While at CHIC last year, youth group member Allie Holland was one of the winners of the “Deal or No Deal” fun event for CHIC participants and won $1,000 to be used for a missions trip. She decided to apply that money towards her church youth group’s first missions trip.
Additional funds came from a variety of fund-raising activities the young people planned during the year, including a yard sale, a rock-a-thon, a “sub” sale, a stock shares promotion, a concert, and dinners.
The senior high team had eight students participating: Holland, Jaci Slattery, Lucy White, Steph Braman, Peter Horgan, Jess Hopkins, Catherine Baker, and Dave Thompson. Three adults also were included – Rick Baker, Jess Boose, and Meredith Peters.
The team participated in a group work camp with 400 other teenagers, staying at the Lexington Middle School. The team repaired houses by doing lots of painting and light construction. The trip was highly rewarding, especially in areas of spiritual formation and growth, as students shared in daily devotions and evening worship programs.
“Everyone we helped was so appreciative, it made working much more enjoyable,” Holland said of her experience. “I loved getting to know all the people in our youth group better.”
Those sentiments were echoed by another student, Jess Hopkins. “I really enjoyed the whole experience – it was so rewarding to know you made a difference and helped someone.”
Editor’s note: The accompanying photo shows members of the team, including from left to right: top row – Jess Boose, Meredith Peters, Rick Baker; middle row – Jess Hopkins, Steph Braman, Lucy White, Dave Thompson, Catherine Baker and Peter Horgan; bottom row – Allie Holland and Jaci Slattery. Material for this report was contributed by Meredith Peters, director of youth ministries.
