Conversation - with Pastor Tony and students about the Youth Mission Trip

Welcome to Another Kingdom Conversations.

I'm Pastor Robby Strock, and today we have the pleasure of highlighting our youth mission trip, which occurred this past June with Pastor Tony leading our youth and a number of different adults down to the Henderson settlement in Frankes, Kentucky, where they did a number of varieties of mission efforts.

And I'm so excited because today we're going to turn the reins over to Pastor Tony to help us learn about this great mission work.

My name is Anthony Walsh, or Pastor Tony.

And I'm here to interview two of our students who went on mission trip with us this year.

And I'm going to have them introduce themselves.

So please, who would like to go first?

I'm Tommy Ralston.

I just graduated from Jackson High School and I'm going to Ohio Northern University.

Oh, I'm that's it.

I'm that's that's pretty good.

That's a good introduction.

I'm Caitlin Jeheen.

Um, my parents are Crystal and Nick.

I go to Perry High School, I'm on the color guard team, uh, and I'm a youth at Church of the Lakes.

How old are you?

I don't know.

15.

15.

That's weird.

So you're gonna be a sophomore?

Yeah.

Okay, very nice.

All right, cool.

So I feel like it would definitely be good to explain where we went and kind of why and kind of how our group had broken up.

Because you were on a different team, Tommy, than Caitlin was, but we and we all did different things, but it was it was it was really cool.

So we had 44 people go down, 14 adults, and I think close to 30 youth.

That adds up to 44.

Really good job there.

Not a math major.

And then what we did is we went to Henderson Settlement, which is on the border of Kentucky and Tennessee.

And the people that applied to get work done had a median average income of 14 grand a year.

So the help was needed.

And during COVID, they had lost a lot of that help.

So what we did when we went down there is we had enough people to where we could break up into six groups.

And so we had a group of eight over here and a group of five over there, and a group of six.

Some people were painting, some people were power washing, some people were more involved with the community.

Um, but Tanya, this isn't your first mission trip.

No, okay.

So that's kind of like that.

That's that's essentially what we did in a nutshell, but we're gonna dive into the details by asking you guys questions.

So this is this wasn't your first mission trip.

Yeah.

Um, I know you've been to Nashville and you were actually at Henderson before.

Yes.

So I guess for for you, what were you expecting before you went, having been on mission trips before?

I was expecting kind of the same sort of like how do I put this into words?

Um feeling you feel after the mission trip, like feeling closer to God and feeling like you've actually done something to glorify his kingdom.

Because when you go on the mission trip, like anywhere we've gone, we've helped people that are at a point where they can't really help themselves or they can barely help themselves.

So, like when we went to Nashville, like it was a better situation than Henderson, but it was still like there was still a lot of problems that needed to be solved that we were helping with.

When we were in um Black Mountain uh in North Carolina, there was a lot of like similar stuff to Henderson, even though it's a completely different area.

So it's just knowing I was expecting to get my hands dirty and doing the work that would help other people and humbling myself to help other people.

Gotcha.

Yeah.

Yeah.

All right.

New Yeah.

Very first mission trip, right?

Mm-hmm.

Now you've done R have you done RFKC in the past?

No, just this year.

Okay.

So what were you expecting for the trip?

How was it?

Um, I was honestly, I was kind of ready for it to okay, this is embarrassing.

I was ready for it to be really boring and like hard work and then like go back to the settlement and have like a bunch of fun with my buddies.

Um I was really excited to like help out the community though, because I really love just working with people and getting to know them.

Strangers just aren't strangers to me.

I I was super excited to meet our family and um they were so nice.

Um, but I was kind of nervous about doing work because I'm not the sharpest pencil in the box.

Now now.

Now now.

Nope.

You're fine.

Okay, so then what surprised you the most then?

It was so fun.

Like the work itself.

We were like listening to music.

I got so much closer like with the youth because I wasn't like I wasn't real connected with the youth group, I feel like, because I I've always been a part of it, but I would joined kind of late.

Um, and I was just like having a bunch of fun with like many friends, and we were listening to music and putting really obnoxious floorboards in.

And it was like, it was just the most fun thing ever.

