That's A Wrap!

Irving, Texas (August 7, 2009) It has been a month now since the Youth in Mission team returned from Iowa. While the trip is over, the vibes keep ripplin' through the lives of the team. These are the final thoughts for "Hope and Encouragement". Thanks for sharing the journey!


From Chelsea A. ...

"Mission Trip is one of those unique experiences that inspire you to be your best, while you get to hang out with the old and new friends. Those days together are spent with a roller coaster of emotions that bring us together and make us a family; like when we slumped down in morning worship together, or slapped each other on the side of the head for seeing a yellow car. When we walked the labyrinth and played cards for hours or skipped breakfast just to get that extra ten minutes of the pillow. Especially when we whined for QT. We also had the tough things like watching the homeless, showering under a four foot shower head, and leveling the ground a million times. Doing for others is shown in all sorts of ways I’ve learned; I hope we helped the lives we each touched."

"I will miss you, seniors!"


RIck's Final Thoughts...
"As the trip co-director, and one of the people responsible for bringing the Youth in Mission ministry to Grace Presbytery back in 1999. It is probably fitting that I get the last word.

This was my seventeenth, and last mission trip with Grace Presbytery, and as many of you know, this was not my decision, but that is another story. In the eleven summers and three winters that we have been doing this, nearly two-hundred youth and adult advisors have been part of this ministry. Over 40 congregations have been represented, and we have been all over the map from Bison, South Dakota to Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, and from Steubenville, Ohio to Ganado, Arizona. Some times the work has been heavy-duty and some times it has felt like "busy work", but regardless of how significant or insignificant the physical labor felt, the relationships and the spiritual nurturing was always what was the most important part of it all. There was never anything insignificant about how God touched our lives, and how we touched the lives of those with whom we interacted, both within the group and within the communities we served.

These trips are not only about mission and outreach, but they are about leadership development in the best sense of the word. The trip became connecting points for youth within this presbytery. These trips have been significant, not only for the participants, but for me as well. Mission Trips changed my life, and this form of ministry is a passion that I have chosen to share in two parishes and now here in Grace Presbytery. I am truly happiest, and feel most spiritual and fulfilled when I am accompanying the young people of the church on trips like this. Each day on the Iowa Adventure was a true joy for me as I got to share it with 31 other people who will forever be a part of me -- we had one amazing experience after another. Each night was a pain for in the quiet, not even Wes' sinus symphony could stop me from thinking about what was taken away from me on June 4.

I know that wherever I go from here, I will have special moments to celebrate, and there will be joy and good times, but at the same time, I have to wonder, will I ever experience this kind of happiness again?

That's a wrap!"