Sabrina Hallock serves orphans in India

Over the summer senior Sabrina Hallock spent her time living in an HIV orphanage and clinic center in India.

Although this was a new experience for her this hasn’t been the first time Hallock has been abroad. “I was born and raised overseas in the Amazon basin in Peru,” she said. “I was there most my life until we moved to Bolivia and attended a boarding missionary school for a year. Unfortunately the government and political unrest caused this legacy like school to close down and we had to move to the bigger city and join with another American school.” After graduating high school she came to America. When Hallock travels now she said it is different for her than it is for most. “For me traveling to other countries has been odd because I compare it more to my Latin American culture upbringing and not to America.” The thing that was different about this experience was that for the first time instead of being with her family Hallock went alone. “Overseas and third world countries are home to me and so I knew that in some regards it would be like going ‘home’ despite it being a country I'd never been to,” she said. “I'm used to going with my family and being able to talk with them and adjust together, but this summer I suddenly was alone.” Hallock was in the foreign country of India in which she didn’t know anybody or the language. “It definitely was the roughest, toughest, most stretching and heart wrenching summer of my life,” she said. “I fell in love with (the children) but was also challenged way out of my comfort zone in having to be responsible for 20 orphans every day and a lot of them acting up and wanting attention for lack of love that they receive but also having to watch them get sick every week because of their immune system.” It was a hard experience but Hallock learned a lot. “Jesus taught me so much about myself, my carnal need for control, my selfishness and my struggle for surrender,” she said. “And despite the tears, frustration, and times of loneliness I learned more about surrender and trust than ever before and it was beautiful.” Coming back was strange for her because Hallock didn’t have a team or her family to share the experiences with. She said, “The experiences I brought back are for me to learn how to communicate clearly to others and realize that even though they may not understand what I'm talking about or what I'm feeling, I know I can't let that stop me from sharing about God's summer for me.”