Engaging the World
For those who lead in mission, service and peace ministries.
Service trips develop young leaders
By Mick Sommers
How do I measure the impact a service trip has on the young people who participate? Service events develop youth leaders and often it is a pleasant surprise just who becomes a leader.
When the youth decided that the costs of attending San Jose were too expensive we began to seek opportunities to serve instead. The group chose the Quaker-based program Youth Service Opportunities Project (YSOP) based in New York City and Washington, D.C. (www.ysop.org).
This particular trip stretched the young people in a variety of ways. Washington, D.C. is a much larger city than Elkhart, IN. We interacted regularly with the homeless and hungry people and we shared our week with another group of teens from a private high school in Virginia.
Our time with YSOP was a rich experience. The staff worked well at offering varied hands-on experiences and facilitating daily debriefing and reflection sessions. Watching these disparate groups of teens begin interact and mesh and listen to the growing edges as they reflected on their day was deeply rewarding.
These youth were speaking at length and with feeling about what they had seen, heard, and done.
The most meaningful opportunities for the youth was preparing a meal at the Church of the Epiphany, where we lived while in Washington, D.C., and then sharing the meal with the homeless who came for supper. Suddenly, the youth moved beyond food handlers at a soup kitchen or boxing up overruns at a food bank. They matured as they sat next to people who happened to be homeless but who had lives and stories, hopes and dreams, families and jobs. They discovered their shared humanity with the people.
Some of our group worked one day at the D.C Central Kitchen (www.dccentralkitchen. org). This facility feeds nearly 4000 people every day. It draws people off the streets and provides job-training and education. The entire facility is staffed by former homeless people. I was particularly drawn to the slogan they use on their materials and apparel—D.C. Kitchen: Feeding the Soul of the City.
Service events develop youth leaders and often it is a pleasant surprise just who becomes a leader.
As I reflected on those words I was struck by the image of soul feeding and surmised, quite appropriately I think, that a similar understanding could be offered concerning service opportunities and their efficacy in the development of youth into faithful followers of Christ and future church leaders. Truly, such experiences go a long way to “feed the souls” of these young people as they move through a time of questioning and growth in their lives and faith journey.
So, how does one measure the impact of an experience like ours on the lives of the youth who were involved? There are many ways that could be cited and indeed there were observable points within the week itself as the youth worked and shared and gave themselves over to the tasks at hand. But I think the place where the growth showed itself most plainly was the Sunday after we returned from our week away.
The youth agreed to lead the morning worship on Sunday after their return on Friday night. I was delighted as the nine young people sat together in front of the sanctuary sharing their experiences and answering questions from the congregation. All of them did well in their testimony and shared learning—which I expected for some youth—but what struck me the most was witnessing three youth who, I would guess, many in the congregation had never heard speak more than two or three sentences at any one time. These youth were speaking at length and with feeling about what they had seen, heard, and done.
In that moment I felt great hope for them as persons growing in their faith and even more for the leadership beginning to blossom within them.
Mick Sommers is pastor of Hively Avenue Mennonite Church in Elkhart, IN and also serves as senior high Sunday school teacher and sponsor.