Sixty-five youth experienced the joy of sharing God’s word and serving others during four mission trips this summer to Maine, Montana, Guatemala and Schuylkill County.
From June 12-17, five leaders and 16 teens served in Calais, Maine, playing with children from a Native American reservation, spending time making seniors smile and helping struggling families by doing various jobs including painting, cleaning and weeding.
“I met this 87-year-old woman named Marie, who had some type of memory problem, but who taught me how to say the alphabet backwards,” said Kyria Knight. She recalls how special it made her feel to be friends with this kind woman who struggled to recall daily events. “I really enjoyed meeting her and help to clean up a place that was used to shelter animals, because I really like animals.”
“I enjoyed meeting youth from other churches,” J.C. Garges said. “Even though we came from different places, some as far as Wyoming, we discovered we are very much alike. We continue to keep in touch through Facebook.”
“What I liked best about the experience,” Jim Walters said, “was seeing the kids’ faces while we were playing with them. They were so joyful and happy. They were not used to getting so much attention and are not too involved with church.”
Like Kyria, J.C. and Jim claim this mission trip is the first of many for them.
The students who went to Maine were: Kristen Soltis, Krista Walters, Jimmy Walters, Jenna Saylor, Blake Wilhemy, Hannah Marks, Ross Bates, Katie Stepnowski, Marc Ludwig, Laura Vining, Brianna Davis, Trey Werley, J.C. Garges, Abbey Sullivan, Jaime Vincent, Jon Wolbert, and Kyria Knight. The leaders included Brian Henry, Stacy Sherk, Keisha Vining, Dom Durante, and Melinda Novitski.
Shortly after the Maine trip returned, 12 students and 4 leaders left to head down to Guatemala, leaving on June 22nd.
“We spent two days at Hills Foot and two days at Getsemani School doing skits and music to connect with the children,” Tyler Johnston said. “We also went to a place known as the ‘The Hole,’ where there was a lot of poverty. The children loved us and the skits, which were funny routines about learning how to be in sync with one another. The best part of the experience was seeing how happy the children were with so little. We have so much and yet we often aren’t happy.”
This was the third mission trip for Tyler, who went to Schuylkill County and Adirondacks in New York in previous years, and the fourth for Kevin Ostromecki, who went to Texas, the Adirondacks and Ohio.
“They made homes out of cinder blocks and cardboard for roofs,” Kevin said, describing the poverty and rudimentary conditions. “We often saw stray dogs that were skin and bones. The people were self-reliant—they grew their own vegetables that they ate and sold and weaved bags, blankets and bracelets that they sold at the market.”
Like Tyler, Kevin was impressed by the happiness of the children, who had so little.
“It was difficult to build relations with the kids and then leave,” he said. “The kids loved do spend time with Americans and they remembered some of the leaders from previous years, like Colleen and Steph.”
Ally Clinard, who also went to Guatemala, described her experience as an eye-opening one.
“When I saw how the smallest little things, like bubbles, would make these kids happy, I realized how selfish we can be,” she said.
She was amazed, too, to learn how generations of families lived on a mountain their entire lives and would not leave because they were content to stay there.
“We couldn’t speak much Spanish, but we were able to communicate, and they understood our skits,” she said.
“It’s important to go on mission trips like this because it is rewarding to get to know the people,” said Luke Hoffman, who also went to Guatemala. “It’s great to make the kids happy. When I think of my life compared to their lives and to see how they can be happy with nothing, really makes me realize I have nothing to be upset about.”
The students who went to Guatemala were Luke Hoffman, Brandi Henry, Kendall Phillips, Ally Clinard, Ian Yanusko, Kevin Ostromecki, Taylor Bates, Jackie Reiss, Becky O’Connell, Eric Brant, Amanda Hoffman, and Tyler Johnston. The leaders were Rick Adams, Steph Farmer, Colleen Hoffman and Grant Hoffman.
While the Guatemala trip was serving down in Central America, the next group of 16 students and 5leaders departed for Busby, Montana. They, along with 400 youth from across the country, gathered to help Native Americans on a Cheyenne Indian reservation.
“For the first time, I realized what it means to be a Christian and live a life of service for God,” Caroline Young said.
Caroline explained how they helped an 84-year-old woman, Mabel Small, by painting the interior of her home.
“At first, she acted like she didn’t really want us there, but then she warmed up to us,” Caroline explained. “By the time we were done, she made earrings for the girls and necklaces for guys. It was great making friends with her.
“This was one of the best experiences I ever had, and I can’t wait go again next year,” she said, adding that one of the last services, “cry night,” was life-changing for her, as the prayer and worship connected her closer to God than she ever felt before.
Brianna Major connected with other teens from a church group in Wisconsin, as they became friends while working on projects together to help people.
One of these projects, leader Gary Christman explained, was a picnic table they specially painted for a family.
“We painted all day at this home and wanted to leave something special for this family,” he said. “We painted their old picnic table white and then each of us put our hand prints around the outside of the table with a line in the center connecting the handprints, since the theme of the week was ‘connect.” We then added the Bible verse from John 15:5 about how God is the vine and you are the branches.”
The youth who participated in the Montana mission trip include: Abbey Reisner, Sean Gallagher, Brandan DeJohn, Ryan Carroll, Megan Minges, Caroline Young, Sarah Copenhaver, Brianna Major, Dan Harp, Melissa Garris, Courtney Reiss, Billy O’Connell, Alex Barrett, Kylie Johnston, Rachel Yednock, Nick Wertz. The leaders included Gary Christman, Tim Carroll, Karen Yednock, Kathy Minges, and Pat Barrett.
Shortly after the students from the Montana trip returned, the next and last group of 15 students and 5 leadersleft for Mahanoy City in Schuylkill County from July 10 through July 15.
On this trip, the students stayed at churches with other students from the eastern portion of the country. Together, they played with children at a local day camp who needed some attention and love, visited senior citizens and helped paint and do small repairs to a local school and houses.
“It’s important to go on mission trips because it is a life-changing experience where you bond with the people in that community and the other youth who are also there serving,” said Alaina VanDyke. “It shows you what a servant’s heart really is.”
When visiting a senior home, several youth, including Ashley Barefoot, Maddy Hoffman, Molly Boore, Tori Frasca and Alaina VanDyke, made friends and painted fingernails, sang, danced and played board games and quickly made friends with the seniors, including a 93-year-old named Helen, who also liked to dance in her wheelchair.
The students who went on the trip were Bryton Henry, Julia Soltis, Megan Rosenberger, Alaina VanDyke, Ashley Barefoot, Maddy Hoffman, Molly Boore, Hannah Gallagher, Bryan McKeown, Connor McKeown, Tori Frasca, Brielle Frasca, Samantha Moyer, Stef McMahon, and Mitchell Kleege. The leaders were Lori Barefoot, Jason Barefoot, Kim McKeown, Deb Frasca, and Tony Boore.
“The purpose behind missions for our youth ministry is to expose kids to different cultures, experiences, understandings, and places,” says Rick Adams, Pastor for Students and their Families here at New Hanover. “Our goal is to show them that in the midst of those differences they experience, God can still work and touch lives. It’s not so much about going and accomplishing a project on these trips, it’s about building community and learning what community is all about. A huge part of community is service- to God and to others. So it may sound strange to people when we say that when we go on a trip, it’s not about the list of tasks that need to be done. It’s about the amount of community experienced, within the groups that we take and within the locations they visit. With that being said, all of the above quotes by students and leaders highlight the success of those trips, because every one of them talked not so much about the tasks or locations, but about living in community through humility and service to others.”