It was great.

So it was just you didn't expect the work itself to be a conduit for the fellowship time that you had.

Yeah, and I just I really felt like the Holy Spirit moving because the family was so sweet, the people that I was working with were so sweet, the little grandson they have was so sweet, he was so cute.

We'll talk about we'll talk about people in a little bit.

Yeah, okay.

It was just so nice.

What about you?

Was there anything surprising this time around, or just go exactly according to plan for you?

Well, what I do think was surprising is that I didn't like didn't register with me that we would be going on a mission trip with other people until like a week or two before the trip.

So we went with the Carrollton people and Neiler's group, and I had no idea, like I had never met any of them before because I hadn't done CYF.

I missed the um the retreat, so I didn't get to meet any of them, and so it was just a bunch of new faces that I was like, oh, wasn't expecting that.

So it was kind of like it wasn't really a problem, but it was just something that like kind of caught me off guard and I didn't really expect on the mission trip.

But like Caitlin said, like the mission trip, what I've noticed also, because this is my fourth mission trip, what I've noticed each time is that you come away knowing more people than you did before.

So whether it's people in our youth or people at Carrollton, like I came away knowing different people.

And so I really enjoyed that part as well.

Just the fellowship of it.

So deepening old relationships, creating new relationships, and all that stuff.

Yep.

Um, and just for the folks at home, those who don't know, we what Tommy was talking about with going to mission trip with Carrollton is we did have another youth group from Carrollton who we had invited to come with us from Mount Pleasant GMC.

Um, and their youth leader, John Naylor, and I have been friends for many years, and we decided to combine.

And we had uh well over 50 kids there, and um it was wonderful.

So you deepened you you got to create new relationships with them as well as some of the other groups that were there, although this time it wasn't super kid heavy.

Yeah, um, so you guys were the majority of that, but yeah, very nice.

Okay, yeah, cool.

All right, so now Caitlin, this is the layup for you.

Um, tell us about someone who impacted you while you're on the trip.

And this could be someone in the group, this could be youth um that we brought.

It could certainly be the people that we helped or the people that we served alongside with.

So whatever the Lord brings to mind for Ann.

It has to be one person.

Yeah, well, let's hear it.

Um we'll go Jed.

There was this little boy, um, and he was the grandson of the family we were assigned.

His name was Jed.

He was he was missing some teeth, he was really cute, and I just like once we were done with the work, I just hung out with this little kid, and he like he made me get on a little kid bike and race him.

I am not built for that, so it was it was really fun.

But I don't know, we were at fake McDonald's and he was like, I want the K-pop demon hunters meal, and it was like a little accent, and it was just the cutest thing ever.

And at one point he was like, Did you know that did Jesus loves you?

And I was like, Jed, I want to steal you, you are so cute.

And I was like, I was like, the the joy that this little boy has is absolutely mind-blowing, and it just it gave me like a lot of faith in the world, just like knowing that little kids out there like still want to play and build relationships with other people and like have God in their life, and it just made me really happy spending time with him and yeah, okay, yes, definitely definitely someone you'll remember.

Tommy, someone that uh impacted you on the mission trip.

Um I'd say that it was the family that we were helping.

Um so we went to this house.

It was Vernon and Charlene's house, and we got there, and you were like, Hey, is this Vernon and Charlene's house?

And Vernon was out, and he was like, uh yes it is, but um, I want to tell you something.

So park your car and then come over.

So we parked, and then we walked over.

We were like, hey, we're helping you out.

Is this Vernon Charlene's house?

And he was like, Yes, but I have to tell you that two weeks ago, um, my wife Charlene, she passed away.

And so already that was like, okay, I was not expecting anything like that.

And then Vernon had to leave, but his sister, um, is it Audrey?

Audrey, what was Oh, yeah, you're catching me out.

I let's say I think it's Audrey.

I think Dree sounds better than Brie, yeah.

Yeah, not like holistically, just yes, yeah, yeah, it's overnamed Audrey.

So Vernon's sister Audrey was there, and she was in the house, and before we started working, um, we were talking with her, we were just getting to know her, see a little bit more about her, and she was just talking, and I was just standing there listening, quiet, just like hearing everything that she was saying.

