Another "adult" perspective

This is from Jack Donato. I have been involved with the Mid-High Youth Group for the past two years (since we resurrected it). It certainly has been a pleasure to work with these youth and see them grow into the young men and women they now are. We started the youth group on the premise of showing the youth what it meant to be a good person and to serve others. This group has grown from a group that focused mostly upon fun and games to a group that has honest and direct discussions of topics that pertain to their age group coupled with service to others. When we started the group, it was comprised of all First Pres. youth. Now we have as many youth from other congregations as we have of our own. In a sense, our group went from a source of fellowship for youth to become a sort of mission serving youth.

To watch the Mid. Highs building picnic tables and benches in the pouring rain after having slept in leaky tents speaks most clearly about these youth. They clearly see what it means to be responsible for each other in the broadest sense - each person looked for ways to help the others. Between sharing tools or insights into solving problems, every youth served each other while serving the retreat center that we were working for. When all of the work was completed, there was a very distinct sense of accomplishment that was a joy to behold. These weren't individuals, they were a mission team, and, in truth, they were, and are, what we hope to be.

When we leave tomorrow, we will go our separate ways back into our separate worlds. However, this group will keep forever their bonds and the sense of service that comes from accomplishing a task of significance in the service of others. This outcome can be traced back to the specific efforts of a number of people, to all of whom, we in the youth group, owe a debt. At the same time, we should remember that you, the members of First Presbyterian Church, have also played a significant, yet less obvious role. It is you who welcome our youth at events, who provide them positive feedback, encouragement, and support, who look for new ways to integrate them into our church family. Your support of our programs makes possible the opportunity for those of us involved in youth programming to see lives change - change positively, change dramatically, and change forever. It is my hope that you, too, have the opportunity to see what we have seen.

An Adult Perspective

Hi, this is Kim. It has been a pleasure to lead this trip. The youth did a great job working on the picnic tables and benches, while also clearing some brush, stacking some firewood and working on a fence. They worked well together, were patient with each other and stayed on task.

During our devotions time on Friday night, we had a good discussion. I think they all liked the labyrinth. It was interesting to hear the sound of our footsteps increase and then decrease as more and more people entered and then left the labyrinth.

They also played hard. Basketball and foosball were a hit. Now we'll have to figure out how we're going to take a foosball table with us on our next trip, wherever that may be.

Promised Land work day

This is Alicia. Today we built 5 picnic tables and it was tough...I had to drill screws in boards for about 3 hours but I learned a new skill! After we finished around 3:00 = (we had been working for about 6 hours) we got to go swimming and it was really fun. I had a really good time, learned new skills and became closer to everyone in youth group.

This is Eric. Today was a really fun day. We all worked very hard but we got to have some fun too. I built tops for the picnic tables and then helped build benches. We all went swimming but the water was freezing so i got in a kayak and went to the other end of the lake and back. Now we are having a Foosball tournament and its really intense. Overall this trip was a very fun experience and I am glad had had the opportunity to enjoy it.

This is Adam. I got totally destroyed in foos ball, but its cool I let them win. Oh and Eric won some drill thing preetttty cool. Um this house is pretty tro-pic-all. The picnic tables were really fun. The shower was amazing.

This is Kaylin. Today was fun. We got to swim across the lake after building five picnic tables and worked very hard. We just had a foosball tournment and Adam and I lost very bad. This trip was fun overall and I'm happy i actually got to experience it.

This is Megan. Today we split into groups to build picnic tables and my group was most definitely the best group because we built the benches and finished first! After we finished the tables we got to go swimming and swam around and across the whole lake (and shaved our legs). Then we came back for ice cream and then just relaxed and talked which was pretty fun. This trip is really fun and gives us the chance to get to know each other and become closer friends while helping others.

This is Adam. We built 5 picnic tables today in the rain. it was really cold but it was really fun. After we were done we went swimming and the water was extremely cold. I was shivering but nobody else was. Its really fun working and having fun with all of these people.

This is Stephanie. We built picnic tables and benches. It was cold and wet, but we worked around the rain. It was really fun working with all of these people. I hope sometime we can do this again!!!!!!:)

I'm Skyler.......... I've learned that being sick with a painful headache and a raging sore throat on a retreat in the middle of the forest, is not fun. When I woke up this morning, the tent had leaked and I was cold and shivering. My sore throat was so bad that I flinched every time I swallowed anything, including drinking water. We came inside for breakfast and I took 2 ibuprofen and I was told to lay on the couch. As soon as I hit the couch I was out for about 3 hours while everyone worked. I woke up and worked still feeling like crap. Now I'm tired and going to sleep while everyone else walks the labyrinth. Bye...............

Hi I'm Taylor.I had to come to the promised land in some pretty scary conditions. Amber,Megan,Alicia,picked me up from my schools boat dance at 11:00 and got here at 12:00 midnight..in the middle of no-where...it was kind of scary being on the roads but we had some fun conversations.Tonight we walked the labyrinth. It was a good experience. We also were working very hard all day but it paid off in the end.

Promised Land project

This is Zac.

upon arrival, we were deciding where to go to find out where we were supposed to go. we figured when we hit a dead end we were there. we promptly decided to put up our tents. the men, of course, owned the women in tent building. after, we had to unload all of the picnic table equipment. we were all sweaty from that, so we decided to go swimming in the small lake.

This is Cassandra.

First of all, the men had more people than the women setting up tents, so it wasn't very fair. Also, when we were swimming, many people were being pushed into the moderate-temp water. Then we had dinner of spaghetti and meatballs. After, we had s'mores around a pretty big campfire. We also walked a labyrinth in silence lit up by torches at around 10:00. We then went to bed in the tents that were built in an unfair race.