Many students on the Detroit Mercy campus headed to warm destinations with sandy beaches for spring break. A group of students in the Detroit Mercy ministry chose to spend their Spring Break in the Appalachian Mountain chain of Tennessee.
A group of six women and two ministry leaders served the community of Toppa Joppa Mountain. As the road winded up the mountain and narrowed the group experienced feelings of excitement and anxiety.
They received a warm welcome from the Benedictine Sisters of The St. Walburg Monastery and The Glenmary Home Missioners. Staying at the St. Walburg Monastery showed the Detroit Mercy women a simple way of living, with grace and appreciation for the nature and art around them. Sister Emmanuelle, one of the Benedictine sisters, painted lavish paintings and created beautiful artwork that could be seen throughout the monastery.
Detroit Mercy shared their space with Boston College during the trip and reflected upon their day with school, forming new bonds. The weather forecasted warmth and 60 degrees, but when the group arrived it was a brisk 30 degrees.
The leader of Glenmary, was a quiet, gentle man who taught the group how to build a ramp. The theme of the mission trip was simplicity.
Students were urged to pack lightly and bring the bare necessities. Urged to not take more food than you can eat and take quick showers.
The first day, the Detroit Mercy group built a ramp. Heavy wooden planks were carried to the build site.
The old ramp was deconstructed to build the new one. A heavy pickaxe was used to dig holes to place cement to stabilize wooden polls.
It was hard, laborious work. But it was rewarding.
Saba Almuthafar, a senior at UDM, reflected, “It was rewarding to see the finished product of what our group had started.”
The next day, the group headed to Northridge Orphanage to help clean the property. While there, the group met the groundskeeper. He was devoted to God and maintained his belief in making things right and living for the Lord.
The group drove past a lot of abandoned barns, from the result of big tobacco companies buying the smaller ones, leading barn owners to abandon their crops and residence.
Camilla Kesto, a senior at UDM, stated that it was “Eye opening to see this level of poverty in America.”
Most of the residents in the Toppa Joppa region obtain water from the creeks or use rainwater.
Kesto reflected upon how grateful she was, “These people were put into my life for a reason. I was here to help them, and they were here to help me.”
The last stop of the trip was to Narrowridge, a nature conservatory and natural burial site. The site wraps the bodies in a linen cloth so they can decompose naturally into the earth.
At Narrowridge, students cleared a trail in the mountains so that the group after could walk it.
Kylee Foster stated “Making the trail was peaceful. It was nice to be in silence and surrounded by nature.” 
