Hi I’m Hailey Allton, I am going to be a sophomore this coming school year and this is my 3rd mission trip with the GCC Youth. Today was a fun filled day, we started off our day bright and early for group pictures. Then headed off to our worksite. We did a bunch of yard work, me, Lindsay and Craig did some serious damage to a fence and some trees. We had to use some serious muscle to get the trees untangled from the wire fence. It was a lot of wire cutting, pulling wire out of roots and so much more. We also learned a bit about the organization we were working with. The lady we were working with, Ada, actually started the nonprofit organization. We learned about the broken window theory. It’s where if you have a broken window you should board it up or else people might come by and do more damage on that street. After we left the worksite we went to the DIA (detroit industry of art) and took a mini tour with Willie and learned about some real cool art. Then we went to a strip mall type thing and I got a shirt. Next we went back to the church for some downtime. Then we headed out to Green Dot who is famous for their sliders and I can’t stress this enough, they were absolutely amazing. After that we went to a tigers baseball game, and that was our end of our fun filled day! I can’t wait for the rest of our Motown Mission week!

During some of our free time, the youth took a guided tour of the DIA.

Today we got up and worked with resource community development corporation. Some groups did some weed whacking and mowing while others were working on cleaning up the sidewalks. We chopped up some branches to beautify this neighborhood once again.

So a little rain will not stop our fireworks show.

Hi! My name is Taylor Burket and I am going into my junior year. This is my 5th mission trip with GCC Youth. Today was our first official day in Detroit. We all were working on houses, and my group painted a porch and painted a fence. While driving around to our worksites, we got a glimpse of the city and I’m really excited to get to explore Detroit and help in as many ways as I can. I’m looking forward to spreading kindness around the city of Detroit and seeing the hard work this week has in store.

Hi it’s Savannah Dixon and I’m going to be a freshman. This is my third mission trip with Geist Christian Church Youth. Today we went to houses and fixed some minor things but had great improvement. Unfortunately there was a miss communication with my group so we ended up painting a porch that was not supposed to be painted. We then had to sit and wait for a while so Carl could bring us grey paint as the owners of the house wanted. Then Carl informed us that all of their grey paint had run out so we have to wait until Wednesday to get more grey paint and to finish the porch. I was frustrated because we did all of the work to paint it and then we had to sit and wait for two hours to end up getting no paint. I wanted to help out with things around their house but I couldn’t. I hope tomorrow I can be more active and helpful. Although it was not a perfect day, I can’t wait for more opportunities to brighten someone’s day this week!

The youth have been so flexible with today’s travels. We hope to depart soon from Fort Lauderdale for Indy. The plan is to land at 10:16 and be at Mud Creek by 11:30. Parents we will call with a more accurate time for our Mud Creek arrival when we land. Big thanks to John and Bruce for picking us up tonight.

I entered this week with an open mind and heart, ready for whatever I would be faced with. I leave being able to say that my expectations were surpassed. Even though I have partaken in mission work in the past, this trip was the most impactful. I felt a personal connection to both the people and the culture. Surrounded with scenery overwhelmingly beautiful, I was left me in awe of Gods work. Though, witnessing the aftermath of hurricane Maria left a melancholy feeling in my heart as I wish there was more I could do to help. The tasks that we were given pushed us to push each other. Even when the conditions were difficult to endure, we did and we did our absolute best. Seeing the faces of those who we helped light up with gratitude made me proud to say that I am apart of Geist Christian Church. – Elsi Miranda 2021

The week began very differently than I expected, and I almost felt as if the trip wouldn’t have been as fulfilling as I had previously hoped, but that all changed when I arrived to the house I worked on for 3 days. The change we made on one house was honestly enough for me to understand the change we made. The work we did along with the difference in our living space, the shift in culture, and the placement out of my comfort zone made for a week that changed my perspective is on struggle. – Max Hoffman 2021

I began this week being unsure of what I should expect in the coming days, concerned about the different culture, the hard work, and the uncommon group of people. However, I was pleasantly surprised by how inviting the group I embarked on this trip with were. Throughout the week we were able to finish multiple projects that would’ve otherwise been incomplete. We met and spoke with many residents of Puerto Rico, specifically the contractors working by our side and the owners of the homes our groups were stationed at this week. The overlying mentality of everyone we had the privilege of meeting this week was one of earnest gratitude, and that is something that I believe will never leave my mind. I went into this week unsure, and left humbled and thankful. – Coleman Latty 2019