Mission Trip

This past week I was given the privileged to take HS youth from my church and 2 from Idaho on a mission trip. It was the kind of trip that was life changing. The more people ask me about it the more I find I am at a loss of words to describe the trip. We to Heart Butte, MT which is on the Blackfeet reservation. YouthWorks put the week together which is nice for me because then I just have to worry about getting there and back and spending time with my youth. It takes some of the guess work out of it for me. But only some because in youth ministry you never know what to expect. I have been on two YouthWorks mission trips before but this was the best one yet. The staff was the best that I have been around, the other groups were better than ever, I connected with other leaders better than before and it was just all around pleasant. Part of what made this such a good trip for me was the connections that I made with my youth. Both on the surface I want to have fun level and the really deep spiritual level. I came away from the trip with many inside jokes like "I have to pee so bad I am going to wet my face", "Where's Jon?", and "What made you get up this morning and take these boys to breakfast?". And yet I also came away with youth that dedicated their lives to Christ. I mean how can you top that? It is what I always want for my youth to know God's love and his grace and mercy he can give us. Really who doesn't want someone in our lives that will forgive us for all of our sins and love us unconditionally. I know that is something I always want in my life.