In May of 2026, HELM's third-year cohort from the Leadership Fellows traveled to Sierra Leone, West Africa, for a transformative Global Immersion experience in partnership with Disciples Overseas Ministries/Global Ministries, Week of Compassion, and the Council of Churches in Sierra Leone. More than a study trip, this immersion invited Fellows into meaningful relationships with local churches, students, and community leaders as they explored history, faith, leadership, justice, and shared ministry. Through worship, dialogue, service, and cultural exchange, the experience challenged Fellows to see the world through new lenses and deepen their sense of vocation and global responsibility. On this page, you'll find student reflections, photos, and highlights from a journey that will continue to shape these emerging leaders for years to come.
Meet the Students
Aly Barnes
"The people of Sierra Leone taught me to truly love and respect everyone. Although that can be extremely difficult, I hope to take this lesson with me in my career and personal life. Love truly is the answer to all things." Read Aly's full reflection...
Hannah Dunn-helton
"I wish that everyone had the opportunity to talk about things like FGM directly with those who have experienced it. It can be so easy to judge these practices and the people who participate in them without understanding the history and tradition of these practices." Read Hannah's full reflection...
Sam Goode
"Throughout this trip, I learned how much I value the community HELM has brought me. Growing up in a church that never had a consistent youth group, joining this cohort filled that spot. These are not only connections, but relationships I will have and hold for the rest of my life." Read Sam's full reflection...
Will Goode
"I don’t want to forget the joy in the hearts of nearly every Sierra Leonean we met. I was in awe of the kindness and religious tolerance of their culture." Read Wills's full reflection...
Eugene Lim
"One thing I keep coming back to is just how privileged our daily lives are, and how invisible that privilege is until you're somewhere it isn't the default state of privilege." Read Eugene's full reflection...
Hope Riester
"My favorite personal God moment on this trip was playing soccer as a group with younger students when we visited a village. I felt God in the way we connected in joy. Even though we didn't know each other that well, and live an ocean apart, all we needed to bridge that difference in experience was a soccer ball." Read Hope's full reflection...
Nina rivera figueroa
After a man washed off the sand from the beach from her feet: "There have been very few moments in my life where I have been met with such kindness from a stranger, and I am sure to never forget it." Read Nina's full reflection...
libby skaggs
"My favorite God moment was when I was getting sick, leaving the restaurant and felt someone rubbing my back. It was a 12-year-old Sierra Leonean boy telling me that I would be okay. It was amazing to see the pure love that everyone gave to strangers." Read Libby's full reflection...
Hannah stanLEy
"Some of the clearest glimpses of God aren't in big dramatic moments but in people who choose to take care of strangers simply because they can." Read Hannah's full reflection...
HIGHLIGHTs FROM OUR TRIP
Orientation at Mt. Zion Retreat Center
Our orientation in Sierra Leone provided a warm welcome and a meaningful introduction to the country’s culture, history, and church life. We were graciously received by leaders from the Council of Churches in Sierra Leone who shared about their ministries, the joys and challenges of serving the church, and offered practical lessons in cultural awareness, including learning common greetings in Krio. We also participated in an in-depth presentation on Sierra Leone’s history, exploring the lasting impacts of colonialism, the transatlantic slave trade, economic exploitation, and more recent challenges such as natural disasters and political corruption. These sessions gave us important context for the relationships we would build and the communities we would encounter throughout our time in Sierra Leone.
Evangelical College of Theology
HELM Fellows visited The Evangelical College of Theology, hosted by Rev. Dr. Warren Fornah, and participated in a student panel with Will Goode and Hannah Stanley alongside students from ECT. We wish to thank Dr. Fornah, faculty and students for their gracious welcome and shared dialogue in ministries of peace building, social justice, environmental justice and ecumenical relationship building. Fellows also briefly visited the Inter-Religious Council of Sierra Leone (IRCSL) to bring our official greetings.
Kambia Region
We spent time in the Kambia region visiting three schools. Pastor Moses accompanied us and facilitated student discussions at the focused on Female Genital Mutilation and Cutting (FGMC) and Gender-Based Violence (GBV). Local students shared their stories, described the complex community challenges, and affirmed their commitment to the health and well-being of young women in the area. The meeting concluded with a little “Pre-World Cup Soccer” in the school yard.
Youth Desk Conversation
Students from the Youth Desk joined us at the Mount Zion Training Center (MZTC) to discuss further challenges facing young adults in both contexts, including psychosocial support, the destructive and cyclical impacts of drug use and distribution, migration and employment opportunities, and young adults’ roles in politics. Our learning was not all work and no play. Rev. Dr. Ben Bohren led the group in a lively game of “Move It,” while Youth Desk leadership taught us a simple song in Krio.
