Pictured: Left to Right: Olivia McCann, Alex DeJong, Sara Berg, Jenn Frayer-Griggs,
Dan Cummings, Jacob Watt-Morse. Missing from the picture is Peter Kaplan
As you may have heard, a group of our Senior High Youth will be going to Nicaragua on a mission trip this coming summer. But what exactly is this mission trip about? We hear about “Mission,” and often our first thought is “conversion.” Historically, the actual “mission” has been to convert people to Christianity and in many cases, even to this day, many Christian churches are traveling to far off lands in an effort to turn people to their own denomination because they believe that this is the “only road to salvation.” Well, I don’t think I need to tell you that this view of mission is not our group’s view of mission.
Although we will be performing challenging and at times back-braking labor, our “mission” is to experience personal transformation and growth. We know that we are not going to “save” anyone, and in most cases, we’re not even going to make a big difference in the Nicaraguan people’s lives. However, it is going to transform our own lives. It is going to challenge our views and our status quo. Our “mission” is to learn about poverty, about injustice, about oppression, about world politics and US policy issues. We will meet the Nicaraguan people and live among them and with them, even if for only a short period of time. We are going to attempt to reach an understanding of the challenges they face, but in the end, we will end up coming face to face with our own challenges. We will learn about these people’s strength and perseverance, and in the end, their deep faith! Yes, if anyone’s faith is going to be challenged, it is our very own! Our hope is that through these experiences, we will allow for the grace of God to take place in our lives and for the Kingdome of God to come to our world.
Like in past trips, we will be spending some time with the people of El Porvenir, the coffee cooperative that produces the very tasty organic coffee we sell at our church. These families have developed a great deal of love and gratitude for our church community and the assistance we have provided to them. They have become an important part of our lives as they teach us about the love of God and about humility.
This year our group will be working with CEPAD (the Council of Protestant Churches of Nicaragua). Our very own PC(USA) has delegates in Nicaragua who do their work through CEPAD. They will be accompanying us through our journey and developing their own relationship with the people of El Porvenir. We look forward to developing this relationship further ourselves.
Please pray for us. Pray that we will be open to experience God’s work in each of our hearts, that we will seek to transform our lives and our views of the world and that through this trip, we will continue to pave the paths to the Kingdom of God.
Thank you for your undying support!
The mission trip travelers