And as she continued to talk, she was just talking about how like it seems like one by one, everybody that she knew and loved and cared about in her life just passed away.

Like she's like, mom died this a while ago, then Pa died right after that, and then um she just listed more and more people, and it just was like, How can you go on when you have all that loss and grief in your life?

And then the next thing she said is what got me, and she was just listing all the people that she lost, and then she just like paused for a second, and then she looked at us and she was like, But God's still good and He is great, and He has always been there for me and always provided for me.

And I was like To think that people like in our everyday lives, like even us, like we complain, like I said this um the first night actually when we were talking about our days.

I said to think that like we complain about how we got stuck in traffic and we were late to school by like five minutes, and you're like, oh my gosh, I can't believe that happened, da-da-da, and you're just mad and complain, like just little things like that.

But these people like they've lost everything, like they have nothing, and they're still getting their nothing taken away from them, and they're still waking up and praising God every single day.

And the it's just it's like Caitlin said, like it just restores your like faith in humanity, just like seeing people still have that kind of faith, because that is not something that's common anymore.

It seems like more and more people are finding reasons to not believe more than believe.

So no, they were they were spirit-filled filled people, Tommy.

They were.

Um to that.

And uh all right, so I'm thinking back, that stories remind me.

The very first night, the guy who was the director, spiritual director of the camp, his name is John.

You remember that?

Yeah, he had a very short and simple sermon.

I'm gonna do my best.

Yeah.

But the main idea that has stuck out is when you're going up to Henderson's settlement, it's on top of a mountain, and there the roads, I don't think they have divider lines for the most part.

No, they do not, nor is there any sort of you know, guard to keep you on.

Guardrail, yeah.

And he talked about when you're on mission trip, there's a lot of things.

You have a plan, you know where you're going.

Like for us, well, I know I'm going to Henderson Settlement, and this is the projects I sign up for, these are the people I'm gonna help.

And um just like the Mountain Road, there's curves that happen, like something happens in a project where it's just well, now we made this, or now it's gonna cost even more, or someone gets hurt, or or these people don't want our help anymore.

All these curves and all these edges, and I think his main point was that God's in the curves, too.

Yeah, it's like even in the midst of suffering, like he knows your sorrows, or just like he's planned this out, and there were a lot of curves, I think, on our mission trip, and like there was a lot that did not go according to how we had planned or how we expected, almost like we already just talked about.

But you know, that kind of leads in, like we had a lot of time for prayer, we had a lot of time for spiritual development.

Um, and so I guess my next question for you would be how did God stretch your faith during the week?

So that might be a polite way of asking what was frustrating and how did God get you through it, but I think it also could be just as specific with how did God stretch your faith during the week?

Now, for me, my mind goes to there was a lot of moments in prayer.

Um, and if for for the folks at home, each night, probably starting around Tuesday or Wednesday and onward through the rest of the week, we would meet in the evenings and have uh a little worship service and devotion.

And then as a youth group, we would pray over one another as the Holy Spirit directed us to do so.

And there were a lot of things that were revealed and brought out um that were that were difficult.

Um, but it was a perfect space of intimacy for the youth too, and for adults even adults got prayed over as well to to experience um that uncomfortability, but also that love from God and to be encouraged and to pray against fear and blah blah blah.

But I guess I'm just curious, you can take that any sort of way, whether that's the prayer or whatever, but how did God stretch your faith during the week?

Or do you or where did you see a move?

Or you know what, just answer whatever you think is right.

I have a direct question.

Can I have a direct question, please?

How did God uh grow you?

What do you what do you tell me about that?

Um it's a very complicated question.

I didn't ask it very straightforward either.

No, you did not.

You asked like would you like to go?

Do you want to read it?

Actually, actually, yeah, I do bottom.

Can you read it?

How did God stretch your faith during the week?

What was difficult?

Thank you.

What was difficult?

That's right.

Okay, all on the same page now.

For me, honestly, what was probably really difficult was leaving.

Okay.

I was not ready for that to be difficult.

I thought that I would be ready to like go home and take a concerningly long shower.