Tacugama Chimpanzee Rescue
One of our last excursions was to the Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary, nestled within the Western Area Peninsula National Park. Founded to rescue and rehabilitate orphaned and illegally trafficked chimpanzees, the sanctuary serves as both a conservation center and an educational resource for communities throughout Sierra Leone. As we observed the chimpanzees in their forest habitat and learned about the sanctuary's work, we gained a deeper appreciation for the country's remarkable biodiversity and the ongoing efforts to protect its endangered wildlife. The visit highlighted the interconnectedness of environmental stewardship, community education, and faithful care for creation.
Student Reflections
Aly Barnes
As soon as we stepped off of the plane, being back in Africa made my heart incredibly full. Throughout the week we met with religious leaders and young adult/youth activists. We discussed extremely difficult and sensitive topics including climate activism, FGMC (Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting), and drug abuse. We also had beautiful and uplifting conversations about interfaith dialogue, the impact of mentorship, and differing forms of ongoing advocacy. As a future social worker/anthropologist, working with and for people is at the heart of it all. The most important thing I needed to do during my time in Sierra Leone was to just listen. I was taught in various ways: through playing soccer with the kids, hearing one young woman’s experience with FGMC, and discussing the similarities and differences between Sierra Leone and the U.S.A. Being able to listen and learn is an ability that was strengthened and defined during this trip.
One thing that I will hold with me forever is the kindness and beauty that is the people and country of Sierra Leone. In every doorway or path, we were all greeted with “Kushe, how da body?” From the delicious cuisine to the warm handshakes, we were treated like family. Driving to Kambia and exploring the chimpanzee sanctuary, the Sierra Leone landscape is vast and full of beauty. Even the animals made an impact! We all fell in love with the three goats at the Mt.Zion Retreat Center, although we later learned one gets eaten (the fattest) for Christmas dinner. So we named one Christmas, one Dinner, and the other (my favorite!) Chubcake (I think it's a play on the word cupcake). The one moment that will stay with me forever is seeing the sunset on the beach. As we were all, very unexpectedly, splashed with the high tide, we collectively sat in awe.
This trip taught me a lot! First of all, I need food! Hangry Aly was not the person you want to be around after a 10 hour travel day. But in all seriousness, my love for people, places, and rich culture was reinvigorated. The people of Sierra Leone taught me to truly love and respect everyone. Although that can be extremely difficult, I hope to take this lesson with me in my career and personal life. Love truly is the answer to all things.
Hannah Dunn-Helton
My favorite personal God moment on this trip happened on the airplane on the way home. I ended up sitting next to a woman who had been at church with us the day before. She lives in Amsterdam, as do her siblings, but was visiting Sierra Leone to see the family who still lived there. On Sunday, we went to a Methodist church for worship, and the woman on the plane was there for the first time ever with her family. When I sat down on the plane and introduced myself, she asked what brought me to Sierra Leone and wanted to know all about HELM and what we were doing. She and I had a great conversation on the plane about the things we had seen and learned, with a focus on youth and the drug crisis in Sierra Leone. I felt like this conversation added a lot of context to my trip. It was such a funny coincidence that I ended up sitting next to her, and I felt like God was moving behind the scenes.
I don’t want to forget how open everyone was in sharing their experience with us. One day, we drove out to a village to speak with girls about their experiences with female genital mutilation, which is very common in Sierra Leone. We were complete strangers asking these girls to share something deeply personal and traumatic with us. While it was a bit awkward, the girls were very open with us about their experiences and their honesty allowed us to better understand why our church supports the Council of Churches of Sierra Leone in ending this practice. We were also able to learn about the cultural complications around this practice, including how FGM is a rite of passage that brings a girl into community with other women. I wish that everyone had the opportunity to talk about things like FGM directly with those who have experienced it. It can be so easy to judge these practices and the people who participate in them without understanding the history and tradition of these practices. This can lead to blame and judgement that makes changing the harmful practices much more difficult. Having the opportunity to hear from young people about FGM directly was a privilege for which I am grateful.
Before this trip, I had only traveled abroad for a semester of study in Tanzania. While both Tanzania and Sierra Leone are in Africa, these countries are very different places with different cultures and traditions. I enjoyed the opportunity to expand my knowledge and experience in Africa. I have really enjoyed international travel and I would love to continue to do more. I would like to continue traveling in Africa. The continent is so diverse and there is so much more for me to learn and see there.
