June 16 – 24 found 21 youth and six adults from Rejoice Lutheran Church in Clearwater participating in a YouthWorks mission trip to Queens, NY to serve the community along with groups from Wisconsin, Michigan and North Carolina. The trip was the third YouthWorks mission trip the church has participated in.
YouthWorks is a nonprofit organization based out of Minneapolis, whose goal is to connect teenagers to God, each other and communities. Each summer the organization provides life-changing mission trips for over 30,000 students and adult leaders in over 70 communities across North America.
Throughout their time in New York the students were split into different groups and went to various sites, which included assisted living facilities, community gardens, a food pantry, park clean up and helping distribute Vacation Bible School fliers.
“One of the sites my group went to was an assisted living center,” said Grace Miller. “We talked to the residents, played games with them, and helped out with the monthly birthday party they were having that day.”
One of the projects Jessica Timm’s group worked on was spreading mulch around plants in a community garden.
“After we defeated the gigantic mulch pile we weeded and picked up trash,” said Timm. “There was a lot of garbage that had blown in off the streets.”
Faith Miller’s group worked with a food pantry in the afternoons, putting together food for meals to be delivered to people who needed them.
“My group spent time handing out Vacation Bible School fliers in a Spanish neighborhood,” said Charity Timm. “My Spanish I skills had to help me out there.”
Everyone in the group enjoyed each evening when they shared experiences from the day and how their efforts had helped others in the community.
The trip wasn’t all work, the group also spent time touring New York, visiting Central Park, Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. The senior high students stayed an extra day and also checked out Times Square, the Empire State Building and One World Trade Center, where they were able to view the New York skyline from above.
“I wanted to go on this trip because I had encountered a lot of spiritual growth in previous years and met a lot of friends,” said Jessica Timm. “I got to be with other believers my age, and it helped me to see how I could connect my faith to my community.”
“If you go on a mission trip know it’s making a difference somewhere and also in your own life,” said Charity Timm. “One thing that resonated with me was something one of the leaders said, ‘We’re not here to save New York or bring God to New York, he’s already here. We’re here to build a sense of community.”
The mission trip was a first for Grace Gillitzer, who enjoyed the experience so much she’s already decided she’s attending the next one.
“I was most looking forward to going to different places where people are less fortunate than me and spreading the word of God,” said Gillitzer. “It went way above what I was thinking; it was so much more than that.”
“I am so proud of our youth and their willingness to step outside their comfort zone on many occasions,” said Sara Miller, youth & family coordinator at Rejoice. “It is such a blessing to watch our youth grow in their faith, and it shines through on these mission trips.”
The group is thankful for all the people who supported their fundraising efforts for the trip, which included carwashes, pancakes breakfasts, “hire a youth” and the extremely popular “flamingo flocking.”
People interested in joining mission trips with Rejoice don’t need to part of the congregation; five of the New York participants were from surrounding churches. The next trip is scheduled for the end of July, with members heading to Mexico.
