HPUMC Youth makes an impact in San Antonio during Spring Break

As five, fifteen-passenger vans rolled away from the Tolleson Family Activity Center on a Sunday morning, there was a buzz of energy in the air.

“Will this be a fun trip?”
“What are we eating?”
“What do the bunk rooms look like?”
“Will I get to see my friends?”
“Will I meet new friends?”
“What if I don’t know how to roof?”
“Did I pack what I needed?”

These questions and more created that buzz of energy, all coming from 51 middle and high school students as they made their way to San Antonio for HPUMC Youth’s Spring Break Mission Trip, benefiting Blueprint Ministries. For many of these students, it was their very first mission trip. Some of this was due to the influx of new middle schoolers, but also due to the fact the pandemic made us put a hold on the annual Spring Break Mission Trip.

The theme for this year’s trip was Campfire, chosen for a few reasons. First, it was a trip that never actually got to happen in the Spring of 2020. Second, our youth staff felt strongly that it would challenge students to explore what it means to compare their faith to a fire. As students heard from Rev. Chelsea Peddecord, Pastor to Youth, each night, they were met with the following questions:

• If you see fire, will you check it out?

• What is fueling your fire?

• Who will you invite to sit by the fire?

The answers were left for students to answer for themselves as they walked through different examples in Scripture of God working through fire. Through morning devotionals, nightly worship, and meaningful experiences like a prayer walk, we watched as students took one step, and then another seeking their own answer to these questions.

But this kind of individual spiritual growth is not all that we saw as the week progressed. By the end of the week, in just six days, we found that the students and our 14 volunteers had grown into a true community.

Throughout the week, students’ unsure expectations were met in unexpected ways as they served, laughed, bonded, and worshiped together. As teams of students and volunteers ventured out to work on different homes each day, students were surprised at how much of a difference they could make, even if they had never served in this way before. They were surprised at how close they became with one another, even if they had not spoken to each other once before this week. They were surprised at how they saw and experienced God, even if they felt very far from God coming into the trip.

I can truly say, watching God bring these students together throughout the week has been one of my very favorite memories as a Youth Pastor. Students being there for one another, joking with new friends, trying things outside their comfort zone, and seeking God through it all—THIS is what it means to grow the fire of our faith.

So if you see a student with a Campfire shirt in church or in the community, take a page from our students’ books and try something new—ask them about their trip. I can’t wait for you to hear what they have to say.