But like, I would stop giggling at me talking.

That caught me off guard too.

Yeah.

But go ahead.

So when we were about to leave, we were all just hanging out um with the family that we were assigned to.

And the can I say people's names?

Yeah, here for me.

And Dan was like, all right, guys, we gotta go in like 15 minutes.

And I just stopped and I was like, oh.

Like, I it just didn't like click to me that we had to leave and like say goodbye to the family.

And before that, they had like um invited us to go up and see their like cabin or whatever.

So we all went down there and we just talked and hung out.

And they're just like the sweetest people ever.

And I remember them telling us, you guys are family now.

If you're ever down here, come by, they'll don't be strangers.

And I was like, I'm probably never gonna see like this family again.

And I've gotten pretty attached to them because they were just the sweetest people ever.

Um, the guy Thomas, he helped us with the floorboards when we were gone because we couldn't figure them out.

And Connie just like talked and talked to us, and it was so sweet.

And I just like sobbed when we were leaving their house, and like Connie gave me a big hug.

And um, yeah, it was not easy to like say goodbye to like our new friends, but um that was definitely where I was like, God, I really don't want to do this.

Can we not?

Cause I I just wasn't ready to leave.

I will say with the people that um you help on the mission trip, you do get very like attached and you because you get to know them and you get to actually see their a little bit of their life, and then you realize that oh wait, I like this isn't how this is this isn't going to be like an everyday thing.

Like, I do have to leave and I have to go back to my own everyday.

So it does get a little rough to so would you say the stretching part is entrusting that their well entrusting their well-being, and trusting that to the Lord, but also like dealing with the you know, wow, this isn't just the new normal now.

I've actually gotta go.

Yeah.

And just yeah, I feel like when you're around people and you can just automatically tell, oh, you're a Christian too, like you just feel so at home with them and it's easy to trust them.

And it's not like that with everybody.

So when you find people that you can like you can feel that they're truly connected to God and want what's usually want what's best for everybody, you're like, oh, like you're a safe person, I want to be buddies with you, and then yeah, just having to kind of let go of that connection that we made was really difficult.

I'd say with this mission trip, because each mission trip there's been something different that in how they've seen.

And um, in the past, it's like you said, where you had that spiritual high, and you're like, Yeah, the Lord is obviously in this space this entire week on the mission trip.

And we talked about the one year.

As soon as we got back, it was like it's not like he's gone, but it's it's like something just doesn't like it's just not the same.

Yeah.

And so you're just like, huh, where'd that where'd that go?

But I think with this mission trip, um when I got back, there was just a sense of like awareness to everything, especially with what happened.

It was just like okay maybe more of the things that have been happening in life like it is an attack versus just like some everyday oh well that happens so it's just like being more aware of the things around you and I was noticing like it wasn't even just with me like it was people within the youth group some of my friends who are believers like it was it seemed like I don't know if it was like there was a reasoning behind it but it seemed like at that moment it seems like all the believers that I knew in my life including me there was something going on with them and it was like I had one of my friends text me the one night how she was feeling very angry at um the world and it was just like like she knows that like this is according to God's plan but why is these things happening and it's just like why like I've felt like my faith has grown I felt like I've been closer to God and all of a sudden all these things start happening and it's just like why and I talked the one night with her and I was talking about how I had seen something that um I forget who said it but it was some um pastor at some church they were talking and they were talking about how um if you weren't a big threat to the enemy then he wouldn't bother with you.

Yeah and he said and they were talking about how when you are born again and you were born as a believer that you have a mark on you and that's by God and the enemy sees that and they're like that is a threat I need to stop that because if I can get them away from God and to turn away from him then that's one more person on my side and so I was talking with her the one night and I was like you have been marked by the blood of Christ and these things they're not just like oh things are getting more difficult in life oh things are just kind of like happening no this is like this is the devil trying to persuade you to turn from God and so it's how you react in that situation that proves your faith.

And so she it was getting late so she kind of didn't want to hear it and she was kind of ignoring that.

But then the next day she kind of she talked to me and she was like I was thinking about what you said and I think there's actually a lot of truth to it and it was just I wasn't really thinking about it like that.

