Frontier: High School Mission Trip 2023

August 01, 2023 by Analise Narine

Interested in attending a mission trip as a student or volunteer this year? Join HPUMC on a community and construction trip to the Methodist Children's Home in San Jose, Costa Rica, in October. Learn more and register here.

You can also serve on HPUMC Youth’s next mission trip during spring break next year! Look out for details on this trip to San Antonio, Texas, from March 10 to 15, 2024.

HPUMC Youth continues to make an impact throughout the summer, this time for its High School Mission Trip to Jackson, MS, from July 8 to 14, in partnership with Praying Pelican Missions. The week of service allowed opportunities for students to build friendships, as well as their knowledge of important history and Biblical truths.

As part of the theme for the trip, Frontier: Forge Ahead, students were led through the Book of Exodus, a story of oppression followed by freedom and a journey through the wilderness. This paralleled what students learned at their first stop—the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum—about the freedom of formerly enslaved people and the trials, tribulations, and triumphs that followed.

During the trip, students helped to restore homes in underserved neighborhoods in the Jackson area. They also served at a food pantry and led a Vacation Bible School in the community. Some students also worked with students living in a mental health center. These opportunities helped students walk in the shoes of others and understand the importance of serving them as God calls us to.

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During evening worship time, high schoolers explored the literal and metaphorical meaning of the desert for the Israelites and found application in their own lives. As students pondered their experience at the Civil Rights Museum and dove deeper into Exodus each night, they were met with the following questions and more:

  • What is it about racism that is intimidating to confront?

  • Those who find themselves with their back against the wall, what does Jesus say to them in the midst of their oppression?

  • What are resources we have that could change the lives of those we serve?

  • How can you contribute to helping our communities back in Dallas?

  • What did the people you served teach you?

As students made a difference throughout the week, compassion and faith grew. Students learned how to combat racism and what it means to wait on the Lord through their tour of the Civil Rights Museum and their journey through the Book of Exodus.

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