This past week was a continuation of
being able to serve others in my life, as our high school mission team traveled
to Rockford, Illinois to help people in need there. Before I share about our experiences it needs
to be noted that this year’s trip had a different feel to it because the
individual who had coordinated and led these trips for the past 25 years
stepped down. His shoes were filled by
a team of people who desired to see this amazing ministry continue but the trip
felt a little different without the “man in the orange shirt.”
As for our experience, and I feel
like I say with each youth trip/event I do, but it truly was the best ever as
Faith UMC is blessed with great students and adult volunteers. As I reflected back upon the week there are
several moments that stand out to me where God was present. I will attempt to capture a few of them here
but if you would like to hear more about our experience feel free to join us at
one of our three worship services this Sunday, July 14th as our
students and adults will be sharing about how God worked in their lives during
the week.
The first experience that I would
like to share is about the amazing students that I am blessed to work
with. Each day our students are
responsible for sharing about the theme from the day which centered on a piece
of our verse for the week. This year we
chose Deuteronomy 10:12 which says, “And now, Israel, what does the LORD your
God ask of you except to fear the LORD your God by walking in all of His ways,
to love Him, and to worship the LORD your God with all your heart and all your
soul.” Our students amazed me as they
shared about how God was working in their lives and it was evident that they
desired to share God’s love to those they were serving and others through their
lives. Two evenings in particular stood
out to me as our students shared about their understanding the theme of the
day.
The first was a young lady who was
limited in what she could do by a recent surgery. We were unsure if she would be able to attend
the trip but not only did she attend the trip but she blessed several of us
with her words as she shared. This young
lady had spent a great deal of time encouraging others, planning their
devotion, and thinking about what she would say. After she finished sharing her heart the
table I was sitting simply looked around at each other (with our jaws on the
floor and tears in our eyes) and said WOW!
Her heart shined through every word she said and everyone was changed
because of what she shared. The second experience
happened on Friday night as I listened to our seniors (now graduates) share
about their experiences as they led us in communion and worship. It is astounding to listen to these
individuals share through the tears about what our mission trip has meant to
them and thank those that have impacted their lives. It is an incredible blessing to see these
young men and women share their hearts and know that they will go out and
change the world!
The work projects were another place
where it was evident that God was working as we were blessed with great home
owners to help. On the final day of the
trip I was traveling to all the work sites to see the finished projects that
our students and adults had devoted their week to. It always amazes me at the work that our
teams complete and this year was no different.
However, there were a few sights that I saw after the teams left that need
to be shared. The first was young boy lying
on the new deck that two teams built around his house. His father was a diabetic who had lost both
legs and was in a wheelchair and although he tried to keep his children “out of
the way” our teams welcomed them in to work with them during the week. Seeing this young boy lying on the porch and
enjoying something new was reaffirmation of the amazing work that our teams do. Second, there was a family with seven
children who couldn’t stop thanking the director of the Workcamp for sending
two of our teams to them to help by constructing a new picket fence, plant
flowers, paint, and do some additional work on their house. Their kind words about our teams made me so
proud to be a part of this ministry.
Third, was a man in his 70’s with MS who two teams constructed a
wheelchair ramp for. He told me one day
that he had went out on the ramp and jumped up and down on it to show how
thankful he was. (Although we both knew
he couldn’t jump, we laughed as we celebrated the hard work of our teams with
this blessing he received). Finally, there
was the interaction with a Puerto Rican native custodian who worked at a church
where a team worked on several bathrooms.
As he left a special dinner on Friday evening, his smile told the story
of his gratitude as our team alleviated what could have been months of work for
him. One of the most unique pieces of
this project was that some of our students painted a verse of Scripture in
three different languages on the walls of one of the bathrooms to minister to
the diverse congregation that they have at this location. The work projects were yet another way that
we saw God working during this week.
The final example of God working
during this week was through the relationships that were built between the
students, adults, and me. After having
to leave last year’s trip due to my father being in the hospital I was anxious
to see how some of the students would interact with me this year. After hours of laughter, sharing stories, and
having deep/meaningful conversations I am so thankful for these students and
the impact that they have had in my life.
Needless to say, God was at work and
we were blessed to be a part of it throughout our serving in Rockford. We are excited to share more about our
experiences with our church family this Sunday in worship and thank you for entrusting
your students to us. We look forward to
partnering with the families of our community as we seek to impact the next
generation with the combined influence of parents and the church!
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