On the Sunday they returned, the youth group led the service and I was floored to see Lauren playing piano and singing on the worship team AND both girls sharing about their experiences in front of the whole congregation.
And this is what they wrote in their thank you letter that went to their supporters.
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Dear Friends and Family,
Last month, we returned from a great week in Memphis, TN and thanks to you, our trip was fully funded before we left on June 14th.
The Mills Church youth group partnered with LeaderTreks which provided the guidance and projects we worked on. The main thing we accomplished was getting some house and yard projects done for an older lady with limited mobility named Miss Irene. We worked in teams to stain her house, put in a path from her driveway to her shed and some other small projects around her house. We got to meet some local kids at a community center to encourage them and fellowship with them. We also put on a one-day Vacation Bible School for local kids in the park. We learned that our typical way of doing VBS for a week with a lot of pre-planning is not the only way to do it! A special part of the trip was visiting the National Civil Rights Museum. We learned a lot more than anything we ever learned in school!
Each of us on the trip got an opportunity to be in a leadership role to direct how the work or project was to be done.
From Lauren: I was in charge of fixing a sewing table for Miss Irene. I had to learn how to solve a problem without instructions and work together with other people to get the project done. Usually I work by myself with specific instructions so this was a challenge. I really enjoyed working with our team because the skills we brought and skills we learned had a positive impact on Miss Irene’s life. In the future I hope to reach out to other people to develop closer relationships that we can build on to help others.
From Katie: I was part of the kitchen crew one day and was in charge of getting some of the food prep done and showing other people how to get the job done. I really learned that there are many different kinds of leaders and leadership. That leading people is a lot more than just telling them what to do. This empowered me to be more comfortable with being a leader in more situations, which makes me be able to help more people in a way I was not able to before. I hope to have more serving and leading roles in the future.
An important part of the trip was also strengthening our walk with Jesus. We were amazed and encouraged to see how God was working to prepare us for the trip through our group times before leaving and the daily devotionals LeaderTreks gave us to work with. We felt challenged to use our gifts and talents and responded by speaking in front of church and helping with the worship service – we’ve never done that before!
We’re so thankful for your support and appreciate your help to allow us see and do things we might otherwise never have done.
Love,
Katie and Lauren
