Grueling Journey Worth It To Teen On A Quiet Mission

Oval scars dot Julie Morrow’s arm from shoulder to fingertips like stepping stones.

The healing insect bites don’t hurt as much as the bacterial infections, and the intestinal bug is worse than both.

But Julie doesn’t complain. She knew before she left Coeur d’Alene for the Philippines last July that she wouldn’t return unscathed.

“It was a challenge, and I learned that I whine when things get rough,” she says, with a hint of a smile.

At 17, Julie burns with evangelical energy. She wants to serve God and see the world. Teen Missions International offered her the opportunity to do both.

The Christian organization sends 1,700 kids to work on projects in 55 countries. Last year, Julie harvested bananas in northern Australia. This summer, she mimed Bible stories on the heavily forested Philippine island of Palawan.

Her odyssey began on an overcrowded bus to Florida for three weeks of training. She learned to build a storage shed and to perform three dramas before taking off for muggy Manila with 27 kids and six leaders.

“I just sat down and cried when I got there,” she says.

Her hotel room in Manila smelled like urine, the shower didn’t work, and bare mattresses sat on the floor. Conditions hardly improved in Palawan, where the group pitched two-person tents and dug latrines for the five-week stay.

Julie quickly learned to spot neon snakes and deadly frogs. She ate chicken feet stew. She hiked through drenching monsoons, thigh-high mud and swollen rivers to villages of bamboo huts.

She and her friends performed in schools and churches and visited with villagers. Between performances, they built a storage shed for one village. Most of the time, they were wet, cold, hungry and sick.

“I know we planted a lot of seeds for Christianity,” Julie says softly, absently running her fingers over a persistently itchy bite near her elbow, “and I learned that those people look poor to us, but to them, they’re not. They’re happy and high-spirited even without electricity.”

She also discovered that she’s tougher than she thought.

“It was pretty rough, and that gave me a higher threshold than most of my friends here,” she says. “Here they worry about school dances. There, we worried about where we’d get our next meal.”

Julie will show slides of her trip at the First Presbyterian Church, 521 Lakeside Ave., Coeur d’Alene, at an 11:45 a.m. potluck dinner Oct. 5. The public is invited.

Here’s a gem

Post Falls’ Timothy Mezin is no fan of potatoes. Just ask his mother, Sandra Miller, who related this story: Tim joined the 82nd Airborne this summer and was stationed at Fort Bragg, N.C.

When he told his first sergeant he was from Idaho, the man said, “The potato state.” Tim said, “No, it’s the gem state,” and ended up doing Rambo’s share of push-ups.

His first sergeant wanted Tim to say Idaho is the potato state. Tim chose to do another set of push-ups instead.

After two months of this continuing battle, Tim bought an atlas that referred to Idaho as the gem state. He showed his first sergeant, who - you guessed it - ordered more push-ups.

Luckily Tim had a lot of energy from all the potatoes he had to eat …

Boss, man

If your boss is so charming and fun that weekends depress you, nominate him or her for Boss of the Year by Oct. 1. Professional Secretaries International wants bosses who care about the community, push professional development and work well with people.

Call Anne Harlocker at 765-4717 for details or mail your nomination to P.O. Box 729, Coeur d’Alene, ID 83816-0729.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

MEMO: What’s so great about your boss? Brag to Cynthia Taggart, “Close to Home,” 608 Northwest Blvd., Suite 200, Coeur d’Alene, ID 83814; send a fax to 765-7149; call 765-7128; or e-mail to cynthiat@spokesman.