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Mission
SR High Mission Trip to San Francisco, CA |
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The PYF Mission Trip to San Francisco, California this past June was a wonderful, God-filled experience. This is our 3rd summer mission trip. The youth, along with adult leaders, have served in the mountains of North Carolina and in the suburbs of Boston, MA. This year's youth are Bo Anthony, Philip Murray, Banks Lee, Jack Furse, Lauren Stogner, Danielle Herlong, Chase Sprott, Justin Currie, McCain Moore, and Meagan Bryant. The adult leaders are Lynn Herlong, Nancy Weitzel, Randy Weitzel, and Leslie St.John. We partnered up with YouthWorks, a non-denominational ministry that sets up youth mission trip. We served by orchestrating Kids Club (a VBS-type setting), taking kids on a field trip to the Exploratorium, volunteering in Chinatown, doing manual labor at a half-way home, and passing out lunches to the homeless. |
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Our group on Mount Davidson overlooking San Francisco |
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Our theme was "Open your eyes..." We discussed mercy, justice, beauty, humility, and possibilities. It was a wonderful time of fellowship, discipleship, and service. Also, while we were in San Francisco we got to see the many colors of the city. We walked around Fisherman's Wharf, Union Square, Chinatown, & Pier 39. We ate ice cream at Ghiradhelli's Square. We rode the trolley, the BART, & the MUNI. We visited the AIDS Memorial Grove, Golden Gate Bridge, & Mount Davidson. On the last day, we got to take a ferry out the Alcatraz. It was a blessed trip. God did wonderful miracles to and through our group. Thank you for all of your prayers and support. The youth will be leading the service on August 13th and sharing more about their experience. |
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San Francisco Testimonies |
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Lauren (Open Your Eyes to Beauty) Before San Francisco, when I thought of the word 'beauty', inner beauty nor God's world were the first thoughts in my head. But before we even got to San Francisco my perspective of beauty changed. The flight to San Francisco was my first plane ride and I was extremely excited about flying, but I never thought about the view from the sky. I don't think I ever took my eyes off the window. God is amazing! The view from up high looking down is like no other view. Even though you can't really tell what you're looking at, it is amazing. It's like a huge puzzle that God put together of land and water and it forms beautiful places... |
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Philip (Open Your Eyes to Mercy) 'Mercy' is defined as 'something for which to be thankful; a blessing.' These blessings are the reason that we go to places such as San Francisco. We are trying to return some of these blessings of our merciful existence. Because while the Bible does say that God chooses to harden certain individuals through lack of mercy; it doesn't mean that we can't be merciful to them. And maybe God, in His infinite wisdom, has withheld His mercy from some so that others might be able to show them the way to mercy. This act of showing mercy would then not only better the individual being given mercy, but would in turn give the person being merciful a renewed sense of compassion... |
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Bo (Open Your Eyes to Possibilities)...The next morning Leslie & Leigh told us to pack a bag lunch...Later they explained to us that we were going to go and pass out these lunches to homeless on the streets of the city...I turned to see a man jogging up to me, waving his hand in the air. When he caught up, he asked if we were the group handing out lunches. I replied yes, and held out my bag to him. He took it and looked at the bag. I suddenly remembered that I had written my name in bright blue on the side of the bag. He looked at me and asked if that was my name. I said yes, and he paused a moment. What he said next took me totally by surprise. "God bless you, Bo." He then turned and walked away. That stuck with me. Those four words of gratitude changed my whole view of our mission work. It was then that I opened my eyes to possibility. The possibility that doing anything for someone, whether it's passing out food or simply saying hello, can greatly affect their lives in a positive way. It may even show them the kindness of Christ. That was the purpose of this trip, not just to do our work in a far off place and be done with it, but to return a changed person. To apply what we learned to our everyday lives, and to see the endless possibilities of doing God's work. |
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The Youth Lead Worship
We would like to thank our church, our community, and our parents for giving our group the opportunity to serve in San Francisco.
It was a life-changing experience for each missionary.
1 John 3:16-18 says
"This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue, but with action and in truth." |
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