2006 LC missions beginnings

I'm happy to report that one of our trips for this summer is officially off the ground. Happy is not quite the right way to put it - I'm actually ecstatic. And not just because its one trip that is starting to come together - that in itself is always fun. (That is two trips so far for the summer, I haven't written about the other one yet.)

In this case, I have handed off one of the leadership of our middle school (Light Company) trip to NLind. She has been on the middle school trip both times we have done it previously. She works with middle schoolers every week (*and* she loves them.) The first summer we did this trip, she got shocked by an electric fence. Last summer, she also went to Uganda for two weeks, in addition to being a leader for the middle school trip. I believe that God has got a grip on her heart for reaching the nations and involving middle schoolers in the process. One of my meetings this week was with her and she told me she's been thinking about this trip ever since it ended last summer.

This trip is the first one (of many in the future, I hope) that I have handed off. The specifics and principles came together in our first year of SPACE, so the trip is kind of synonymous with the beginnings of SPACE. It reminds me a lot of a cool experiment with middle schoolers gone right. So it's tons of fun for me to see it get handed off, especially to a leader that has been around right from the beginning.

A few items that I jotted down as we set about getting this off the ground.

Must haves:
- exposure to the world
- exposure to someone that is counter culture
- hard work - get the kids tired so leaders aren't running after them 24x7
- nothing glamorous about it - kids don't go because its inherently cool
- first look at missions
- balance between open (prebeliever) and some level of emotional maturity - can take anyone that wants to serve but the trip is not a day camp or reform school
- partnership with a GCC supported ministry - connection with GCC as a whole

Next steps:
- build a leader team
- contact CMTS to set a date
- parents meeting
- set dates for applications/deposits to be due

This older post from Marko is pretty insightful from his perspective for mission trips with middle schoolers.

Photo: NLind on the right, mowing some grass, from summer 2005.