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!
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