From Parent to Chaperone - Kate

What a blessing and a privilege to see God at work thru the magic Sara and Tim help create on these mission trips!  As the mother of Dylan's best friend, Thomas, I had heard quite a lot about these trips after Thomas returned from Savanna in 2023, Harrisburg in 2024, and Nashville in 2025. I heard about the places they visited and the service they provided. I watched the fun videos made by Tim and Dylan with snippets from the trips. But I was particularly struck by what felt like magic as Thomas had talked about getting closer to God on these trips. Therefore, when I was invited to help provide support to Sara and Tim as a leader/chaperone, I was thrilled for the opportunity to witness this magic firsthand.

Youthworks provides the framework, the theme, the roof over our heads, and the food... but it's the people, doing God's work, who create the magic!

This year's theme was "Made for This" and each day we had a section to cover in our devotional books to gain a  deeper  understanding of how God is with us, what gifts we've each been given, and to think about how we can use our gifts to be more like Jesus:

Made to Matter

Made to Mirror

Made for Each Other

Made for a Mission

We talked about getting out of our comfort zones and stretching ourselves by being curious about others, having conversations with the people  from other churches and showing true kindness to the people we serve.  

Having a mix of leaders and youth from other churches at our service sites helped with getting conversations started  and being more curious about the others who were on this Mission Trip. The ice started melting  between us on the first day, at lunchtime, when we ate at a long table at our service site.

Around 3pm each day, we would have a 2 hour activity, such as a trip to the center of downtown Indianapolis, swimming at a reservoir at Eagle Creek Park, or a talk given by a local pastor about his work with the houseless in Indianapolis. Here, all the participants in the whole group were together, and we were excited to be reunited with those from our own church.

After these activities, we would drive back to the church with our Good Shepherd group to have dinner with everyone, do some cleanup and head for showers. The time in the car was made extra meaningful by singing songs together, sharing stories about the day's happenings at our work sites, and going out for ice cream, if we were quick to finish showering. 

Back at the church before bed, was the most magical time, with Sara speaking  succinctly with the Good Shepherd youth about God's love and how each person matters. The way Sara phrases these points truly gets thru to these kids and gets them thinking. She is a true leader and I have clearly seen God working thru her.

I now understand better what an enormous amount of detailed work is put into each of these mission trips and can say we are extraordinarily fortunate to have Sara and Tim giving their time and thoughtful effort with these kids! I am forever thankful for the fantastic, loving impact they have made on Thomas and me! 

In closing, I want to share how blessed I feel to have had this special week with this Good Shepherd family, to get to know these remarkably brave and wise youth a bit better, and to witness how God is working thru so many in this world, young and old alike. These trips change many lives for the better and help us get closer to God!

Made for This - Hattie

This is my second mission trip I’ve been on, and I feel like the theme this year resonated with me a lot more than last years did. 

This year the theme was Made For This. They had us focus on trying to figure out what our purpose was, and wanted us to try and identify what we were made for. I am not sure what I am made for and that’s hard. Sometimes when I look around it seems like others seem to have it all figured out. 

Fortunately for me, I have a best friend who can help to reassure me that even though my gifts aren’t super flashy and out in the open, what I was made for still makes a huge impact on others around me. God surrounds us with friends and family in order to provide us with the support that is necessary to help you get through life. These people are here to teach you the lessons you will never forget and also to help you find yourself and what you are made for.  

I believe that the people who become your best friends were found not by accident but that God led us to find each other. Even though I’m not a hundred percent sure on what I am made for yet, I know that God will help me to find what I’m made for. - Hattie 

Patience - Calie

Patience has always been a struggle for me. Ever since I was young I have always wanted things done perfect and on time. Unfortunately as I’ve very much learned on this trip that life has a way of throwing curveballs and testing your limits. 

The week started with us going to a garden, but the lady wasn’t there. We sat in the hot sun for an hour waiting. I was kind of disappointed and frustrated by the miscommunication. Then next day we started our service project an hour late again- this time due to traffic. I was once again irritated and disappointed. The YouthWorks staff had taken a super long time before they finally gave us, our orientation so we could leave. Overall our interactions with the YouthWorks staff just haven’t been pleasant. These issues have helped to teach me patience, and understanding. It has shown me that I need to focus more on how others are feeling and not so much on myself. 

I think that God wants me to understand this so I can do a better job understating others, so I can serve them with my whole heart. My impatience causes me to jump to conclusions and judge people before I get to them. I hope to take what I’ve learned from this trip and let it influence me back home. 

Students answer the question “I’m made for…”

Our theme  that we’ve been unpacking this year is “Made for This” Here’s how the students answered that question tonight.

