What was your favorite part of Mission trip? I asked the Youth:

      “Making new friends!” “Learning to hammer.” “Kenny at night making us all laugh and laugh!” “The bluegrass musicians and the ice cream.” “The singing.” “Meeting those nice people who live there.” “Rock climbing!”  “The swimmin' holes.” “Miss Rose!”

      “How incredible it was that those kids never fought, had such fun with each other and really looked out for each other.” “I think about Miss Ella and how she cried on that last morning when we prayed in a big circle. It meant a lot to me that she saw God moving in our group.” “I like to remember how much work we accomplished in such a little time. I'm proud of our group and how we divided up the labor so well.” “I loved the evenings after vespers when we would sit and talk and eat and laugh. No one ever even mentioned TV.” “I loved hearing us sing those hymns on that mountain top, every morning and every night. That just made everything in between feel so blessed.” “Rose Taylor. I like to think about her. She was so wonderful.”

      For those of you who were able to hear the report directly from the Youth on Sunday, August 9, the day after we returned from our mission trip, you could tell this year was different. Something happened to all of us during that week that was special. Sure, we all got to know each other better and with more adults this year than last, we took the opportunity to break up into groups some days to work on different projects. We had two pastors and two guitars and a dedicated cook. We collected our recyclables. But the one new thing that we did that symbolizes so much: we had bonfires.

      This year there was a newfound warmth everyday within our ranks. Again and again people would smile and say to each other: “You good?” It was like this little repeated bit of birdsong passing from kid to adult to kid again and always answered, “I'm good. You?” And the goodness welled up all around us. Many people had encounters with the Spirit or with God or with Jesus. Many people gladly gave all their energy to making each day a successful and gratifying experience for everyone. I could list all the projects we did, show you our daily schedule, talk about the people we were privileged to help. But honestly, all that pales when compared to what we received from the hand of God that week.

      Thank you, St. John's UCC, for helping these children and these adults to carry out the Good News. Thank God for being with all of us, every step of the way and back.

Amen.