Next week, building engineer Jeff Dolezal and retirement services consultant Vikki Dolezal (née Zuehlke) — they married in early June — will leave on a weeklong mission trip to Panama City, joined by Vikki’s daughters Sydney (18 years old), Phyllisa (28), and Carlene (15). Because they have gotten a lot of questions about the trip from colleagues, Vikki volunteered to share the details with Shorelines.

Carlene, Vikki, Jeff, Sydney, and Phyllisa at the wedding in June.

Why are you going on this mission trip?
My daughter Sydney is in Panama interning this summer and asked us to all go on the mission for her graduation present (she just graduated from high school). So of course we all said yes!

How did Sydney end up interning in Panama?
She has been going on mission trips since she was 15. Besides doing local mission work, she has been to Nashville and Minneapolis, the Dominican Republic, and to Panama twice, which is where she became acquainted with Tara and Garrett Kenyon, whose mission is to take action in the lives of youth who have fallen victim to sexual abuse, exploitation, and human trafficking. Sydney’s trip to the Dominican was a medical mission. She was originally supposed to attend to children while their parents received medical attention, but she ended up interpreting in the triage because their interpreter was sick. Others who were on that trip told us they don’t know what would have happened had she not been there to step in like that.

When she was given the opportunity to intern in Panama this summer with Garrett and Tara, Sydney went with no hesitation. With all of her experiences on mission trips, she feels called to continue this service. Ultimately, her goal is to become a missionary lawyer to provide legal services not only to victims, but also to other missionaries who need help crossing legal barriers.

What kind of work will your trip involve?
Every year, Garrett and Tara host an annual conference called Ilumina, which until this year was a girls-only event. This conference addresses the taboo issues the girls face in Panama, while empowering them and providing healing. This year, they are including males at the conference and anticipate between 3,000 and 5,000 attendees. Our main job while we are there is to build the conference, set up stages and lighting, etc. — basically, whatever is asked of us to make the conference happen! We will also be traveling to area schools to share the Gospel through ethics and character presentations at their assemblies.

Why is this mission so important to your family?
As a family, we are inspired by Sydney and are thrilled to support her in her calling, and can’t wait to see her shine in Panama! This is our graduation gift to her.

But here are Sydney’s own words on why this mission matters:

A photo collage Sydney put together highlighting some of the kids she’s met in Panama.

I have been to Panamá two times, and I have the utmost amazing opportunity to intern there this summer as a missionary assisting the world-changing, fantastic, and absolutely outstanding missionaries Garrett and Tara Kenyon and their family and team. I am beyond thrilled for this opportunity — it is the singular thing keeping me from the plague of senioritis currently.

On my two mission trips to Panamá, I have been blessed with some really awesome opportunities. My first year, I was a part of the Women’s Conference that will be occurring again this year, along with a brand new Boys’ Conference. These reach thousands of the youth of Panamá, and give hope to the shattered girls and boys who live a daily life of abuse and hurt. I also have been able to go into many schools and put on assemblies. These assemblies consist of dramas, dances, prayer, and outreach to the youth. I have met some not only super-cute kids, but some very broken ones as well. Girls have cried on my shoulder because they feel broken and unloved, and that was the first time they have felt unconditional love. Boys and girls have smiled the biggest smiles I have ever seen, and you would never know they go home to unbearable situations that you and I cannot even imagine.

We are beyond blessed to live in a country where our government has laws and systems to combat these things. The government in Panamá supports the patriarchal family structure, where men have the final say, especially when it comes to the lives of women. Abuse of all kinds runs the streets, and being there gives us the opportunity to combat it with the hope and love of Jesus.

As my graduation gift, this year my ENTIRE family will be taking a trip to work on the mission. Technically, this is not “visiting me,” as we will all be super busy, but it is the greatest gift I could ever ask for. As I have been called to the life of a missionary, it will be beyond amazing to have my family witness the thing I love so much that I’ve chosen to make it my life.

As Vikki notes, it’s been “a whirlwind of a summer” for their family. If you’re interested in learning more about the Kenyons and their missionary work, you can drop Vikki a note at vzuehlke@northshorebank.com.