What a great summer we had! In addition to our weekly poolside youth groups,we had two successful and very fun trips with the youth this summer. Ten students from our youth group spent a week serving in El Porvenir, Mexico alongside six adults and a group from Oak Tree Community Church. We ran a VBS and sports program, cooked and served free lunches to hundreds of people, did some minor updates to the church itself, hosted an open workshop for bike repairs, upgraded their computer lab (which is an outreach to the community), and built a roof extension off the side of the church building to provide more shade. I was so impressed with the students' work ethic, joy, energy, and fearlessness as they served that week. We never heard any complaining, and they all practiced their Spanish beautifully.
A few weeks later, 34 kids and five adults went off to Hume Lake for a week of insanity fun and discipleship. The theme this year was "Axe" (a play on words for the book of Acts). They focused on the verse Acts 20:24 - “However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace,” and the main question was, "What are you living to make known?" Several students said it was the best week of their life, one student made a commitment to Jesus for the first time, and several students recommitted to serving God. You can check out pictures from the week here.
I encourage you to talk to your students about their experiences on these two trips. Especially being a few weeks removed from them, how are they putting into practice the things they have learned? What lasting changes were made?
We're really excited for the fall season and everything we have planned, even if it will still be awhile before we can enjoy cozy sweaters, hot apple cider, and all things pumpkin-flavored!
