From Mission Trip to Mission

When the idea of a mission trip began as a seed way back in 2004, who would have thought that over 110 different people would have accepted God's invitation. Not only that, but three young ladies have taken internships for a month visit to the island. And there is still more, but let me start at the beginning, obviously. In the summer of 2004, Ken Parker received some mail about a youth trip to the Bahamas. Sounds innocent enough but he had been praying about some type of international trip for the youth group. So he decided to let God's hand guide our church's youth on this adventure. Sixteen people - 10 kids and 6 adults - were on the maiden trip. Most of us had no idea what to expect or how to feel about what we were about to encounter. Some of us were only going because it would look good on a resume or college application, or so people would think we were cool. But we all left feeling something special about the work we had just accomplished. The next few years continued to be awesome trips, but that was the extent of it. Just a trip. It took until our 4th or 5th trip to find a deeper connection. That was when a bond was truly formed with our island partner, Raoul Armbrister. The relationship grew beyond just being one week a year partners, we became friends and eventually brothers. Our Woodside team continued to be one of the few remaining groups that continued to come back, and our numbers grew consistently. We jumped from 26 to 46 to now 49. The future of the youth group trip continues to be strong, so much so that we have had 3 month long interns and the possibility of breaking off into two trips. This relationship has branched off into many areas of our church at home as well. Our Adventure Club mission team has organized multiple "backpack drives" to be donated to the Bahamian school kids. And last year, one of the men's groups fixed up a truck and a van, had the entire church pack them full of donated food, and shipped them down for the ministry to use. But there is a new adventure on the horizon. Last winter, Raoul and his wife Karen spent a weekend here visiting and preaching at our church. In order to save some money, the stayed at my house during their stay. After some great time sharing life stories and testimonies, we decided to take our family down to the island for our own mission trip. On our return flight, my wife decided that she had found her calling - organizing a mission trip for families with young children - Vacation with a Purpose. The seeds were planted 8 years ago and the fruits look to be growing for years to come. This mission trip has become more than just a trip, it is now a mission.