Excerpt from the Pastor’s Desk...Kids on a Mission

This month, Laura Crave has written an article for this space. We thank Laura for sharing her experience at Red Lake Reservation.

On June 20, 2010 the youth of St. Paul’s church along with three chaperones set off on a mission trip to Red Lake, Minnesota. The youth left not knowing quite what to expect out of the trip. But, they knew what had to happen first, an eight hour car ride to Red Lake. The ride proved to be an enjoyable one with many laughs and smiles.

After arriving at Red Lake the participants found out they would be staying at a pre-school on the Red Lake Reservation with about 60 participants from other churches in the Midwest. All the participants were gathered and told what to expect during the week. The participants would be split into six work groups in which they would be performing various tasks throughout the week, including breakfast and dinner crew. Some of the youth were a little unsure of what to think of this, they would be forced into groups of people that they did not know and be separated from the other youth of St. Paul’s. As it turned out, the youth had nothing to worry about. As they worked with their groups they met new people and found new friends.

On Monday, the first full day of the trip, participants were awakened at 7 o’clock and were at breakfast by 7:15. After breakfast it was time for devotions. Each of the participants was given a devotional booklet that would lead them through the week and help them reflect on what they would be learning throughout the day. During devotional time participants separated and had time to be along and read the bible or their devotional book.

After devotional time the work day began. Three groups would be attending Kid’s Club and three groups would be doing Work Projects. The groups would work on those assignments for two days, then switch. The groups headed off to do their tasks.

When the first group arrived at Kid’s Club they were slightly shocked. They were unprepared for the severe behavior of the children. Red Lake has a large gang problem and the youth was surprised to hear so many children, younger than 10 years old, talking about gang involvement. Some of the children didn’t listen to the youth that were trying to play with them and organize activities. The youth came back from Kid’s Club feeling slightly discouraged. When they returned to Kid’s Club the next day they were pleasantly surprised by how the behavior of the children had improved. The youth felt as though the children had warmed up to them and were more willing to listen and participate in activities. That evening back at the pre-school where they were staying they shared about how proud they were of the kids and how much fun they had that day.

The group that was doing Work Projects did many different tasks, some involving clean and washing walls in a school or planning a garden at the women’s shelter. Other projects were to move old paint out of the attic of the school, bag clothes in the thrift store, and move mattresses in the convent on the reservation. Many of the work projects were odd jobs to help out the school, but one group had the opportunity to help out a community member in need. A group of youth and chaperones were assigned the task of painting a women’s house. They enjoyed being in the community and seeing first had what life on the reservation was like. Some youth also went to a nursing home in the community to visit with the elderly and try to bring a smile to their face.

In the evening after all the youth arrived back at the pre-school many games were played and many friends were made. The youth enjoyed singing and worshiping together and playing games together. Each evening there was an activity planned for the youth and chaperones. One evening they went swimming and another evening a speaker came from the community to tell them about life on the reservation.

The youth and chaperones that went on the trip would like to thank everyone for their donations and support for the trip. It would not have been possible without you. Feel free to talk to the youth about the trip and don’t be afraid to ask questions.

      — Laura Crave

Excerpt from the Pastor’s Desk...Kids on a Mission

“Kids on a Mission with God’s Permission” “Red Lake or Bust” “God Rocks & Jesus Rolls” “Honk if you Love Jesus”
 
These were the messages written on the windows of our three vans at 6:00 in the morning on Sunday, June 20th. Around 6:30 we hit the road, with Tom Blyth driving the lead van. After several stops along the way, including a brief visit to the birthplace of Judy Garland (whom none of the youth had heard of) in Grand Rapids, (yes, it’s in) Minnesota, we arrived at the Early Childhood Center in the town of Red Lake, on the Red Lake Indian Reservation, at about 5:30. This school building would be our home until Friday.
 
Arlene Schemm had taken the lead in organizing our trip and being in contact with the people from Youth Works, a group that plans and leads mission trips for youth across the country. Youth Works had a staff of four on site, all in their early to mid 20’s, to lead about 60 youth and a dozen adults from 5 congregations. We had people from a Catholic congregation in Edina, MN, a Lutheran congregation in Minneapolis, a Methodist church in Troy, OH, and a Korean Presbyterian congregation in Cleveland, OH, and while each group remained roughly segregated for the first day or so, by the end of the week, through our common experiences, our common faith, and living in close quarters, the groups were thoroughly intermingled.
 
Days consisted of preparing meals, cleaning up the building and washing dishes, devotions, work projects, preparing for and leading Kids Club with area children between the ages of 5 and 10, showers and free time, an adult leader meeting, an evening activity, a large group session to reflect on our experiences with a Bible story and prayer, church group time where members of each congregation met with their adult leaders, followed by some free time and “lights out” at 11:00 (or maybe 12:00).
 
The week ended on Friday morning after packing the vans, cleaning the building, packing bag breakfasts, a final prayer to send us on our way, and lots of hugs and good-byes, and of course the 11 hour trip back home.
 
These are the broad outlines of what happened on our trip to Red Lake, MN. It is my hope that you will hear more stories, of what we did, what we learned, and how we saw God at work for us, through us, and in us, from the members of mission trip.
 
A couple of final notes. Thanks to Arlene and Tom for all their work with and for our youth and the people of Red Lake. Their work was really wonderful. And also, if any of us are worried about the future of the church or about “kids these days,” I will tell you that when it comes to the youth who were on our trip, from Waterloo and from the other congregations, we have nothing to worry about. God is at work and strong in them. They are fantastic people and were wonderful to work with. It was really a pleasure to help lead them on this trip.