Making a trip like this is unique from any other type of trip the kids go on – it’s not vacation, it’s not a school trip, it’s not like camp – it’s its own thing. This year, we served through Next Step Ministries:
2019: June 23—July 1 , youth (grades 6 and up) and advisors served in Clendenin, West VIrginia. We did disaster relief work (construction projects and repair work); and through our serving we shared Christ’s love and grew in our own knowledge and love for the Lord. We also spent two days of R&R at a retreat house on the way home. What a wonderful way to Share Christ and Change Lives beyond the borders of our town.
In previous years we have served through Youthworks:
2018: June 24— July 1, 19 youth and four advisors stayed fairly local (Lynn, MA) and served in homes for disabled adults, the Boys & Girls Club, North Shore Christian School, and My Brother’s Table. What a wonderful way to Share Christ and Change Lives beyond the borders of our town.
2017: Twenty youth and six adults traveled to Rutland, Vermont to serve God in a rural setting. A good chunk of the young people had been to Queens, New York last year so this experience was different. Yet they still found plenty of ways to serve this community. The group included grades 6th through 11th. Our youth got to know other Christians from Connecticut and Ohio. New friendships began to be formed the first day! Our work groups took us to many locations: Rutland community members homes, a veterans homeless shelter and soup kitchen, 2 different assisted living facilities, creating new hiking trails, working on farms (where the food would be donated to community members in need), and stacking bricks! So many bricks! These bricks were donated to the farmers market and would be sold to support the food program, but first they needed to be stacked in neat pallets. We worked hard and we saw how God worked in this community as well as in our own lives. Thank you for your continued support of our youth! You can find some pictures here… Rutland Mission Trip 2017
2016: Twenty-five youth and six adults traveled to Jamaica, Queens, New York to serve God in the city! For many of these young people it was their first mission trip. The group ranged in age from 6th to 11th grade students. The trip was a great success. We got to know each other and we got to meet the youth and leaders from other churches from Indiana and Pennsylvania. We also were privileged to serve at 2 different assisted living facilities, 2 different city gardens as well as working in parks. We ran a soup kitchen one night as well as a community barbecue. We got to see God’s presence in all of these locations and we talked about God’s effect in our own lives. We are tired, but feeling fulfilled. Here’s a link to some pictures from the trip… Mission Trip 2016 Gallery
Other Mission Trips:
2015: Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in the southwest corner of South Dakota.
2014: Queens, New York
2013: Lincoln County, West Virginia
2012: Rutland, Vermont
2011: Washington, DC
2010: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Note: Our trips to D.C and Philadelphia were with CSM – The Center for Student Missions