David Chis is not the typical high school senior.  Not only is he super dedicated to his school work, but he is just as dedicated to helping people in need. He likes to do things out of the ordinary if he knows he has the chance of helping someone. With this being said, he has decided to attend Missionary school next semester.

“The idea of me doing missionary work all began in the summer of 2012. Two of my very good friends, Jason and Andreas, were about to attend God Will Provide Missionary School. Before they left, Jason and I, along with a few other kids from church, went downtown to feed the homeless. I always had a heart willing to help anyone in need but I always thought I had to reach third world countries to make a difference. I soon realized that there is poverty in the heart of Chicago,” David said. 

Seeing so many homeless people in the city brought Davids heart to pieces. Noticing this, him and his dear friend, Jason Dumitru, began a homeless ministry called ‘Feeding the Folks’ which works with helping people in need. They put together a group of people from church and the organization is still doing work.

“Knowing when I get home I take my car, my home, my bed, my shower, and everything else I have for granted, and there are homeless who rely on people to help them out with a meal a day,” David said.

David felt that it was necessary for him, after comparing their life styles, to help out as much as possible and make it a weekly thing to go to the city and help feed the less fortunate. This past summer, Chis was lucky enough to go on a missionary trip to Romania where his group visited ten different churches and traveled a total of 2700 miles.

“This trip humbled me in extreme matter when I saw the living conditions of some of the people in smaller villages. It made me realize how truly blessed I am to live in America and how much I have to thank my parents daily for the sacrifices they’ve made to give a brighter future for their kids. Before going to Romania, I had already made my decision of going to missionary school after graduating from Niles West. Going on this missionary trip made me realize that there are plenty of third world countries that need work. This got me even more excited and devoted to missionary school,” Chis said.

David will be attending God Will Provide missionary school in Portland, Oregon in January. The semester will begin on January 24th and he will be heading over on the 20th to get settled in. The program goes until May and after that he will be going to Kenya, Africa for his first ever long term mission trip.

“I have always wanted to do missionary work in Africa because the country has always been in need. I know as an individual, I can’t change the entire country in the six – ten months that am I there, but I know that I will do as much work as possible. Doing missionary work has been on my heart since we started Feeding the Folks and I am so excited to see what God has planned for me and my future. Realizing that I am so blessed with everything that my parents have done for me and what God has blessed me with, the least I could do is go out to the ones who need help to survive day to day. I want to thank my friends, family, and especially my parents that have been so encouraging and supportive with my decision,” Chis said.