By: Kellie Herdade
It is a profound experience to spend a week with 19 students in mission work! You get to witness their excitement, their exhaustion, and their sense of integrity that you don’t always see walking beside them at home. Our 19 youth had an incredible experience in New York.
We worked hard serving 4 different nonprofits, did gardening for both the Battery Park Farm and Hells Kitchen Farm Project and it was HOT outside. Some kids enjoy gardening, some tolerate it and others could never pick another weed and be happy! They also learned about food justice and the needs of people in disenfranchised communities, and learned about how different agencies work together to make sure that people are fed and cared for. We delivered meals on foot to several different housing projects with City Meals, getting to meet the residents who get meals delivered regularly. They have some really good stories about these people! We spent an entire day at God’s Love We Deliver, one of the best-run organizations I have ever seen. We packed over 2100 hot meals that will be frozen and then delivered as well as made 100 cards and prepped food to be cooked. We also talked about how when we walked into the agency, we had no idea that we would be helping 2100 people get food! That makes a difference in how each youth feels about themselves and the impact of the service they are able to contribute.
On top of service, we had lots of fun in the city as well. Thanks to Father Bill as our guide, we had many amazing meals in NYC. Many of us ate Dim Sum and Korean BBQ for the first time, and one of our youth joined the want-to-be Broadway singers belting out a tune at Ellen’s Starlight Diner! We walked Central Park, took a Ferry to the Statue of Liberty, and visited the 911 Memorial Museum; learning and experiencing something that happened before all of them were born. We shared our highs and lows each night while writing postcards to many of you who sponsored us on our trip. We sang in the subway, developed inside jokes, and made memories only those who were on the trip will have. This is part of their faith story! When they share their adventures from this trip, they will be able to share about Jesus alongside the funny and crazy tales. This can open a whole conversation about life and faith with others who may need to hear it.
We want to extend a thank you to everyone who helped contribute to these youth having a wonderful, memory-making mission experience in New York City. It takes a great deal of time, effort, dedication, and details to get 19 youths to New York to serve! We couldn’t have done it without you; we appreciate all your prayers, thoughts, words, comments on social media, and support.
If you couldn’t make this trip or know a youth interested in service, we will be doing a local mission trip in 15 days called Mission Possible! Mission Possible is our annual local service event geared towards 6th-12th graders; we camp indoors at Christ Church Cranbrook each night and this year, are going to serve Micah 6 in Pontiac during the days! This is an excellent opportunity for fun and service, where we will learn all the different ways we can show Jesus’ love to our neighbors. If you are interested in registering, please visit www.ccc-info.org/Missionpossible to learn more!