Galveston, Oh Galveston

I have returned from the youth mission trip! What a crazy adventure.

It all started with a 20+ hour charter-bus ride, through the night, with 60 people (of which I knew 1). We were all excited to finally see the ocean as we crossed from mainland Texas onto Galveston island!

One step off the bus told us that it was going to be a hot and humid week. And that was totally accurate.

We worked with an organization called One Mission: Galveston, which was started by a self proclaimed "loud-mouth" contractor from Virginia, whose heart ached for the people left devastated after Hurricane Ike in 2008. We broke up into 5 work teams and set off for four days of construction work. The contractor/missionary daily gave us the task of stepping outside out comfort zone to connect deeply with the people we were serving.

My work group was amazing. The 9 teenagers worked hard and stayed safe. They visibly became closer and closer as the seek went on. They were hilarious and never whined and were so fun to be around. I had the added challenge of leading them by myself. The other four work groups were all led by a pair of sponsors, but my partner didn't show up until half-way through the third work day (of four). But I am proud to say that I rose to the challenge and led those kids to the best of my ability. Our task was re-siding a house. It was a pretty large house and in pretty bad shape when we showed up.

We worked four long days demolishing the damaged siding, shoring up the foundation, installing insulation, tar papering everything, and finally nailing up nice, new siding. We finished a large chunk (with other places close to being done) and I am so proud of my team.

The other thing I was responsible for leading (mostly alone, also) was a small group Bible study. This was perhaps the most frustrating part for me. My group was so distracted and uninterested, and mostly refused to engage with the material I had worked on before the trip. I eventually had to come to the conclusion that that group of kids had a different expectation and desire for the Bible part of the trip than I did. It was a very difficult task for me and caused me to think more about what youth ministry would really be like. Of course, as soon as my partner/sponsor showed up, the Bible study group was great and all had something to contribute. I am not used to this kind

The trip was, on the whole, really great. I learned a lot about youth ministry, and I think I decided that week long trips with 50 teenagers are not something I want to be repeating too often. Within the group as a whole, there was a lot of drama, there were more tears than necessary, and not a whole lot of sleep. A week was just a few days too long. But that doesn't take away from the fact that the kids are great and they are really committed to each other and to the work. The mission trips are the highlight of their years, and I can see why.

Some things I learned:

• I am happiest when I can help in specific ways that benefit the whole group. I best showed then love and care by taking care of their physical needs.
• In high school, peers are a whole lot more important than adults. Matching my hard working senior guy with my two distractable 14 year olds was a great move.
• My desire to be liked by everyone is not going to be fulfilled within a group of high schoolers.
• I have different values and motivations than other youth leaders. It can be frustrating or discouraging when these conflict.
• Coming into an existing youth group, one that is steeped in tradition, is a difficult task.
• I think that interactions with youth will become easier the farther removed I am from high school.

I love those kids. A week was too long for me. But it was really a blast. This week I moved in with my host family and started Music Camp. We have 3 more days of rehearsal and a performance on Sunday!