Lawyer Shaunté Simons could have been down about not finding a full-time job.

Instead, she saw it as an opportunity from God.

The 23-year-old spent six weeks helping poverty-stricken people in Thailand and India. The life-changing experience deepened her trust in the Lord.

“I’ve learnt through this that if it is His will, He will provide everything you need to get to where you’re going,” she said. “I originally knew that I was called on this mission to Asia, but at the same time I didn’t have the finances to move forward with it. Three weeks later God made a way for me to have the finances I needed and as I continued to trust Him, He continued to show me how great He is at opening doors only He could open.”

She toured the villages and hill tribes of Chiang Mai in Thailand. In Jaipur, India she joined Sankalp Volunteer; the charity provides free education and educational materials to needy children.

“My favourite moments were just being at the school with the kids,” said Ms Simons.

“No matter what, they would brighten up my day and always greet me when I arrived. In the beginning it was handshakes, but by the end I was getting hugs. They always asked how we were — that’s something that stood out to me and just how happy they were. I’ve never known kids to always be happy and excited to see me and excited to learn what we were going to do for the day, excited to receive their worksheets and get to work.”

She grew up in the Church, following her mother, who was very involved in church plays and the choir.

Ms Simons was about 12 when she joined Glory Temple in St David’s, she’s been “a part of the Sunday school team, dance and visual ministry since then”,

She was also active in the community, as a member of Youth Parliament, Youth News and a youth mentor. In 2010, she attended the United Nations Youth Conference in New York and the following year she was crowned Miss Teen Bermuda, earning the title of Miss Sweet Charities at the same time.

“At that point I had over 400 hours of community service I had done, mostly with the Church,” she said. “I wasn’t even keeping count because it was just part of who I am and how I live.”

She earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of the West of England at age 20, and a master’s the following year.

Ms Simons, who was called to the Bermuda Bar last year, considers it “amazing” that God opened a door for her to see a different part of the world.

She relied on Hebrews 11:1 to see her through the journey: Now faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen.

“That scripture is one that I remember daily,” she said. “During my walk with God I’ve always been able to step out in faith and He always has been able to follow through for me.”

India was the most memorable part of her trip. She’d spend three or four hours volunteering and then in her off time would go exploring, visiting the Taj Mahal in Agra and going on a tiger safari, taking camel rides and checking out the forts in Rajasthan. She used money saved from her temping job and a donation from her church family to treat children and staff at the school to ice cream, new school bags, workbooks, colouring books and crayons before she left India.

She said it was “eye-opening” to be in a third-world country and see poverty first hand, but to see how smart and eager to learn the children were.

“You realise some of the problems we have here are very trivial,” she said. “The things that bother you or are stressing you out are nothing compared to what others go through. God used that experience to give me a lot of alone time with Him and from that I felt really led to take other young people from Bermuda to places like India and Africa to show them another way of life.

“The experience showed me how bold I am, with all the things I was able to do. It also made me more grateful. These kids were happy with playing with rocks. They had clothes that were too big and falling off them or had holes. It taught me to be more grateful with what I have. I already have more than so many other people in the world.”