experience will be good for her own spiritual growth.
鈥淚 think it will help me become more well-rounded,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e as Americans have a lot of things. We overlook our clean sheets. We overlook water. Sometimes it鈥檚 good to kind of shake that up a little bit.鈥�
McCutcheon knows the trip won鈥檛 be easy, and she鈥檚 prepared for that. But one of her biggest apprehensions deals with finances. The trip will cost her a total of about $2,800. So far, she鈥檚 raised about half that.
鈥淚 only found out about this a week ago, so I鈥檝e been hard-pressed to raise the money,鈥� she said.
She said anyone wishing to donate money to help with her expenses can send a check, payable to Germantown Baptist Church, to her at 2371 Calkins Road, Germantown, Tenn., 38139.