Mission Trip Blog

This trip was in the Rio Grande Valley area of south Texas - Junior and Senior High trips were about 30 minutes apart and worked on homes that were damaged by Hurricane Dolly for people of the community that were unable to afford to fix their home - some of the homes were pretty bad - the groups repaired and replaced roofs, drywall, insulation, flooring and painted.  we completed 14 homes in the week that we were there - below you will find blogs from our jh and sh youth.  We really impacted the area with our groups!

Enjoy,
Drew

Thursday March 19
Senior High
Wes Cole March 19, 2009

I’m Wes Cole, a sophomore at HPHS. I have not had a bad experience yet on the trip. The people I have met inside and outside of our youth group have all been fantastic. Today we dry-walled a ceiling along with walls inside and demolished four doors which was the best part of work today. It was pretty hot outside but nothing a hose couldn’t fix. The house we worked on today had a trampoline which was a nice break spot. The houses in the neighborhood sell things from there houses like sodas in glass bottles that we are supposed to return after we finish them.

Our small groups have been somewhat off topic but at times very deep and full of life lessons. The church is different than any other church we have stayed at on other mission trips because the church has more poverty than the usual churches we stayed in the past. It is a very cool experience to see the way people live here in this impoverished area. It is almost total opposites from the way things are run in the park cities.

This trip is doing nothing but good for me physically and emotionally. Every trip is unique that I have been on and this one is no different. It is very interesting for me to watch other people, the people who are on their first mission trip, developing friendships, relationships with God and deepening their own personality. This trip is amazing and overall a great experience.

 

 Wednesday March 18 

Junior High:
Wesley Osborn
Today we had a great day.  We worked really hard laying tile, finishing drywall and playing in the dry wall mud.  We were excited to eat lunch with Drew today - (he got tackled a few times by me!) and we were surprised by the family when they bought us ice cream as a treat for lunch.   This trip has been great - we have had so much fun - i really liked playing kick ball at the camp after our long work day, Even though my team lost to stephen's team (i even had Tova and Drew - which i guess they arent that good at kickball!!!) The quote of the trip for me is "Chuck Norris could do it!"

Senior High
Matthew Brodersen: March 18, 2009

I use to come to HPUMC and feel uncomfortable or maybe just a little out of place. I’m sure we have all had that feeling before. I would go to Worship On Wednesdays (WOW) and Cornerstone and see these happy people I didn’t know and I would judge them and I couldn’t understand why they were in such good mood or why they were so excited and just pumped to be in church. I liked HPUMC, but if it was my choice I wouldn’t go.

Over the past few days (Its only Wednesday) I have changed my outlook on life, sounds cheesy I guess, and I wasn’t told to write this, but Mission Trips like this allow me to open up to people with out being scared, don’t know why I’d be scared, and it also gives/gave them a chance to open up to me.

As most people of Highland Park I’m not open to meeting new people, well I met many people that have shared the way they look at life, plus I have a wider range of Christians to hang out with. I really think I won’t ever judge some one again, and I finally feel like I’m accepted in this church, (which I was the whole time, but I was the closed one). I also FINALLY have the feeling where I really don’t care what people think about me, or say about me because I understand now that all that matters is I spread the word of God and worship him.

Besides all that, my Frisbee skills have increased greatly, I’m a harder worker, and most of all I can say “I like my church” and truly mean it deep down inside.       

 

Tuesday March 17 -

 Both groups had fun and exhausting days - Both groups had lots of laughs and hand many new memories to discuss - all too exhausted to share their thoughts for the day!!  Early to bed - for some!!! 

Monday March 16
Morning:  The week is getting off to a start - the morning is filled with anticipation as the groups pack their vans with tools, getting ready to go to the worksites - the sites are going to be a challenge, physically and emotionally.  There is so much need here it can be overwhelming - but we know that our little part in helping these people can impact their lives forever - we are so excited about the work and the relationship that will grow! - Drew

Junior High: 
Charles Harper (7th Grade):
The drive  on saturday was pretty long" but when we go to the camp we had tons of fun!  On sunday, we went to a community celebration with a live band, dancers, and inflatable obstacle courses. There was on that was a military maddness obstacle course that was a ton of fun!  I am looking forward to seeing what we can build.  It will be pretty intense! 
Senior High:
Heather Pitcher: (12th Grade)
So today was sweet. It was the first work day, and the energy within the group was amazing. At the beginning of this trip, I was a little worried it wouldn’t be as cool as my last three years on spring break mission trip because we wouldn’t be in Juarez, Mexico. But as soon as the day begun, I knew it would be just as great, if not better. We started the day off with an amazing breakfast made by our wonderful parent cooking staff, Mr. and Mrs. G, Momma Bagwell and Mrs. Stewart. At this point, I definitely knew that at least the food of the trip would be a huge step up from normal mission trip food. Then we got into our van to head to the worksites, and rocked out to our worksite’s theme song, “Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey. We were all pumped up and ready to work. At the worksite, we were introduced into a different kind of work than we were used to in Juarez. Instead of working insanely hard nonstop from 9 am to sundown, we fixed up what needed to be fixed up on the houses, but we also really got the time to bond with the staff we were working with, the people who lived in the house, and we got to really get to know each other. I was super pumped to be on a site with a lot of my good friends, but also with a lot of people who I didn’t know. The greatest thing about mission trips is that it is the best way to meet people and get to know people because there are no cliques, there are no expectations, and everyone is just here to hang out with everyone. After the worksite, we got back to the church we are staying at, we had the needed time to just chill. It was great to just be able to hang out with everyone, and bond, and really enjoy the people I have here at this church before I head off to college in the fall.

            There is nothing like mission trip worship. Especially this trip because there are so many kids here, the singing and everything is so powerful and moving. After worship, we split up into our small groups. Since I am a senior this year, Phil asked me if I would want to lead a small group. Naturally, I was super excited to do it, especially since I would be leading the sophomore girls. I was friends with a lot of the sophomore girls before I came on the trip, so I was stoked to be with them on this trip, and hopefully show them how Jesus can change their life. The small group discussion was great, they were all engaged, and were really excited to be here on the trip. The amazing thing to me is that they didn’t come on this trip to just hang out with their friends, but they came for God. Whether it was their first trip or they have been coming for years, they all wanted to serve God. It was a great way to end a great day on a great mission trip.