But more importantly we were able to have a little bit of discussion about our trip. During the week we meet together in church groups, but being a group of 35 it's impossible to do that every night and have everyone be a part so we split up into smaller cells. Tonight is the first night we are all together again and can share stories. Our students talked for almost 2.5 hours about the trip, where they saw Jesus, and what they want to remember from this mission experience.
Thanks to Youthworks and all the great staff for a wonderful week, and here are a few stories from our students.
T
This week has been nothing short of amazing. Serving the
community in so many different ways is always an amazing time. Personally, I
enjoyed going to AG Rhodes, a rehab center, and talking to the residences
there. There were 3 ladies I talked to for the majority of my time there, and
their amount of wisdom is astounding. They told about how life is such a
complex and fragile chain of events. One woman took off at a young age to go to
school and make groundbreaking leaps for all women. She came out of college and
got a job at a massive company, being 1 of 15 female employees there. One lady
described her faith to us and even prayed over us as we left that day. And
lastly, the third discussed all her hardship she had in her life, including
anxiety and depression. Seeing her that day however, she could not have been a
sweeter and kinder lady, and as we talked she made clear how much our presence there
means to her. To hear what you are doing means that much to them is quite
humbling. Walking into AG Rhodes day one, I did not know how comfortable I was
talking to these people I never met. However, at the end of the week, I could
not be happier to have spent time with the residences there. I enjoyed that
sight so much and I would not hesitate to do something like that again. I will miss
mission trips like these a lot. - Adam
No need to worry, all of your family and friends did a
wonderful job serving this year, and I’m going to miss all of them as I go off
to college. They made this trip a lot of fun even in tasks that otherwise would
not have been. This year I had the opportunity to work at places that involved
meal packing, so it was pretty much manual labor the entire week. While it may
be harder to see Jesus in that than with relational work, the sheer quantity of
meals we were able to pack obviously had a huge impact on the individuals who received
them. We were thanked by all of them we had the opportunity to meet personally,
which was very nice to be able to see. I am very content with my past six years
of being able to help at Youthworks, and I have been encouraged to continue
serving throughout the rest of my life. - Tyler
I’ll start by saying that the amount of influences and role
models in the graduation senior class is pretty much astounding. These people
have been accepting and friendly since day one. Having a solid base of friends,
especially in jr. high and high school where things change so easily. I will
tell you that this change will probably be the hardest. Their friendship makes
church and worship exponentially easier. On that note I would like to share my
thoughts on this mission trip:
My overall favorite part is getting the opportunity to serve
kids at the Nicolas House Camp which is a day camp for kids at the Nicolas
House homeless shelter and even kids who don’t live at the shelter. They were rowdy
like all little kids but also completely respectful to the authorities. On the
first day I was with them in the afternoon when the gym was closed and everyone
was packed in a classroom playing bored games there was this one lone kid in
the corner, his name was Trenton. I asked him what he would like to play and he
said Lego Batman. We did not have any action figures and most of the games were
used without many pieces left in them. We ended up using clear packing tape and
generic game pawns to reenact the complete story of Lego Batman. His giddy face
and bright attitude struck me as the perfect symbolism far the overall theme of
the week which was THE GOOD LIFE. I felt like that little kids bright face was
how god wanted me to feel with him and his message sent to us through Jesus. I realized
God wanted us to be happy with each other no matter the circumstance, He wants
us to trust Him, He wants us to serve. Back to what I was saying in the beginning
of this story when I reflected upon the influence of our great senior class, the
good life is much easier to obtain with a solid support base. Thank you Lord
for this truly great blessing. - Jacob
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