Sam Goode
With this trip being my first international trip, I did not really know what to expect. No amount of research done on the culture and society could help me fully understand how people live their lives in Sierra Leone. Going on this trip was stressful, but I knew I could rely on my cohort and mentors for support as much as I needed. Moving forward I want to do so much more international travel to be able to experience as much of the world as I can.
When the plane landed in Freetown, I could feel the excitement of going home. Seeing people reuniting with their whole extended family when arriving at the boat dock made me realize how much love there is in Sierra Leone. Everyone I met there was excited to meet our group, to learn about what we were doing, and very glad we chose to go there. People in Freetown don’t know strangers; everyone greets everyone, and our group was fully welcomed into that. One thing I don’t want to forget is being able to see how proud people are to call Sierra Leone home and how close everyone in the community is.
Throughout this trip, I learned how much I value the community HELM has brought me. Growing up in a church that never had a consistent youth group, joining this cohort filled that spot. Across the trip, I was able to get to know everyone better, including the people I had not met beforehand. These are not only connections, but relationships I will have and hold for the rest of my life.
Will Goode
After having the opportunity to be on the panel consisting of two HELM students and two students from the theological seminary, I think I’d approach this question differently than I might have before. It really forced me to think of creative ways to do good within the field of Mechanical Engineering. An engineer doesn’t have the same obligation or opportunity to make a difference every day as other professions might. The way I’ve seen it affect me most is that I see the day-to-day problem-solving implemented within my everyday life. Whether that’s fixing a broken door at home or using my skills to help people, I go about every situation to the best of my ability, looking for the outcome that does the most good.
I don’t want to forget sharing this experience with my brother. As many ways as it was cool to experience a new culture, it was even cooler to see my brother interact, grow, and change. Watching how good he was with the children while we were in Kambia, despite a language barrier, filled my heart to know how many kids he’ll have an impact on throughout his career. I also don’t want to forget the joy in the hearts of nearly every Sierra Leonean we met. I was in awe of the kindness and religious tolerance of their culture.
This is the first time I have had the chance to leave the United States. I’ve always dreamt of traveling, but this trip really ignited a spark, showing me not only how different the world can be from the small circle I live in, but also how similar we are as humans despite cultural differences, language barriers, etc. I’d love to see more of Africa, but I want to see other continents first. One of the top places on my list would be a Spanish speaking country where I can both experience a different culture and immerse myself in it by communicating (or doing my best to) in the local language. I feel even the smallest Krio phrases we were taught so easily lit up someone’s face when they heard those words leave our mouths. I want to be able to continue those conversations and make deeper connections.
Eugene Lim
My favorite God moment was honestly just being around the pastors and ministers at CCSL and seeing how much they believed in what they were doing. It made me feel small in a good way, like I got a glimpse of God working on a much bigger scale than my own life. These are people working with way fewer resources than I'm used to, and yet their conviction was stronger than anything I usually see day to day. It was humbling to realize that the strength of someone's faith isn't tied to how much they have. If anything, it almost seemed like the opposite.
The Mount Zion retreat center we stayed at was genuinely one of the nicer places in Sierra Leone, but there was no AC, and bugs were everywhere. At one point, I caught myself thinking "man, I really wish we had AC right now," and immediately felt how absurd that complaint was. That's the gap I wish people could feel for even a day — not in a guilt-trip way, but just to actually sit with how much we take for granted as "normal" that most of the world doesn't have.
This trip kept giving me déjà vu of Bangladesh, where I lived as a kid. The weather, the CNGs and rickshaws weaving through traffic, kids playing soccer in dirt fields (I used to be one of those kids). It wasn't something I expected to feel, but it kind of grounded the whole trip for me. It felt like reconnecting with a part of my childhood I don't think about much anymore. It's made me want to actually go back to Bangladesh as an adult and see it with the perspective I have now, rather than just remembering it through a kid's eyes.
Hope Riester
My favorite personal God moment on this trip was playing soccer as a group with younger students when we visited a village. I felt God in the way we connected in joy. Even though we didn't know each other that well and live an ocean apart, all we needed to bridge that difference in experience was a soccer ball.
One thing I don't want to forget about this trip is how quickly games and jokes smoothed over any awkwardness. I want to remember the ways we didn't need to like the same music or the same TV shows to connect or to make each other laugh.
