Wood returns from mission trip

By WAYNE QUESENBERRY/Staff

The call for help echoes clearly in the mind of Natasha Wood. Whether it’s the sound of children’s laughter or images of their love-starved lives, a strong urge is tugging at the 17-year-old Wytheville resident.
“I just left my heart in Africa,” noted Wood, who returned last week from a month-long mission trip to South Africa. “If someone were to ask me to go back now, I would. I wouldn’t hesitate.”
While her return may be some time coming, the 2008 George Wythe High School graduate definitely plans to go back – as a full-time missionary. Wood begins classes next week at Wytheville Community College.
“I’m excited about starting the next chapter of my life,” she said. “I still feel like my call is to Africa.”
A month in the regions of Johannesburg, South Africa, provided quite the preview for Wood. Time spent in the small towns and villages afforded a first-hand look at the impoverished conditions but also revealed an eagerness for the Word of God.
“A lot of them believe in God but they pray to their ancestors,” noted Wood, an active member of the Wytheville Baptist Church. “We told them how God is the only way and that he loves them and has healing power.”
Wood and other members of the mission team conducted variations of vacation Bible school with music, games and Bible stories. They also handed out religious literature.
“Some of the Bible schools were at the government schools,” Wood said. “We held one in a school for children who were physically and mentally disabled. A lot of the children live at the school. Their parents just leave them there.”
According to Wood, the children were the highlight of her trip. Many of them roam the dirt roads of the villages.
“Working with the small children was so rewarding,” she commented. “When we hugged them, they got this big smile on their face. Many of them don’t get any affection. It broke my heart to leave them.”
Not being able to give food to the children was another heart-wrenching experience for Wood. Many days out in the villages she declined the standard peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and fruit sent with the missionaries for their lunches.
“They told us not to give the children any of our food,” Wood stated. “If we would have given one child an apple or sandwich there would have been 200 more there wanting food. It was hard to eat in front of those children. Lots of days I wouldn’t eat until we got back to the Youth for Christ Center where we were staying.”
Some of the villagers, Wood said, eat lamb and rice. The really poor eat “pop,” which is a type of mush, she noted.
Wood had the courage to try a mopane worm that had been boiled and dried by the women of the villages.
“It tasted like sunflower seed,” she commented. “It’s like a caterpillar. They find them in trees.”
The weather was somewhat of a surprise to her, too. It was winter in the region, which meant cool mornings and evenings with darkness setting in by 5 p.m.
“The stars were like I’d never seen before,” Wood said. “They were so bright and looked so close. The sunsets and sunrises were amazing.”
Small conveniences were plentiful in the bigger towns, Wood noted. In the villages, she said, there were many makeshift shops in the huts where several generations of families lived.
“Some of the villagers sold produce much like our farmers’ markets,” Wood stated. “Some commute to Johannesburg where they have jobs.”
The worst part of the trip, according to Wood, was culture shock. It applied to living in South Africa and returning to the United States.
“There was this country with no running water and outhouses in the back,” Wood remarked. “Seeing how the people lived and how grateful they are for what little they have amazed me. Coming home and seeing how ungrateful we are and all that we have is a shock, too.”
Wood is the daughter of Dale and Lesa Wood. Her dad works at Gatorade and her mom is employed by Horizon Health Care.
She has an older brother, Brandon Wood, who is in the U.S. Coast Guard.
At Wytheville Baptist Church, Wood participates in the Higher Ground Youth Group. She also takes part in the Community Outreach Team and Praise Team.
An employee of the East Main Street Food Lion, Wood plans to continue working while attending WCC. She has not decided where she will transfer at the end of the two years.
Whatever Wood decides to do, there is no doubt she will succeed. Her faith and tenacity helped her raise the $5,600 she needed for the African trip through Global Expeditions.
“I raised the money very quickly,” she recalled. “I sent out quite a few letters asking for support. Through the newspaper and radio, people heard about my trip. I never doubted I would get to go. I knew since God called me he would work it out.”
Wayne Quesenberry can be reached at 228-6611 or .