The final day of this year’s mission trip came quickly. Up early, we packed up, ate breakfast, cleaned up the church, filled out evaluations, took a few group pictures, got our trip t-shirts and hit the road about 9:20. We pulled into the church parking lot about 7:45 pm. Torrential rains going through Jacksonville, FL, but an easy trip otherwise.
Overall, it was a great trip. It is so easy to plug into a YouthWorks site for a summer mission trip. The team of Sam, Nathan, Tonia and Helen were well-matched, enthusiastic, great examples and leaders, and great people to get to know.
I let the youth have their phones back on Thursday night so that they could get phone numbers and emails for new friends. They grabbed them back like people who had been crawling through the desert for days with no water. I am happy to say that they all survived.
I’m very thankful for my adult leaders and drivers, for many in the congregation who supported the youth with both prayers and finances, and for the chance to go on another trip. It’s the kind of thing that energizes me like few other tasks in ministry!