Cincinnati Week of Hope 1

This past week, 17 youth and 4 leaders from Mt. Carmel Church travelled to Cincinnati for a Week of Hope mission trip. This experience was so amazing for us as a youth group. I was so blessed to get to know some of the students in a much deeper way this week, and I am eternally grateful for the way in which so many of them opened up and shared their lives with me.

The theme of the week was "Love Out Loud" based on the verse John 3:18: "Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth." All week, we reflected on the way in which God loves us and the way in which he calls us to genuinely love as servants. The way God moved in the lives of students was, in many cases, truly life-changing! I cannot wait to see the impact this trip will have on our youth group.

Each student was put into a work crew with people from all over the country (and Canada!) and sent out to various ministry sites in the Cincinnati area. My group went to a nature center and made a hiking trail by putting down gravel and mulch. This was a huge and physically demanding task, but I am proud to say we finished the job (and with time to stop at Sonic on our last work day!) Some of the other groups did similar outside work while others served at food pantries, a center for disabled children, an elderly home and a day camp for inner-city kids. It was so neat to come together at the end of each day and hear about the ways God worked at the various sites!

Here are a few photos from the week. More to come!!