The DMC student impact team gathers for a group photo under a wooden beach shelter, celebrating local culture and collective action during their final days in Abaco.
Impact Team: Abaco

A Small Part of a Bigger Mission

By June 2, 2026No Comments

Julia, Fiona, and Megan

A surprise reunion at a local ice cream shop and a powerful evening sharing Impact Stories reminded the Des Moines Christian Impact Team that every small task serves a much larger purpose. Read the full update from Julia, Fiona, and Megan to see how a day of camp cleanup and reflection left a lasting imprint on their hearts.

Today we woke up early and watched the beautiful sunrise on The Rock together in community with another high school group staying at Camp Abaco. Next, we ate a delicious pancake breakfast. After that, we began our cleanup work around camp. We really wrestled with the fact that we weren’t serving at a worksite, but then realized that we were contributing to the bigger mission of Many Hands. We broke off in groups and did tasks like beach clean-up, sweeping, cleaning dorms, and cleaning the vans. 

DMC impact team volunteers perform lawn maintenance and beach cleanup at Camp Abaco, supporting the behind-the-scenes physical infrastructure that makes Many Hands trips possible.
The DMC student impact team gathers for a group photo under a wooden beach shelter, celebrating local culture and collective action during their final days in Abaco.

After lunch, we went into town and went to a few local shops. Next, we stopped at a local ice cream shop, and many of the returning seniors recognized the cashier as a man that they had met at church the previous year, which was an amazing community connection. Our final task for the day was to write our Impact stories. Throughout the week, we’ve been working through our books, reflecting on the things that we did during the day. Today was the day that we pieced all of it together and chose a specific event that impacted us the most. We selected our theme verse, which we chose prior to leaving, together with our impact moment, truths that we learned, and a commitment for the future. 

Three Des Moines Christian School student volunteers smile together on the shore of Camp Abaco, reflecting on a week of heart transformation, service, and community connection.
Many Hands team members gather around a rustic picnic table to inspect native conch shells, learning about Bahamian marine life and local island sustainability.

After dinner, we spent nearly two hours sharing our stories and learning from each other. Although we didn’t do any work in the community today, we got to be a small part of the bigger mission that Many Hands has in Abaco. We’re so grateful that we got this opportunity to spend time with the Many Hands team and with the locals in their community, and we hope that our work reflects the Lord. We hope that it will leave an imprint on the island, because the people of Abaco certainly left an imprint on us!

– Julia, Fiona, and Megan

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