Youth Mission Team 2019: Recap - Ian

Hi, I'm Ian Manning. Today we started our long drive home from Lexington. After a couple of bathroom breaks we had our annual stop at Cracker Barrel. After a hour or two of good food and reminiscing on the past week, we finally hit the road. This has been my fourth mission trip and looking back at this week, I know it's been a special one. It was magical for everyone involved, from the leaders to the kids in the youth group to adventure serve. From walking the streets of Lexington to canoeing down the Kentucky river, the week was filled with life lessons and moments no one is soon to forget. The chemistry that the group had was something I have never seen before on a mission trip. It was amazing watching three new leaders, Kim, Andrea, and Dale, getting accepted almost immediately as a part of the youth group. Everyone on the trip grew closer together as a family and ultimately grew closer to God.

Throughout the week, I saw moments of growth. On Thursday a couple of the guys accidentally got into a tough spot when we were climbing a small waterfall. Everyone up there worked as a perfect team to get everyone down safe and it was amazing to watch and be a part of. When my group went to Quest Farms on Wednesday, the impact we made on those special needs adults could be seen almost immediately. When Lauren walked in, one of the adults there yelled "BUDDY" when he saw her because he remembered her from when she visited from a mission trip 4 years ago. This years trip was filled with a unified want to help people and spread Gods love. On Friday, we were given the option to walk around the city and hand out our leftover food at the cost of our free time. Everyone voted to go and hand out our food after already doing two service projects that day. The group that came on this trip was really special and it was great to be a part of it. I have one more mission trip left until I move on from this youth group, and although I'm excited, I know topping this week won't be easy.

-Ian Manning

Youth Mission Team 2019: Day Five - Katie & Dan

Hey, I'm Katie Baker. Today is our last day in Kentucky. We started off the morning with some good breakfast and a seed thought. Afterwards, we broke up into our chore groups so that we could go to our first activity. I am in chore group 3, so we went to the Thompson-Hood Veterans home in Wilmore. I was super excited to talk to veterans . When we got there, we found out that we were playing Bingo with them. When we entered the room, I felt guided to sit with this older man who had been looking and smiling at me since I arrived. Ian and I pulled up two chairs to the table he was sitting at and we met everyone else sitting with him. There was ED, Doug and John. His name was Bobby. Bobby told us all about his time in the military. He was  hilarious and a funny storyteller. He is 95 years young and fought in WW2 in the army. He told stories about his time in Papua New Guinea and talked about how much he loves the food at the Veterans home. After winning Bingo FIVE TIMES, I had some time to chat with him more. He kept telling me that I was a special person and I could do great things. It meant a lot coming from him. After talking for a while, it was finally time to go. As he was saying goodbye to Ian and I, he started to cry. He said that even though he is 95, he isn't scared of dying because knows he's going to heaven. Then he kissed my hand and said he would miss me. Ian and I walked away from his table with an impact and a memory that will last forever. After that, we met up with the rest of the groups at a park for lunch. We had a lot of food leftover from the week and we planned to give that food to the people of Lexington through RAGS. But before that, we went to a food pantry named God's Pantry and packed 1,728 pounds of dark chocolate into boxes for the people in the city of Lexington who need food. This was a great team bonding experience because we learned how to assembly line the labeling of bags. When we left Gods Pantry, we got into vans and headed to Downtown Lexington for RAGS. RAGS means Random Acts of Grace and Service. We gave out the food until dinner time. For dinner, we went to a different park near the University of Kentucky and had hotdogs. We also had worship at the park!

~Katie Baker

Hi my name is Dan. I have been in the youth group for a while and this is my first time doing the blog. So today besides what Katie said, we split up into two groups. Katie and her crew went to the veteran center. My group went to the senior citizen center and I loved it so much. It reminded me of my grandparents because my mom mom lives in a nursing home as well as my grandfather on my dad's side. The elders in the home were so kind and funny. It's good to see caring hearts takin care of the older people in the homes. I met a women who asked to play rummy. It was hard to play because the one old lady there couldn't hear very well so it was hard to communicate so she didn't really want to play so she joined my team and I used context clues to communicate. At the end she shared a story with on how she didn't know how to play cards because her mom was very religious and card were gambling so there were never cards in the house. I was cracking up and the only reason I loved in rummy was because he first and last time Lauren shuffled she got 3 aces and 3 kings on her first turn I'm just saying she never shuffled again let's just say that. Once she see this she will be mad be she knows we all love her like her children. But truly the hardest part was leaving them because I felt like we were only there for like 2 hours I wish we could be there for longer but it's ok. I have had a great week and can't wait until next year. 

