Thirty-three students will be serving as the hands and feet of Jesus when they participate in two short-term missions trips over the Easter vacation. One group of 21 high school students will be serving in North Carolina and a group of 12 middle school students will be serving in Coatesville, Pennsylvania. Please pray that these missions teams will be salt and light as they serve God on these trips and thank you to the family members, friends, and churches who donated to support their volunteer efforts.
During the all-school Easter Chapel on April 14, the members of the two missions teams and their chaperones were introduced and high school Bible teacher Urick Lewis gave a prayer of blessing and commission.
Faculty member and Missions Club Advisor Dave Genter said the high school team will be serving in Columbus County, North Carolina from April 18 to 23. The students will be building handicapped ramps for low-income families in an area where hurricanes cause flooding. The team is also donating close to 50 tool kits that were donated to the Missions Club for use by local churches in construction or renovation projects. The trip was organized by Praying Pelican and the team is partnering with Cerro Gordo Baptist Church, the Columbus County Baptist Association, and Facts of Life Church of God.
Genter said that anyone interested in following and praying for the work of the missions team in North Carolina can monitor their efforts on a trip blog. CLICK HERE to connect to the blog.
The student participants on the high school trip to North Carolina are: Isabell Alford, Destiny Brewer, Jacob DeNick, Maddie DeNick, Samuel Glancey, Emmanuel Johnson, Grace Johnson, Moges Johnson, Sophia Johnson, Hunter Jorgenson, Ryleigh Martin, Luke Mills, Nathan Mills, Paige Noble, Amber Ramos, Haven Sanchez, Jayden Sanchez, Adam Schlundt, Shane Schweppenheiser, Taylor Sutton, and Haley Whedbee. Four chaperones are accompanying the team: Grant and Minelva Miller and Brian and Laura Mills.
Faculty member Sara Coates is leading the middle school missions team that will be volunteering from April 19-22 at The Bridge Academy, an after-school community center, and at The Camp at Old Mill, both in Coatesville, PA. Coates said the team will be doing activities and building relationships with some 40 intercity children who attend The Bridge, including tutoring, arts and crafts, games, and cooking and serving several meals. At The Camp at Old Mill, the students will serve outdoors doing mulching, landscaping and other tasks to help prepare the facility for its summer Christian youth camp programs.
“During our first day at the center, each student on our team will be sharing what their favorite Bible verse is and then we will do a craft with the children that reinforces the messages in those verses,” Coates said. “We want to reach the hearts of the children in that center and show them God’s love.”
The 6th-8th grade students participating in the trip to Coatesville are: Daniel Accardi-Gonzalez, Lily Boyle, Ethan Brumble, Sophia Capito, Matthew Coates, CJ Delacruz, Gabriella Goodwin, Kylie Jackson, Brandon Jorgenson, Julia Morris, Bezute Ngwabi, and Lexi Wyckoff. Three chaperones will be part of the team: Joe and Sara Coates and Lisa Dye.
