“Make New Friends Everyday” - Sara

 The end of the Harrisburg mission trip marks my twelfth time taking students to serve with YouthWorks. Each mission trip is the same in that we go to a new community, follow relatively the same schedule, and end up learning a lot about ourselves, God and what it means to follow Him and love others. Each trip though is also very unique. No two sites are the same and each trip seems to have its own unique theme that develops as the week progresses. For the Harrisburg trip one of those themes that makes it unique from the other 11 is the theme of friendship. On past trips we were never the church to branch out and make friends. We usually stuck to ourselves. Sure we were friendly to the other churches, but it didn’t feel like we made real connections with them. That is until this trip.  

 We were teased with a glimpse of what waited for us,  before we ever left Good Shepherd. A lady from church told me she had decided to make something for each of us. She left a bag on my desk with a note saying that she hoped we would be able to make friends on our mission adventure and there was a Clifford pillowcase for each of us. Around the big red dog it said make new friends everyday. I chuckled knowing that the group we were  taking were mainly introverts, and  that making new friends would be a challenge not just for them but for me. Before the trip Tim had said, “I sure hope you don’t get combined with another church. No offense, but you usually don’t end up enjoying the other adult leaders.” Thanks Tim, but there was in fact a lot of truth to his statement. 

We kicked off our trip with site seeing in Philadelphia fondly known as the city of brotherly love- its name taken from the Greek word philos- meaning the love  that is expressed between friends and then off to Harrisburg. Literally the minute we walked in the door we were greeted by Maci the site director and honestly the friendliest YouthWorks staff person I have ever met. She immediately asked me to assign our students and leaders to service groups and every group was a combo of two churches- she had done this on purpose. Everyone from Good Shepherd would have to work with students and leaders from other churches. 

In the past this has been hit and miss— but not this year. My group was combined with the church from Minnesota and we were tasked with planning a 45 minutes chapel for kids at a Christian theater camp. The group melded seamlessly, we collaborated and planned together as if we had know each other for years, by the end of the first service day our groups had clicked. During down time you would see Good Shepherd students playing cards with other church’s, and practicing the church clap dance.

One student said he had made more friends on this trip in four days, than he had in the past 6 months at school. Students spent time in the evenings running through the hallway laughing and pranking  people by knocking on their door and running away. Maci, the site director, went out of her way to spend time talking with students and connecting with them. Andrew got several notes from the Wisconsin kids he served with saying he was the best youth leader they had ever had. Students made friends with kids who weren’t even in their service groups. There was laughter and jokes, and hugs and sad goodbyes as we said farewell to the YouthWorks staff, and the new friends we had made. 

One of my favorite parts of these trips is seeing the way God shows up for us. One day our devo was about how trees depend on each other for stability and strength— their roots interconnect and help hold each other together. This week was a truly beautiful picture of God’s church. Yes we were there to serve the community, and to work, but God also gave us a gift. He deepened our relationships with each other, but He also gave us new friends to help make the journey more joyful and fun. There was so much laughter on this trip and students just being free to be kids. We were each rooted in Christ, but we were also rooted together. The cherry on top of this God sighting on friendship woven throughout the trip was that our shower site was at the Friendship YMCA. Just another subtle nod and reminder to the blessing that new and old friends bring into our lives. Stay rooted in Him, stay rooted together. 

Whirlwind Week - Dylan

 This week was a whirlwind. From food banks to food pantries in the Hood. The Boys and Girls Club and gardening, we had a mix of all sorts of different types of service. In my group was Isaiah, Alex, Riley  girl and Andrew. The other group with us was Landon, Sean, Erik, Adakus, and Bob. Our first day was simple, we went to a food bank that feeds over 200,000 people in Pennsylvania. My job was boxes. I would say at the end of the end of our 4 hour shift I had made about 600 boxes. This is all I did for the first day. The second day rolls around and I’m feeling good, I’m ready to work and feeling motivated. We are told we are going to a food pantry. As we are driving, we go further and further away from the city. We arrive and we are genuinely in the hood. 85% of our group has never been to the hood so I knew I was in for a treat. Mrs. Vicky is our site coordinator and she might be one of the best people I’ve ever met. She is vibrant and full of energy. Later she tells us that she is 71 and she is working in the food pantry every week. This day was 101 degrees and 70% humidity, the hottest day of the trip. Not once during the day did I complain or break but was fully locked-in for the day. Early that morning I had asked for strength and endurance during this day, later I realize that God had answered me in one of my greatest times of need. The next day was a rough morning. I was tired and didn’t want to work, but again I asked for help. We were to go to a community garden. I wasn’t thrilled but I was willing to do the work. Once we get in the car we are told of a change of plans. Instead of the garden we are going to the Boys and Girls Club. This was a huge relief, the club was great, the kids were amazing. It was a blast, the kids were so friendly and just getting to spend some time with them was extremely restorative. On the last day we went to a garden. We helped weed, mulch, and water. I taught the other kids how to mulch and that if you aren’t dirty after gardening, “you ain’t doin’ it right.” After about an hour and a half we journeyed to our next destination. We arrived at a park and we were told we would be met there and would pick up trash. When we got there, no one was there and more importantly no trash. There was legitimately half a bag of trash, but we had to really look for it. The park was nearly spotless, after 30 minutes we decided to leave because our other leader, Bob was cooked. We ended and went to the YMCA to shower, finishing off my third mission trip. 