~Daniel Tapken 

Youth Mission Team 2019: Day Four - Sienna Burnham

I'm Sienna Burnham. Today was the fifth day of the mission trip. We went on a canoeing trip on the Kentucky River. After some unfortunate events; such as forgetting the bread for lunch and not having the correct forms, everyone picked partners and jumped in their canoes. Julia and I were partners, and it was an amazing time. During the boat ride we were able to take in the nature and beauty of the river. The weather was absolutely beautiful, with a clear blue sky and a comfortable temperature. After about two hours of rowing, our arms were exhausted and sore, but we were pleased by the sight of a small hidden water fall. We were able to get out of our boats for lunch by the waterfall and some of us even climbed to the top of the waterfall. We were able to enjoy a nice swim together. It was a peaceful ride back and I really enjoyed spending quality time with Julia. We learned more about each other and grew closer with her.

After the canoe trip, we went to visit our gracious hosts, Pastor Ron and Dorena. They hosted us for dinner and grilled steaks, chicken, and burgers. We were able to play games, have a great dinner, and spend time in worship and fellowship. This trip is meant for growing a stronger bond with the people around you and most importantly a more intense relationship with God. I have been working on this all week. I've been able to grow closer to people that I wouldn't usually talk to and I'm so glad I'm building new friendships within the youth group. These students and leaders are going to have my back through everything and I'm so grateful to be apart of a group that's so tight and faithful. Anyways we had a great time together and I'm excited to see what the rest of the trip holds! We'll keep you updated!! 

Sienna Burnham

Youth Mission Team 2019: Day Three - Jordan & Luke

Hi I'm Jordan! Today our group split into two, one went to Quest Farms and one went to Lord's Legacy, both groups that serve adults with special needs and take care of them. I went to Lord's Legacy, and at first we cleaned houses. At the first house, Katie and Tim led the group in who cleaned what and I got to clean the bathroom with Andrea! The next house, Julia and I led, and we got the house done really quickly. Then, we are lunch in the driveway and played games. When we were don't, we got to go to the Adult Day Training, which is where the adults learn things like in school and get to do activities. While they finished the lesson for the day, we cleaned the fridge and the closet. FINALLY it was time to hang out with the residents! I first met this woman Mary who was pretty quiet but I eventually got her laughing when she said her favorite food was shrimp and I freaked out because I love shrimp too! Then I met Tammy, whose birthday it was. We all signed a paper for her and then Kristan told her I could sing and Tammy wanted me to sing. We first sang My Lighthouse and then Oceans, where our entire group sang and we danced and held hands with Tammy! It was really special. Then I met Kim, who was singing along. I sat down with her and we were chatting and Kirstan and Tim came over too. Kim told me that everyone in the place was her best friend and that her favorite part was being there and everything about the place. She told me that they pray a lot and we asked to pray with her and I got the honor of praying with her, it was so cool!! She then looked up at the sky and pointed to the clouds and said "Look, that's God up there!!" This day made a huge impact on me and I could talk about it for hours on end. I hope I get to do something like that again, because I feel like those people make a huge impact on me and teach me to appreciate life a lot more (:

-Jordan Kelley

Hello there, I'm Luke Buzby! Today my group and I went to Quest Farms and hung out with the special needs people that were awesome! Some people were painting with them, playing monopoly, playing outdoor games, or puzzles with them. Luke and I started off doing a puzzle with this one guy named Grayson. He was super cool, he kept taking about how his girlfriend was there with him and how they're super happy together. We told him that that was cool and that it's good he's treating her well and everything. I later on left because I'm terrible with puzzles. I went to play with some Yahtzee with some people. We got super hype when someone rolled a Yahtzee. Dan just hopped in and he rolled three ones and he needed two more to get Yahtzee and then he got snake eyes and all went crazy for the Yahtzee. So we ended up having to go and we all hopped into the van and we were waiting for about 30 minutes listening to music and jamming out. And the people who told us where to go told us they were going to be a little late. So we continued to the farm., We arrived at the farm and were later noted that they were not going to make it and to come back. We came back and Dan, Rob, and I all played uno with this girl named Cara. I decided to go and interact with someone else. But Dan quickly called for me and I saw that Cara and Rob were writing down bible verses. She then asked for us to write down songs that we liked and that she could listen to. We gave her so many songs that we could think of. It felt really good to know she actually cared, and to see the smile on her face and everyone else's face. It made me think that it's he little things that make people like them happy and I'm grateful to know that we made her day. 

~Luke Buzby

Youth Mission Team 2019: Day Two - Conrad

Our team’s second day in Lexington started out with the realization that it was going to be a beautiful day. Some woke up and went on a run to take in the air and sights that surround them, some decided to take time and talk to the people around them to get to know them better, and some decided to make up the sleep that they so desperately needed from walking around the city spreading random acts of kindness to strangers that they see along the streets. Meanwhile the breakfast crew was busy preparing.....well.....breakfast.

