The week of July 14th, a group from BG Youth traveled to Newark, NY to take part in a “week of hope” with Group Missions Trips. The “week of hope” involved several youth groups working on various community service project. Group Missions hosts similar weeks of hope around the country during the summer months.
The BG Youth team members were Josiah Carpenter, Asher Faben-Wade, Susanna and Bennett Needs, Ella and Liam Kain, Rozlyn, Tice and Cynthia Cuykendall, and Alan Pauling. Other youth groups were from central Pennsylvania and Michigan. There were 66 people total at Newark, all staying together at Calvary Church in a big gym and cafeteria.
The youth groups mixed into work crews that went out doing different community service projects. The ones that the BG Youth worked on were at the Lyons Community Center, Palmyra Community Library, Sugar’s Acres of Love (a retreat center for families with special needs children), and Cracker Box Palace farm sanctuary in Sodus. Over four days, we did lots of yard work, sorting, cleaning, painting, and even decorating parade floats. The projects were hard work but rewarding, and a great way to make friends with people from the other youth groups.
Group Missions Trips had organized plans for each week. Three Red Shirts, trained summer staff, took care of us for the week. Our Red Shirts’ names were Theresa, Heather, and Christina. Each day we had a morning and evening meeting on being an “Influencer.” Each work crew would also have a devotion time, and each youth group would meet together in the evening to recap the day. The theme verse was Romans 12:2. We built our devotions around the words “conformed,” “renewed,” “tested,” and “approved.”
We enjoyed free time at the host church with the other youth groups, playing games and hanging out. BG Youth spent our free evening at Sodus Point State Park beach, swimming and eating at the waterfront there. After our time in Newark ended, we celebrated by going to Seabreeze in Rochester.
The “week of hope” was a great way for youth to get a bigger picture of God’s kingdom through service and friendships. It was also a lot of fun!