Firm Foundation - Madison

 I thought last year would be my first mission trip but it wasn’t really. This year I actually had the chance to serve and honestly I was expecting it to be more difficult. The hardest part is just the unknown of what you’re doing the next day, but I got there and realized I was worried about nothing. This years theme is stay rooted, but it’s not just this years theme that matters but all the themes before. To build a firm foundation you need more than one person. We have people that are here for the same reason we are here, to help others, but another thing you need to build a firm foundation is scripture because it’s important to focus on the bigger picture you need more than just one line to stay on the foundation. There is a lot of good advice to be taken into account, and lessons to be learned through it all.

Madison

Spiritual Gifts - Morgan

 This is my third mission trip and I feel like this is a trip that I have made significant improvement when it comes to my faith journey. My other two trips were mainly about cementing myself in the group and starting to become more individualistic. This trip has felt different in terms of my curiosity with God and what my faith looks like. On Tuesday, after showers, I was talking to June outside the showers and we started talking about questions that I had been having and vulnerabilities that I showcased at the previous nights church group time. One of the topics that June had mentioned to me was spiritual gifts that every person has, but has to seek and search for it over time. Ever since that exchange, I have seen God’s work all around me. Wednesday morning, the Youthworks staff started talking about each persons spiritual gift, then at the Bible Study at the service site we were at, a lady there mentioned that everyone has a spiritual gift. It is like God has a huge billboard giving me signs. These observations make me feel more open minded and curious to how much God loves us and listens to us. This connects back to our theme this week that we need to be rooted in Gods love and understand the height, width, length, and how deep God loves us and to be filled with his love. He listens to us and gives us so many signals and signs that he is always with us. I am excited to keep learning about God and what I can take away from the rest of this mission trip.

Photos from the last two days

 Sorry these are out of order again! 

Organizing a library at Crossroads Christian Ministries

Church Group Time

Serving at the Food Bank

Caitlin Smiles, a non profit where we created and packed “coping kits” for kids in the hospital. Look them up, it’s a super cool organization that serves the whole country!

The Gathering - worship and devotion 

Mission Adventures - Struggles and Fails - Riley T

 This Mission trip adventure to Harrisburg has been really eventful from the moment we arrived at PDX to the moment that I am typing this now. One of these events included the rental cars trunk not closing with hundreds of dollars of stuff in the back, while all of these interesting events happened they helped me grow closer to God.   It helped me learn to have patience throughout the hard times that the group and I experience one of these hard times happened tonight (Tuesday) our group was putting on a skit about what we were having for dinner tonight which was hot dogs and hamburgers we were going to use a stunt that I learned in Theatre. Long story short I ended up bombing the skit. This helped me use my patience by remembering that God will always be with me and I will that and use it in my life along with another skit we are putting on in front of kids this Thursday.  Mission Trips are full of new experiences and memories and you can take what you learn from them and use it in your daily life. 

Riley T

Tiring Trip - Gavin

 This trip has been unlike any other for me. I feel like I was called to go on this trip as a mentor to not only my sister Madison but those other younger kids going along. So far it has been the most tiring trip for me, it must be my old age(I’m 18). With this being my fifth trip I have been trying to stay connected with everyone but in a way I feel a little out of place being one of the oldest kids here. For example, since I am now 18, youth works has a new rule that 18 year olds can not shower with the others, nor can they shower with the adult leaders, I feel like an outsider because of this rule. However this is not the only example. I have been trying to stay connected to not only everyone here but also God. This has been challenging since I will move to Arizona only a week after I get home form this trip to start my adult life. This has impacted me now because I feel as if I am missing out on the last moments I will have with my family, in addition to this I still have so many people to say goodbye to. These worries have consumed me and taken me away from this experience. However, during our first two “Church Group Times” I have been able to receive advice from everyone in our church about my worries consuming me. I was told to live in the moment or “You are here”, which was our theme from last years mission trip. In addition to this mama June was preaching last night and reminded not only myself but everyone to trust in God and he will take care of the rest. If I put my trust in God he will guide me down the right path and my worries will lessen. I look forward to practicing this throughout this trip but also my life.