The value of short-term mission trips

What a great week it has been here in Tennessee. I was honestly not looking forward to this week after just getting back from Haiti and not really having much time to process my time there. However, when we arrived in Oak Ridge Tennessee things changed. We worked with the program ASP (Appalachian Service Project) this week. It was amazing!

This week we lived in a school with 70 other people (high school students and their leaders). This was the part that I was sure that was going to drive me insane. Instead it refreshed me.

When we set out on Latreia one of our motivations was to make short-term mission trips more accessible to youth. Our lives have been changed through experiences like ASP, and we think it is a powerful way for youth to experience God. I saw that happen this week. I saw high school youth being changed by God through the service they were doing, through the community that we were living in and through the intentional focus on Christ. It was incredible. What a blessing it was to see transformation…a renewing of minds, a conforming to Christ and not to the world.

Not only did we get to share this week with kids from Alabama, Louisiana, and Kentucky, we also got to share this week with the five staffers that are here in Oak Ridge for the summer. What a blessing it was to have fellowship with brothers and sisters in Christ who are passionate about serving God (and so knowledgeable about building roofs)! It was also such a great bonus that my Aunt Sherry and Cousin Kirsten could be a part of this week. It is fun to share this part of life with my family.

Next week we head to Kentucky to be a part of another week long service experience for youth. I trust that God will continue to teach me in each of these experiences.

Laura