She’s only 22.

But when it comes to working the scenes of natural disasters and helping people in a Third World country, Liz Bradshaw has already seen and done more than most Americans experience in a lifetime.

Bradshaw, a Manhattan native now living with her sister in Lawrence, recently returned from a monthlong stint as an American Red Cross volunteer in Florida, where she helped hurricane victims.

Her work in Florida came little more than a month after returning from the Philippines, where she spent a year and a half as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Despite the hard work in a humid, tropical climate, Bradshaw said she wouldn’t hesitate to return to the Philippines.

“I’m very passionate about my missionary work,” Bradshaw said. “It was really rewarding and fulfilling to work with the people there.”

Headed to the Philippines

The LDS church “highly recommends” that its young men and women do missionary work after high school, either in a foreign country or in the United States. Men start at age 19, and the women wait until they are 21.

After turning in her missionary papers, Bradshaw learned that she was headed to the Philippines, specifically the islands of Panay and Negros Occidental. Both are very rural areas and most of the people are poor, she said.

“They have cell phones and TVs, but they are not rich by any means,” she said.

Liz Bradshaw, right, shown with a Filipino child, spent more than a year as a missionary in the Phillippines. Bradshaw, of Lawrence, also has assisted with disaster relief in the wake of the Florida hurricanes.

In the Philippines, Bradshaw helped people build houses, harvest crops and did just about anything a community needed help with, she said. She also spent time answering questions about her church and recruiting for it. She moved to a different community every couple of months.

“I loved the people and their culture; they are very nice,” Bradshaw said. “The hardest part was leaving. I was very, very happy over there.”

Third World hospital

Bradshaw arrived in the Philippines on the heels of publicity about the kidnapping of New Tribes missionaries and Kansas natives, Martin and Gracia Burnham. They were held hostage by Philippine guerrillas from May 2001 until June 2002. Martin Burnham was killed during a rescue attempt by the Philippine military. Gracia Burnham returned to the United States safely.

Bradshaw said she was unaware of the Burnhams’ situation.

“The islands I lived on, there was never a problem with terrorists,” she said. “I never thought I was in danger. If it had been dangerous my church wouldn’t have sent me and I wouldn’t have gone.”

Bradshaw’s worst experience in the Philippines occurred when she came down with a mysterious stomach ailment that hospitalized her for several days. Doctors never did figure out what it was, but Bradshaw managed to recover on her own.

“That was scary,” she said. “I was away from my family in a hospital in a Third World country.”

Three hurricanes

Bradshaw returned to the United States on July 1 and, after spending time on vacation with her family in Utah and Wyoming, she moved in with her sister in Lawrence. Shortly after Florida was hit by Hurricane Charley, Bradshaw called the Douglas County chapter of the American Red Cross and volunteered to go to Florida as a relief worker.

Bradshaw already had experience working relief efforts while serving a 10-month stint with AmeriCorps before becoming a missionary. She worked in the New England area with nonprofit agencies. But she also was on call as a volunteer with the Red Cross, and eventually ended up working at the scenes of wildfires in Arizona, tropical storm damage in Mississippi and tornado-damaged areas in southern Texas.

Because of that experience, Bradshaw was quickly snapped up for work in Florida, not only in areas hit by Hurricane Charley but also Hurricanes Frances and Ivan. She stayed in Florida a month.

“It was really bad down there,” Bradshaw said. “All day I talked to the victims. It was hard. You try to get their minds on what they still have left, such as their family. Luckily I never talked to anyone who lost a family member.”

‘Taking it easy’

Bradshaw plans to attend Kansas University during the spring semester. She hopes to major in business and go to work for a nonprofit agency.

But right now Bradshaw just wants to take it easy. Her version of “taking it easy” is going with a sister to Central American sometime in October.

“I want to see the Mayan ruins and just relax,” Bradshaw said. “We’re going to backpack and stay until our money runs out.”