Earlier this summer, I had the opportunity to chaperone a middle school mission trip through my local youth group. Now I know what you're probably thinking, "why in the world would anyone want to take a week out of their summer to chaperone a bunch of middle schoolers?" (32 to be exact).
But this trip proved to be the highlight of my summer.
Growing up, I was always super active in my youth group and various church activities. I went on my first mission trip after my freshman year of high school and instantly fell in love with it.
Mission trips allow you to serve in new ways and feel empowered by making a change for good - whether local or international, mission trips enable us to truly be the hands and feet of Christ wherever we go.
I continued to serve in various mission trips all throughout high school. However, now that I just finished my first year of college, I couldn't serve on the mission trips as a student with my youth group anymore. But the opportunity opened up to where I could serve as a chaperone for the middle school youth. I excitedly accepted!
Leading up to the trip, I definitely had second guesses as to just what all I had gotten myself into by agreeing to chaperone this trip. The trip was with Passport Camps, whose goal is to "do missions differently." We spent the week in Greenville, South Carolina with 21 other churches from across the country. We went to large group messages, Bible studies, and served on various mission sites.
Emily Johnson
For missions, we were separated from our home church and mixed in with other Passport campers and churches. My mission group was comprised of 19 other campers and chaperones from places all over, like Louisiana, Texas, Arizona, and North Carolina. It was so interesting to get to know these different people and work with them on site.
We were partnered with "The Genesis Project" for our mission. The Genesis Project works to prevent gentrification in the Greenville area by renovating lower income housing. My specific project was painting the exterior of a house. We taped along the trim and spent five beaming, hot days out in the South Carolina sun painting.
By the end of the week, we successfully painted the whole house. We were so proud of our work this week, but the best reward was whenever the owner of the house saw his house with the fresh coat of paint.
His reaction was just priceless- all week he was very reserved and standoffish, but once he saw all our work, he was smiling from ear to ear. That served as a reminder that our actions really do matter and can impact people in the most profound of ways.
Throughout the week, the kids showed me so much love and joy. I had been in a point in my life where I just felt bogged down with different burdens and distractions, little did I know that this trip was exactly what I needed to realize that the Lord will ALWAYS provide.
This trip surprised me in the best way possible! I made lifelong friends and grew both spiritually and personally. And to be 100% honest, those middle schoolers were pretty cool!
The theme of the mission trip was "Enough" as seen in 2 Corinthians 12:9, "Jesus said to me: 'My grace is Enough got you because power is made perfect in weakness.'" I am weak. We as humans are weak. But we can always remember that His Grace is made perfect in our weakness.
As you go out today, carry these three things with you and remember...
You are enough.
Christ is enough.
There is enough.