And that was just one person.

I had talked to multiple people that week and then the week following and it was just seemed like everybody sort of had something.

So it's just when I came back from this mission trip there's this awareness and I was like there's so there's like reasoning behind all these things you just never like would have thought about or at least I would have never thought about until seeing all the things I saw in the messenger.

So you believe just from your thing it seems as though from your response that your attentiveness to the movement of the Holy Spirit andor the spiritual realm, even though they're not the same thing.

Yes.

Your your attentiveness to the Holy Spirit has gone up.

Yes and now there's other realities that you're able to understand.

As your pastor I'm very proud of you and I'd also have to caution you okay um to I there's a danger in over spiritualizing.

I'm not saying that's what you're doing.

Okay.

Okay.

But there's a danger with thinking too much about that.

Yeah.

And there's also a danger with not thinking at all about yes.

Okay so just as your friend in the faith as as I guess one of your shepherds there's a just a healthy middle round because that that conversation with your friend I believe because I know that you walk closely with the Holy Spirit that he gave you those words to share.

Yeah.

And I know that he'll give you the words to share to other people it may not be hey like I think you're being attacked some some people take that very weird.

Yeah you know what I'm saying?

Yeah.

But it doesn't mean that's not the reality.

Yeah.

It just means like when you're talking with people and those sorts of things just I'm always a little aware of that.

Yeah.

It's like oh well if you don't see have my worldview then you definitely won't be able to receive what I'm putting down so I trust your relationship with the Holy Spirit.

I know you love him very much.

So right on thank you.

Good all right we're wrapping up here.

Okay.

What would you say to the our church you know to our church family who's prayed and supported this trip.

What up guys okay hey what hell what a way to start okay yeah you can say hello now at the end that's good.

What else would you like to say to the church that supported you he wants to leave um no I don't like my hand what would you say to the church your prayers really helped.

Yeah I do I mean I think it's evidence.

Yeah yeah I think that with any of the things that the through does or the church as a whole like we would not be able I believe that we would not be able to do these things and especially do these things to the extent of like I'm trying to figure out my words right here like to the same extent if we did not have people like praying for us or people supporting us financially or like anything at all.

Like this church there'll be people that have like I've never talked to they're like oh the youth group is going on a mission trip.

I'm gonna be praying for them.

I might even like help them out financially with this like people in this church are so willing to help and support because they know the good that can come out of it and the good that will come out of it.

Well this podcast is a lot about that yeah about the way that you guys have grown spiritually you guys are much deeper than you were a year ago and I think even by this trip I could say there's a marked difference in number of our youth.

Oh yeah now we also made differences physically while we were out there right that like I I agree about the I think the prayers that our church had were felt oh throughout the entire week both for stamina and energy for adults and then for the youth.

But yeah no we could not have done this without you guys um praying and lifting us up and then also for the financial support I mean we were able to go on every youth was able to go on trip for free.

Yeah like that's amazing.

Yeah no you guys did some fundraising work no doubt felt like amen but we had a lot of donors we had a lot of people that just wanted to pour the love of God on you and say go and serve.

Yeah I made some of like my favorite memories on that mission trip and I feel like a big part of it was the prayers that we received and the different people that helped out especially you because you oh yeah well thank you and and Tori shout out to Tori she's pretty awesome sauce I like Tori good but yeah it was thanks guys yeah well hey any final words that you'd share just to say we love you guys and we're hopeful that this blesses your day when if you go to listen to it when you go to listen to it and we pray for you that you would grow in knowledge and love of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Anything else guys Jesus loves you peace out amen amen thank you so much Tony and team for helping us if you are interested in learning more about our mission trip and how you can help please email me at podcast at churchohthelakes.org.

I'd love to be able to connect you with Tony and we can help answer any questions you may have but before we go I want to say a big thank you to Tony for helping to lead our discussion a special shout out to Betsy our director of communication Len Brown our main editor and encourager and to my wife Stephanie our social media coordinator in getting this podcast up and running for friends it's our mission as followers and disciples of Jesus to connect all to Christ to become healthy in God and courageous to love and until next time God bless