In the face of systemic injustice it is easy to despair. "How can any changes I make in my life have an effect on the poor?" is a question often voiced during these trips. Such questions can sometimes be used to excuse ourselves from the responsibility to try to effect changes in the world. Yet any change we make in how we live, whether it's how much we shop, what types of food we purchase, or the decision to recycle, is still a change in the world. So, too, are the decisions to speak truthfully, to pray more regularly, and to live honestly. These are real changes, however small they may seem. Cerrtainly, the task of working for social change is daunting. For that matter, the process of our own conversion is challenge enough! If we are simply goal-oriented, we undoubtedly will become disappointed and possibly embittered. God makes no promises that we will see the effects of our effort. Yet our effort, the source of which is God's grace, is an essential part of the Kingdom, which starts out as a small, seemingly insignificant mustard seed. Students are given a significant challenge on these trips, and new leaders often surface during the course of the preparation and the trip itself. These journeys challenge the students and I to examine our lifestyles in light of the Church's social teaching. Finally, they open our eyes to a reality from which we often protect ourselves, open our hearts to brothers and sisters we never knew we had, and let us hear the Gospel from a fresh perspective.