As the swarms of students and leaders came down to meet at the pavilion to hear what food they were gifted with that morning, we realized that we were gifted with the presence of Pastor Ron for the second morning in a row. I have no clue why he would want to come that early in the morning just to see some kids with messy hair and bags under their eyes, but I appreciated it. I got to sit across from him and let him think I really knew something about horses until I finally told him that I actually learned that stuff the day before while talking to a lady who knew a lot about horses and horse races during our random acts of kindness.

Anyway, we then proceeded to our seed thought time where we talked about how God made us into a community for a reason. We are here on this world to be together and help one another. I noticed the lesson really made people look around and really appreciate the group and community that they have around them. This boosted us to work as a team in our next activity of canvasing for Blue Grass Green Source. My group went around two neighborhoods and placed bags of items such as reusable jar caps, grease scrapers, fliers, and things like that on peoples porches to teach them about recycling and protecting the environment. Eventually we ran out of bags in our wagon and we were at the top of a hill. Soooo obviously I had to kneel down inside of the wagon and ride down. After all we are working with ADVENTURE Serve not just Serve so I mean I had to have an adventure.

Since we were done, we went to McConnell Springs for prayer stations. At each station we learned about how God is apart of our lives in all cases and circumstances and about how he guides us if we let him. Finally, we ate dinner, which was jambalaya. I made a request to some of people to add spices and to make a spicy one and a normal one and they did! I loaded it up with hot sauce and pepper flakes bc I love spicy things and it continues to be my favorite missions trip meal. So pretty much a great time if I'm being honestly honest. Thanks for listening to my TED Talk, we will keep you posted.

                                       - Conrad "darnoC" Cliver

Youth Mission Team 2019: Day One - Colleen

Our first day we started out with breakfast under the pavilion. Then, during our seed thought we learned what joy is and the different fruits of the spirit. We were then told by our ASM leaders that we had to do a quick change of plans. We were supposed to go canvasing at Bluegrass Greensource, but due to the weather (rain), we could not do it. Instead we did RAGS (Random Acts of Grace and Service).

Before we went out we did some games that involved teamwork and communication. One of these activities involved having four or five people with blindfolds who could not walk or talk. Everyone else had to communicate with each other to make a certain shapes while holding a rope. We learned that communication is important in order to accomplish a goal. Then we went to lunch at a park near the church where we are staying.

After lunch, we went into Lexington to do the RAGS. Each group was given one dollar for each member, and go out do small services to the community. My group in particular went to a hot dog stand and bought four water cups and a bag of chips. We walked around the city and handed out the waters and the bag of chips. We talked to the these people and learned a little bit about them. Then we went to a Subway and bought a sandwich. We gave the sandwich to a man in a wheelchair. We prayed with each of these people to help them out and to always be with them.

We came back to the church for dinner, debrief, and worship. During debrief we talked about the different things that happened during the day. One of things that I enjoyed was seeing how grateful the people were when we gave them the water or the sandwich. During worship, Luke Buzby talked about attitude and how it changes after different events. For me, I was a little uncomfortable going up to random strangers and starting conversations with them. After doing it a couple of times, it became easier to go up and talk to people. Even though our initial plan fell through, it still came out okay. We may have changed people's lives by do the random acts of grace. We are looking forward to the rest of week, and hope that they are as enjoyable as today!

-Colleen

Cookie Sale Fundraiser

Youth Mission Team members and families are expected to participate in our cookie sale fundraiser on Sunday, Dec. 9. We are asking each student to bring 4-6 dozen cookies placed 4 in a bag, depending on size, and marked and labeled to sell for $2 a bag. Please bring cookies in a labeled container ready to sell. Please indicate if there are nuts or not in your cookies. Cookies can be dropped off at church by 9am.

Please sign up for a shift after one of the 3 services. There are not enough shifts for everyone, so signup is first come first serve. We will have a table in the fellowship hall after the 8:25 and 9:45 services and in the narthex after all 3 services. Only students who sign up for spots will receive credit for serving. We usually have difficulty getting students to stay for the last service, but we're asking for a few of you to maybe go to the last service and help us out. 

For those that are working the tables, you should not be sitting in chairs. Remember to smile and make eye contact with the customers, refrain from using your cell phones while serving, and avoid socializing with your friends. Shifts are for mission team members only so please do not invite friends or siblings to work with you. Please be prompt for your shift. Students who do not follow these guidelines may be asked not to work the table.

To sign up to serve at a table, click here.

2019 Mission Team Info Packet & Application

Thank you to all of the students and parents who joined us at our 2019 trip info meeting. If you missed the meeting or need to reference the info, download our 2019 Mission Team Info Packet here.

Applications and $100 non-refundable deposit are due by Dec. 2 to reserve your spot on our team.