West Virginia Mission Trip 2015

In June, St. Paul’s sent a group of 27 missioners—21 youth and 6 adults—to the Highland Educational Center in Welch, WV for a week of meaningful work, Christian fellowship and faith formation.

This is the fourth year we’ve gone to West Virginia and it’s a fair question to ask if the experience has run its course – that can happen with mission trips and community connections. Key players move on, kids get eager to do something different. That being said, we believe it is in the very act of forging strong bonds through repeat visits that has allowed our youth to deepen their understanding of what it means to be a missioner. We’ve always intentionally steered the kids away from seeing themselves as “saviors” – we don’t subscribe to the philosophy that “we who have so much are going to go save those poor, poor people.” We have instead substituted a narrative that relies on expanding our definition of community. So now, when we go to into the town of Welch, every time we enter a Wal-Mart, McDonald’s, the hardware store or the diner, we run into people we know from previous years. People remember us. People know us. We are a part of the community.

In forging these bonds, we’ve connected the kids with community leaders who come from different social-economic backgrounds, different cultural backgrounds and different racial backgrounds, who are effectively serving their communities – often despite limited resources. We see our role as supporting those folks in their established ministries. We are not coming in with the hubris of thinking we’ve got it all figured out and can offer immediate solutions. This is perhaps a harder lesson for adults to learn than youth.

By returning for a third or even fourth mission trip, both adults and youth are beginning to develop a more nuanced understanding of the problems facing the community and the unique challenges that must be considered.

As we drove by one of the few operational coal mines, and discussed the difficulty of trying to develop industry in such an isolated place, one of our youth asked, “What are they going to do?” Realizing that there are no easy answers is a huge leap in comprehension for a young person.

We know there is still meaningful work to be done in West Virginia and we think it still represents an opportunity for our young people to grow in faith and service. Next year we may pursue job sites in some different neighborhoods – our kids are a little too comfortable in the local neighborhood where we’ve done most of our work and getting outside one’s comfort zone is a big part of a mission trip.

By committing ourselves to this community and the people of McDowell County, we equip our kids to make similar commitments to other seemingly intractable problems. It is only by walking this road together long term that we can make real progress.

- Lisa Brown, Director of Children’s Ministry and Communications Coordinator