Engage the World

This past weekend, we had high school students from Grace Church present in our Camp Grace (1st - 4th grade) programming, about the mission trips they were involved with this past summer. These high schoolers talked about why they went on the trip, what they did, and how God grew them through this experience. They shared stories and pictures, to help the campers connect with what God did.

Why have we done this over the past few years?  For one, it helps adults, students, and children see that we are one church with a unified mission to spread the Gospel.  Second, it is a great opportunity for these students to be leaders and to be able to share what they did.  Third, this has helped our elementary-age kids grow in Christ.  We want them to grow up thinking that it's perfectly normal to go to another culture in order to demonstrate God's love through their actions and words.  (In fact, we timed this presentation to coincide with us beginning our study of the New Testament.  We learned about John the Baptist, and we feel that we are all called to tell others about Jesus, just like John the Baptist did.)

If you have a child in our Camp Grace programming, be sure to talk with them about what they learned.  Also, consider what it would look like for you to go on a mission trip (see our Culturally-Engaged webpage).  It is great when a child can hear about someone else doing missions work, but if you go, it brings it home to a much more personal level, even for them. 

To learn more about Grace Student Ministry, see their website.