I’m made for…

Brendan- creativity 

Madison- encouragement 

Dylan- leadership

Rikki- to be the light

Isaiah- to help 

Calie- confidence 

Hattie- empathy 

Payton- worship 

Thomas- joy 

Riley- compassion

Riley girl- kindness 

Mackenzie - caring

Hands and Feet of Jesus - Sara

 At this point I think this is my 14th mission trip. I’ve seen a lot of things, done a lot of things, and had the blessing of getting to see God work in all sorts of students’ lives. There is so much I love about these trips. From getting to see students serve the community, to having extended time together to talk and bond, and all the inside jokes that we develop. All these things make these trips meaningful, and are great but my favorite thing is watching how God orchestrates showing up at just the right time, in ways so complex and thought out that you couldn’t have anticipated what He was going to do. My first born has struggled for many years with feeling unexceptional. He has felt like his gifts were just not as exciting as other people’s. Sometimes we can feel like other people are exceptional because they’re flashy and gregarious. It’s hard to compete with big personalities, when you are someone who is quiet and stays in the background. When we compare ourselves to others  it can feel like we are inadequate or just not that special.

Tuesday night I came across a student who was upset and having a conversation with another participant. They were expressing a lot of the same feelings Dylan has had growing up. Since it was close to lights out I had to approach them and let them know it was time to go to bed, that’s when I saw that the student was pretty upset. I started to talk to them and then who should come around the corner, but Dylan. I stopped and said ya know Dylan has dealt with a lot of the same things- “Dylan can you take this one?” And he did. He shared about his own struggles and what he’s learned about embracing who he is and working to stop comparing himself to others. I love so much about these trips, but what I love most is watching our students step into leadership and how God uses them to impact each other. We’ve all got something we’ve gone through that’s difficult. When we can use our experience to help someone it can redeem a difficult situation and we are something bad and make it good. We can’t control a lot of what happens to us, but we can control if we use it to help someone else. A big part do our time here has focused on bearing one another, which in Greek means to hold up, or endure. We all will have a moment where we need to be held up, and we all will have the opportunity to hold someone else up, that’s the beauty of the body of Christ. 

As we head into our last days of this trip, I'm reminded once again that God rarely wastes our struggles. The things we wish we could erase often become the very things He uses to encourage someone else. This week wasn't just about the work projects we completed or the places we served—it was about watching students become the hands and feet of Jesus for one another. 

Thank you to everyone who has been praying for us. We've seen those prayers answered in ways both big and small. Please continue praying for our students as we finish the week—that they would continue to encourage one another, grow in their faith, and return home with hearts that are more like Christ's. My prayer is that what God has started here won't stay on this trip, but will continue to bear fruit long after we get home.

Students answer what the best part about today was...

Riley Girl - getting closer with other people in my group even the guys and hearing more about their experiences  

Madison - sorting kids cloths with Payton and Autumn 

 

McKenzie - sorting the cloths at St. Vincent de Paul with the people in my group 

 

Calie - singing in the car 

 

Hattie - getting to go on a run and being outside on the lake 

 

Payton - knowing how much work has been done and how close we are to being done and getting Starbucks

 

Isaiah - The best part of today was talking with the homeless people.

 

Brendan- getting advice from one of the clients at the men’s shelter. He told me to keep trying to progress and stay in school.

 

Thomas- Brendan. He gave me a full container of Pringles.

 

Riley Boy- spending time at the lake for our afternoon activity.

A New Perspective - Payton

    This is my first trip. I could have gone last year but I didn’t because I was scared and I didn’t think I was ready. This is the longest trip I’ve ever been on without my family. I hate feeling left out though, and every time people would talk about the trip I would feel left out, so I decided I was going to go for it. I thought ok I’ll do this once and get out the way, but there’s no way I’m going to do it again. 

    Before the trip my parents tried to prepare me by saying this is going to be a lot of work, it’s nothing like 30 Mile and that scared me a bit. I thought I would be sad, uncomfortable and complaining a lot and non-stop thinking about home. But the truth is I don’t think I’ve ever laughed more, I’m honestly sick of laughing. The format is really similar to 30 Mile, but this is different because we are dealing with other churches, and the YouthWorks staff. I’m used to knowing everyone at 30 Mile, so this is more uncomfortable and pushes you more. Over 30 Mile Mission you always go to the same places but going somewhere new makes you see things in a new way. 

    At home it can be easy to ignore the needs around you because you see them all the time. But here you don’t know what you’re going to see, so it’s more of a shock and it really forces you to see the people around you and the ways they’re struggle, and that includes people you’ve know for years. 

    I think this trip has helped me to brave, and not to focus so much on the things that go wrong.  At first I thought this would be "one and done" for mission trips, but now after serving for three days I can honestly say I haven’t even thought about home, and this is something I’m am willing to do again. God has showed me things I’ve never thought about and puts my life in a new perspective.