I had never traveled internationally before this trip. When we landed in the Belgian airport for our layover on the way to Sierra Leone, I almost cried. It was just so overwhelming to know that I wasn't just standing in a different country, but on a different landmass. As someone who follows international sports, sometimes the idea of flying to another country, although mostly out of reach for me, can become almost mundane. But doing it myself, and seeing different kinds of trees than I would at home, felt absolutely unbelievable. It absolutely inspired me to do more. My hope is to be able to take one of my school's travel courses this coming year, as it's focused on physics and music in Austrian concert halls.
Nina Rivera Figueroa
It was our first day in Sierra Leone, and that afternoon we went to the beach. I should have worn my flip flops, but instead opted to wear my hiking shoes. This decision resulted in my shoes and socks getting completely soaked by the warm ocean water. I had zero complaints, though, since the beach was beautiful and I got to enjoy it with my friends. As we walked back to our van, a local man saw me holding my shoes and he asks me if they are wet. I say yes, they got wet from the waves. The man says he’ll be back and walks around the corner. He returns with a bucket of water and a cup and offers to rinse my feet before I get in the van. While saying that he did not need to do that, he starts pouring some water on my feet so I just thanked him. There have been very few moments in my life where I have been met with such kindness from a stranger, and I am sure to never forget it. I experienced this level of kindness and hospitality the entire time I was in Sierra Leone, from David our driver, to the attention and guidance of Elizabeth Yambasu, the Youth Desk project coordinator of CCSL (Council of Churches in Sierra Leone). Every person I met, or even waved at met me with kind eyes and a smile. This level of hospitality helped me learn that I enjoy being social more than I thought I did. While I love my alone time, I also deeply enjoy talking to people and getting to know them. During this trip, I truly got to know people within my HELM cohort a lot better, since we were together for an extended period of time. I also got to meet Sierra Leoneans close to my age, and got to have short but interesting conversations with them.
As an aspiring filmmaker, I love stories. My dream is to have the ability to tell stories in beautiful ways that impact people. On this trip, I learned many different stories about the land, the people, and the traditions of Sierra Leone. Some of these stories were joyful, and some were devastating. Whether a story is joyful or devastating, it is nonetheless worthy of being told, as a joyful story can spread joy and a devastating one can lead to action and change. Stories connect us as humans, and it is important to tell them in ways that do so. One day, I hope to work in the film and television industry creating entertainment with meaning and purpose. I think that we as humans still have a lot to learn from each other, and this can start by knowing each other’s stories.
Libby Skaggs
My favorite personal God moment was when I was getting sick, leaving the restaurant, and felt someone rubbing my back. It was a 12-year-old Sierra Leonean boy telling me that I would be okay. It was amazing to see the pure love that everyone gave to strangers.
I have done a lot of international travel, mainly in Europe and Central America. This trip has inspired me to visit more countries in Africa.
I learned during this trip that I am extremely resilient. I tried to keep going and act like I was fine despite the throwing up and many, many other problems. I was able to push through more than I thought that I could.
Hannah Stanley
Talking with women in Sierra Leone about FGM made me realize how much I had been thinking about women's health in engineering terms, like devices and procedures, without fully grappling with the cultural and social weight behind those experiences. It was humbling to hear people speak about something so personal with so much honesty, and it pushed me to recognize that the technical side of medical device design is only useful if it's paired with real listening to the people who live with these realities every day. That experience reframed how I think about my future work in biomedical engineering, especially around women's health technologies, where the goal isn't to import outside solutions but to understand what communities actually need and how they define a good outcome for themselves. It also made me more aware of how often women's health issues get reduced to clinical problems when they're deeply tied to autonomy, tradition, and power, something I don't think I would have understood as clearly without being there. Moving forward, I want to carry that humility into my work, staying mindful that good design starts with listening rather than assuming I already know what "better" looks like for someone else's body or culture.
My favorite God moment was witnessing the kindness of Elizabeth, David, and our other tour guides and bus drivers throughout the whole trip. They went out of their way for us in ways they didn't have to, whether it was helping us bargain fairly at the market stalls, checking in on anyone who got sick to make sure they were doing okay as the days went on, or making sure we got safely from the airport to where we needed to be. There was something about their steady, quiet generosity that felt like God working through ordinary people who didn't owe us anything but gave freely anyway. It reminded me that some of the clearest glimpses of God aren't in big dramatic moments but in people who choose to take care of strangers simply because they can.
The one thing I don't want to forget is the beach, how warm the water felt and how relaxed everyone seemed while they were there. Watching people play soccer right along the shore, just laughing and enjoying themselves, is something I want to remember clearly. The coastline was beautiful, simple as that, with clear water and a view that made it easy to just sit and take it in. I wish everyone could experience that same afternoon, the warm water, the soccer games, the easy company of the people we were with.
