Grads Lead Mission Trip to Improve Underserved Latin American Community
The Officers’ Christian Fellowship (OCF) Club has a storied legacy of activating selfless service among its cadets and volunteers. Since the mid-1990s, USMA OCF has taken hundreds of cadets out of the barracks, out of their comfort zones, and into the world in need. Cadets forgo ski-trips, vacation destinations, and time with family to offer strong hands, encourage spiritual refreshment, and energize underserved communities around the world.
LTC (R) Steve Kreh ’99 and his wife, Angela Kreh ’01, continued this legacy in 2024, ensuring that USMA OCF serves with impact and sustains its renowned reputation as an organization that emphasizes the power of unity to achieve goals, accomplish missions, and leave a lasting legacy.
This past spring break, the Krehs led an eager group of 26 cadets and several other volunteers to the foothills of Volcan Baru in Potrerillos, Panama, to partner with Youth with a Mission (YWAM) Jucum Panama Boquete. Their mission was to construct a four-booth weatherproof marketplace, fulfilling a dream 60 years in the making for the community.
For over half a century, the town needed a market for its farmers to sell their products to their own community residents. Before this market was constructed, village farmers and vendors had to travel 40 minutes over arduous roadways to sell their goods. The USMA OCF team showed up eager and ready to breathe life into this need, which built not only a vibrant marketplace but fulfilled the community’s long-term dream to see quantifiable progress in Potrerillos.
It was a Herculean effort, but today’s cadets’ work ethic, motivation, and heart made it look easy. A month before the cadets arrived, YWAM laid the structural foundation, established its primary brick walls, and assembled the roof trusses. With the structure’s skeleton emplaced ahead of time, the project was primed for cadets to fall in and work at lightning speed to complete it.
Collaborating with approximately 10 local craftsmen, the cadets undertook tasks such as canopy construction, mortar mixing, ground leveling, beam cutting and welding, sheet metal cutting, roof bolting, and installing metal walls with Styrofoam insulation. Their unity of effort propelled the week-long project forward despite the significant language barrier. A few translators were on hand, and a few cadets spoke Spanish with varying degrees of fluency, but any remaining language gaps were filled by improvised communication systems.
“This was YWAM Panama’s first project of this scale: they never had a group this size, with these skill sets, with this much energy and motivation! The organization and local volunteers were equally astounded by the cadets’ positive attitudes, collaboration, and unsurpassed work ethic.”
— 2LT Ryan Myers ’24
While the colossal service project significantly enhanced the Panamanian town, the cadets benefitted both personally and as a group. Individually, they grew in spiritual resilience and character. During the week, multiple small groups ventured deeper into the community to connect with locals, learn about their lives, share testimonies, and distribute Bibles. A paradox arose: though they aimed to bless the Panamanian people, the cadets themselves received tremendous rewards. They came away eager to emulate the Panamanians’ character, corporate unity, and spiritual readiness. Their lives were permanently enriched by the warmth of the locals who invited the cadets into their homes and modeled a culture of hospitality rarely seen in America.
The cadets also benefitted professionally, as they expanded their technical skills, teamwork abilities, and gained confidence in stepping out of their comfort zones to work outside their areas of expertise. The mission trip was also a priceless opportunity to immerse in Spanish and sharpen their problem-solving and collaborative expertise. They came back to the Academy more polished, more confident, and more compassionate future leaders for the Army.
