~ Youth groups join together to attend a YouthWorks mission trip to Cincinnati!The youth returned from their 6-day mission trip the early morning of June 20th, and what a trip it was! Attending the trip were
19 people total, including 2 leaders from Holy Trinity, 2 leaders from Shepherd of the Hills, and 15 young people, ages 13 to 18.
We stayed in a church in the city, and traveled each day to different work sites, depending on what group we were in.
Many of us were thrilled to work with the children each day, in groups ranging from a dozen to 42 children at each daycamp site!
Others in our group got to visit with the elderly, help operate a thrift store, and work in a garden where food is grown for the people in the city who are in need. Others even got to do more outside work, putting a sidewalk in at a city garden area. After each day of work, we headed to a local YMCA to shower, then back to the church to eat dinner together, then out for an evening activity. The evening activities included a visit to the Underground Railroad Museum, attending a Baptist church Bible study, and a community picnic where all of the people we worked with throughout the week were invited! Each evening, we returned to the church where we had "Club", a time to gather for singing, worship and prayer with all of the youth at the YouthWorks site, about 70 people in all. The night ended with "church group time", where our group got together to share and talk about the day and process what we were learning through this experience. This trip was eye-opening and life-changing for many of our youth and adults, and we want to share our experiences with others. If you are interested in talking to our youth or the leaders about the trip, or just hearing stories about our experiences, we will be giving a presentation about the trip on two dates: Sunday, June 28th at Shepherd of the Hills at 9:30 a.m., and Sunday, July 12th at Holy Trinity at 9:30 a.m. We want to take this opportunity also to say "thank you" to all of you in our congregation, church family, friends and community, who made this trip a possibility and a success! To all of you who purchased items in our fundraisers, got cars washed or baked for us, gave us donations of time and money, and prayed for us, we are thankful. We also want to thank the Baumgardners for the use of their vehicle, and our WELCA and Men's Group for their generous donations so that the youth could make this trip. We are so blessed to have the support that you have shown to us.
Sincerely, Holy Trinity Youth Group
