Trip Wrap-Up

Well, here we are, a full 10 days past the end of the mission trip and I am finally getting around to posting the trip wrap-up. Cut me some slack! I left the day after the mission trip on a family vacation to Ohio (The Heart of It All), then got back on Sunday and have been playing catch-up while also trying to write a sermon for this weekend's services. So, call them excuses if you want, but that's my story and I'm sticking to it. :-)

The trip ended quite well. On Thursday, I went to B.E.A.T to help out the students and SIMYs there. They were busy clearing out a trailer that had all sorts of stuff in it to refurbish houses in the area, trim and such. They were working their tails off in the blazing sun! I helped them for a while and watched as they organized all of the stuff, cleaned up rat poop, and swung long sticks at the hornet nest in the tree high above our heads. They did so well! Shelly showed me where they had also cleaned up a massively weed-infested yard and a house that they had helped paint. After I left there, I headed over to Kids Club. The kids were having fun outside blowing bubbles and writing and drawing with sidewalk chalk. When they were called inside, it was like herding cats made of Jello as they tried to go through their program with all of the kids. The kids were everywhere and bouncing off the walls. But when they separated them into different areas, the kids calmed down and were able to focus. Our students did a great job ministering to these kids that might not see the kind of love that they experienced that week. Many of the kids were sad to see us go.

On Thursday night, we went to the Craft Brothers warehouse. There, they have a stage set up with instruments for whoever wanted to use them. So Anthony, Nate, Lauren, and Mick, along with Andy from YouthWorks, led worship for a time in the furnace of a warehouse. It was great! Also there is a neat prayer room that, although many students used as a place to simply get some air conditioning, many students used it as a place to get alone and quiet with God. It was rewarding to witness as a youth pastor! We also had a cookout there before heading back to the church.

Church group time on Thursday consisted of a foot-washing, as it does each year with YouthWorks. This is always an emotional time for the students as they are humbled by having their feet washed by their adult leaders. Many tears were shed by our students. My desire is that these tears would not simply be an emotional high for them, but that they would be a catalyst for a life change away from living life for themselves to living life for God and others.

We probably had the best night's sleep on Thursday night as we cut out the caffeine and energy drinks for the students at lunchtime, but we were still far from rested. On Friday, we spent the night at Christ UMC in Memphis. It is one HUGE church! It makes La Croix seem puny. We rested for a while, then headed to the mall for dinner, and over to AutoZone Park to watch the Memphis Redbirds play. Then to bed and back home. The rest, you know.

All in all, it was a great trip! To have 36 of our students serve God by serving others is a huge blessing. And the fact that many of them are not content to have it simply be a once-a-year thing, but instead are looking for ways to do the same thing at home is even more rewarding. Pray with us that this trip will be the beginning of great things in our students' lives. Thanks for reading, and check out the rest of our pictures.