The organization Smiles for Christ has taken the meaning of its name to a whole new level. On Oct. 20, the members hosted a “Smiles Day” across campus, an event to gain awareness for their organization and to raise money for their mission trip to Honduras.
“Today we decided to go back to basics,” said Daniel Avelar, president of Smiles for Christ. “Our name is Smiles for Christ, so we wanted to create a day where we could celebrate the act of smiling. With smiling you give a lot and you receive a lot. It doesn’t cost anything.”
Smiles for Christ is an organization whose mission is to help mentally challenged kids and adults in Honduras. Two years ago the group traveled down to Honduras to build a water tank. The community they helped received water only on Wednesdays, but had no way to store it all. With the building of the new tank, they could store water and have it during the entire week.
Keeping the same missions mindset, Smiles for Christ wanted to find unique ways that would help serve the Harding community on Smiles Day.
To promote Smiles Day, Smiles for Christ members invaded classrooms and interrupted classes to hand out encouragement cards and candy “just to bring a smile to people,” Avelar said.
Smiles for Christ hosted a paint fight, smile contest and a concert on the front lawn. The concert featured Harding musicians Katie Morgan, Sammi J, The Abigails and The Grey Estate. The Smiles for Christ members said they believed that the concert was the culmination of what they had been working toward all day long.
“Smiles Day is just a different day,” Avelar said. “It’s a day where even if you’re tired or if you aren’t having a good day, we’re going to try and make it better. Because that’s what we’re trying to do with the people we help in Honduras, bring them smiles.”
Aside from Smiles Day activities, Smiles for Christ is beginning a new project called 200K. The goal of this project is to raise $200,000 to build a new school in Honduras for students with disabilities.
“We like the vision that this school has because what they believe is that these kids, these adults, these people can be productive to society and we believe in that vision too,” Avelar said. “We believe that even though they have challenges they can give something back.”
Wherever they are and whatever they are doing, Smiles for Christ carries the same focus — to serve God.
“By serving him we serve his people,” said David Ezell, recruitment chair for Smiles for Christ. “I once heard a quote that said, ‘Once you really love God, you love his people and you love all of them.’ And really lately through Smiles for Christ I’ve developed a love for more and more people and it’s just been a great experience to have fellowship with my brothers and sisters, working toward serving his kingdom.”
