Wednesday, Jul. 21, 2010

Visitors live out their faith

Youth Works continues its annual mission work in Raleigh

Samantha Jones hasn't celebrated her July 12 birthday at home in Milltown, N.J., in six years.

Instead, she's spent her birthdays - even the milestones of turning 13 and Sweet 16 - on mission trips with Youth Works, a Minnesota-based organization that provides youth mission opportunities for churches and faith-based groups nationwide.

Last week, Jones turned 18 - in Raleigh.

"My birthday has been these mission trips, but this is, like, the highlight of my year," she said.

Jones is among 39 tweens and teens from St. Paul's United Church of Christ in central New Jersey and from Maple Avenue United Methodist Church in Marietta, Ga., who spent the week crossing boundaries of culture and race as volunteers with social service organizations across the city. They also facilitated a children's program, visited the elderly and painted homes.

"On any given day, you may see crews of nine to 11 people in Youth Works at any given ministry," said Erin Harris, state director of Youth Works.

In 1994, when Youth Works opened its weeklong youth mission trips to churches nationwide, there were about 400 participants from 35 churches visiting two mission sites. Today, there are 76 different mission sites in Canada, the United States and Puerto Rico. This summer, Youth Works boasts 39,000 young people from about 2,400 groups.

On average, about 70 youth come to Raleigh each week for nine weeks; about 600 altogether. Once here, they're divided into crews and sent out to various sites each day.

Local ministries served by Youth Works this summer include Interfaith Food Farm, N.C. Ministries, Saint Saviour's Center and North Raleigh Ministries Thrift Store.

Youth Works also hosts a Kids Club at St. James from noon to 3 p.m. for community children ages 5-10 with arts and crafts, games, songs and Christ-centered activities.

"They don't just come to serve," Harris said. "They also come to explore the communities and what they have to offer."

By night, Youth Works bunks at St. James Methodist Church off New Hope Road in North Raleigh. They sleep on air mattresses or in sleeping bags and shower at a nearby school. They also participate in devotionals and worship services - and go out for cultural activities.

The result is "humbling because you look at everything you have and you realize," Jones began as Kaitlyn Ramsen chimed in, "how much of a blessing it all is."

"Why do I complain," Jones asked, rhetorically.

"I think about the fact that both my parents are in my life, and they're healthy and not abusive," added Allyson Kircher, 18, who, like Ramsen and Jones, has traveled with Youth Works six years.

They also embrace a mutual benefit.

"A lot of times, we think we're going to come here and just help others," said Ramsen, 18. "But I think God has a different plan and, really, he wants our lives to be changed just as much by the kids and the people we meet here."

It's the kind of experience Tom and Marla Dexter wanted for the young people they work with as youth counselors at Maple Avenue UMC in Marietta.

"This year we wanted to ...get our kids outside their box and just try to make them aware there are people in need outside of their city," Dexter said. "And here we are."

It was a no-brainer for his pastor, the Rev. Mark Nugent, too. "Missions are a cornerstone of the church," he said. "If we're not getting our hands dirty, then we're not doing what we're called to do."

St. James' pastor, the Rev. Kim Lamb, is glad for the laughter she hears among youth, for the gratitude of parents who bring their children to the Kids Club, for greater outreach into her church community, and for the chance to host youth from other areas as they learn about North Carolina.

"This demonstrates there is a connection that goes farther than the place you live," she said. "We're connected even when our geographical distances are great."

For Jones, Ramsen and Kircher, it also is a week disconnected from their electronic devices.

While Kircher proclaimed, "I haven't missed it," Jones admitted she's never without her BlackBerry. She added, "It's been good to get away from it and focus on God and other things."

The girls also were caught off-guard by Southern-style politeness and manners; not to mention, "They prayed at the rodeo," they said in unison of their trip to Carousel Farms Rodeo.

"It was amazing," Jones said.

"At home," Ramsen quipped, "there would have been a protest."