If it had not been for the encouragement of his wife, Jason Dorrill probably would not have stepped out of his comfort zone and done what he did.

Lauri Dorrill realized that her husband would benefit from participating in the Interact Ministries mission trip to Alaska and that he had much to contribute. With her support and encouragement, he signed on.

“The mission trip was a life changing experience for me,” Dorrill told the members of the Brundidge Rotary Club Wednesday. “Before we left, I kept wondering what could I, as one person, do that would make a difference. I wasn’t sure that there was anything I could do that would make a difference.”

When Dorrill stepped off the plane in America’s “Last Frontier,” he was immediately in awe of how small he was “in God’s creation.”

“As we worked as a team, we began to learn and to grow as a group,” he said. “I was so impressed by one member of the team, Matthew Ellis, whose senior trip was the mission trip. For a young person to give up a trip with his friends to do something for others was a real testimony to his faith.”

Dorrill was a part of a work team that painted a couple of structures that were used by missionaries to Alaska. Other members of the mission team taught Bible school to children in the interior.

As the worked and as they shared their faith with the people of Alaska, Dorrill began to find the answer to the question he had so often asked himself, “What can one person do?”

“I realized that if one person on the team had not done what they did that we would not have been able to accomplish all we did,” he said.

“One person can make a difference. Just like the things that you Rotarians do. Each one of you is making a difference.”

Helping others and being a part of a team with a greater purpose was a humbling experience for Dorrill.

The mission trip gave him the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of others.

It also made him more aware of God’s great and wonderful creation.

“Mount McKinley is usually covered with clouds but we were blessed to see it three times,” he said.

“It was an incredible sight.”

The team visited Denali National Forest and, as Dorrill walked among the rocks, one almost jumped out at him.

“There were a lot of similar rocks, the dark and white, but there was this one – actually two rocks in one – and I knew it was meant for me,” he said.

A white vein ran through the rock on both side and formed the image of a cross.

“I don’t know if I was supposed to keep it or not, but I did,” Dorrill said.

For Dorrill, the mission trip to Alaska was a “blessing from God.”

“It changed the way that I feel about things and it made me know that we can all make a difference in the lives of others.”