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some thoughts and observations from our mission trip to arizona:
i am definitely feeling the effects of growing older! my recoup time is molina-esque. i don’t sleep on the floor like i used to…even with an air mattress. there is no way the floor is the same distance away from my head as it was twenty years ago.
i came back sick. i never come back sick from a trip. what a pansy.
we spent our week working with Arizona Reservation Ministries (ARM). it is lead by a couple who have spent their lives serving native american indians. years ago, they said good-bye to financial security and a comfortable lifestyle to live and work among the poor. our lives are richer for having spent the week with them.
if you haven’t heard, we had a van accident on the trip. angela was driving the mini-van full of kids and it was t-boned in the intersection right in front of the church building we were staying in. it was a hit and run. no kids were hurt, but angela got a special ride to the emergency room…and enterprise provided us with a crummy replacement van.
the detective division of the globe police department leaves much to be desired. but at least it was better than the paramedics. they need a crash course in teamwork and communication skills…
for the record, we have an awesome new youth minister.
and we have an awesome new youth minister’s wife.
and our team of youth leaders was amazing. i can’t wait to watch them continue to develop their leadership and relationship skills for the good of our kids. it was very cool to get to see them at work. first hand.
we brought back singing in the youth group on this trip. i was a little nervous at the prospect… it had been over four years since the group had done any singing outside of sunday mornings. and it has been years since i lead the youth group in any kind of singing. boy was i blown away! they couldn’t get enough of it. they sang all day. they were disappointed when the singing time was over. the guys sang as much as the girls. now we have to figure out how to keep singing…
as i stood with a couple of young apache men, listening to them tell the story of their lives on the reservation, my heart broke and i found myself growing more and more embarrassed to realize that i am related to the ones who have abused these people for centuries.
the problems facing native american indians are so complex…so deep…so wrong…i can see why it is a culture of despair.
we all got to meet charlie. he was the cook that ARM provides for the groups that work with them. he is an amazing chef. and an even more amazing person. he changed his life course in his fifties to serve in this way. what an inspiration. we should all be that open to the movement of god in our lives. no matter how old we are.
there is something about a road trip with the youth group that will never get old to me.
this trip was less demanding (physically) than mission trips we have taken to mexico in the past. work on the building sites was not as hard. we slept inside a church building. we got real showers. somebody else cooked for us. we didn’t have to transport tents, tools, cooking equipment, and food. but the experience was no less profound and was exactly what our group needed.
i look forward to going to going back to mexico to work again someday. i got to spend an hour with the founder of amor ministries (who was leading work groups on the indian reservation, also). he is very optimistic that things are changing in juarez and that we might be able to take our men’s group back by the end of the year!
it was crazy that i was in the phoenix area and couldn’t go to a san diego padre spring training game. bummer.
i did get to stop off and grab a rubio’s fish taco on my way to the reservation after my flight. ahhh….the taste of socal.
one of the consistent disappointments of spring break youth group trips is that i always miss most of the first round of march madness. i’m not a huge college basketball fan, but i always get into it at playoff time. since the mighty aztecs are out of it, i’m pulling for a north carolina state versus michigan state final. who are your picks for the big game?
after spending a week doing bus ministry on the reservation…and even getting to drive the bus…i am more passionate about getting a bus again for north point than ever. we’ve got some great plans for the youth group and for our children’s ministry that need a bus.
if you are not helping in children’s ministry, why not? there are all kinds of possibilities…for all kinds of people. you could serve as a teacher or a helper in a classroom…a recreation leader…in the nursery…or crowd control in children’s church. you could use your building or artistic skills to make the facility look or function better for kids. you could provide food or be available for additional supervision at special events. you could pick up kids for church who don’t have transportation…maybe their families, too.
one final note, as the former youth minister. our teenagers need older, wiser mentors to show them how to be faithful followers of christ in a dark and difficult world. north point youth ministry is right on the edge of being able to reach dozens, if not hundreds, of kids who need to experience the presence and grace of god. but they need help.
is there really anything more important that you are doing with your life that would prevent you from investing a little time in their lives? i’m not talking about selling your soul to youth ministry (though it’s not a bad thing to do!). just a slice…for the good of kids and the growth of the kingdom.
let me know.
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