Food Chain

At food chain we learned a lot. We learned that they grow tilapia so they can get the manure into the plants to grow. They filter out the ammonia in the water to get the clean water.They use the clean water for the plants to grow. They grow lettuce, kale, time, and other herbs. They don’t breed their fish, they buy them when they are little.

They use the plants in the kitchen next door and tons of other places like Smith Town. Each week they drop a box full of food at other peoples house, if they ordered it. It depends on the person, it could be a frozen box of food or all of the raw ingredients and instructions.

They teach kids how to cook and bake. They also teach the the kids how to use utensils. Sometimes other people with amazing recipes go to food chain to teach other people how to make their dish.

Arbor Youth

Arbor Youth strives to end youth homelessness by providing a safe and supportive environment to youth who have suffered abuse, abandonment, or are at risk of victimization. We envision a community where every child and youth have a stable home. On Monday, I found my time there very informative! Arbor Youth helped me to become more appreciative of how supportive my parents are. They accept my decisions, choices, hobbies, and support me in who I am as a person. I learned that not everyone is provided with that. At Arbor Youth, I also discovered the importance of being kind to everyone, because you never know what other people might be going through. Later in the day we got to return for an ice cream social on the front porch. It was a nice way to cool off on this hot day. 

Sarah Coleman

Sunday Worship

Today we worshipped at Maxwell Street Presbyterian Church. It was a different kind of worship than what we are used to, but it was an interesting experience. It started with someone playing the saxophone and then we sang a bunch of hymns. We switched back and forth between sitting and standing which was confusing at times. All in all, the experience was different, but it was cool to see how a different denomination worship.

Housing Simulation

I’m Corinne and this is my second mission trip. Today I participated in the housing simulation game and it opened my eyes to a lot of the unfair and difficult things in adulthood. The first “day” of the simulation started off smoothly and then the process got more difficult. It seemed easy on the surface due to my partner and I both having jobs and college degrees, but got more and more difficult when completing one step would lead to having to go back and complete another step. For example, we would try to get housing which would cause us to have to get our social security number. This was a long tedious frustrating process. After we finally were able to get housing, the next “day” we were told that we were being kicked out of our apartment because the landlord did not approve of homosexual relationships. This was very disheartening and frustrating we did everything right and even put down a deposit for the apartment but were now being discriminated against and kicked out for something unfair. This opened my eyes to what adults and people in all different minority groups have to deal with when just trying to get the essentials they need to live. This was a frustrating simulation but very enlightening. 

2021 Mission Trips

If we have learned anything over these past 11 months, it’s to be flexible. So, as I share a mission trip update, I ask that you continue to be flexible with the Youth Ministry Team as we begin planning for our 2021 Youth Mission Trips. 
 
Dates have been set for both the Jr. High and High School Mission Trips. I have spoken with both of our mission partners, and they are confident that they will be having groups this summer. I have also made a change to the number of mission trips, so that we don’t overschedule the summer, once families are able to travel again. I hope by getting these dates out now, you will be able to plan around them to ensure your child will be able to attend. 
 
The High School Trip will be to Hazard, and the dates are July 11-16. At this time, I do not have a cost, but the site has ensured me we can bring 35-40 youth.  
 
The Middle School Trip will be to Lexington, and the dates are June 26-July 1. At this time, I do not have a cost, but the site has ensured me we can bring 25-30 youth. 
 
I also am making a change on who is able to attend these trips. In the past we have always had students rising into 9th grade attend the High School Mission Trip. If we continued that this year, my Jr. High Mission Trip would be all first-time students, given we did not have a mission trips last year. This causes me concern because I will lack the leadership from those who have attended and are older. So, this year our Jr. High Trip will be for rising 7th, 8th, and 9th graders. For our rising 9th grade youth, this will be their first time to Lexington, and I wouldn’t want them to miss out. They will also still get four high school trips. So, this means our High School Mission Trip will be for those who have graduated this year or are entering 10th, 11th, and 12th grade. 
 
More information will be coming next week. I hope to have a deadline for sign-ups and a cost for each trip. I appreciate your patience and look forward to a summer of service with the youth of Geist Christian Church. 
 

The ABC’s of Mission Trip 3

ABCs of Mission Trip 3 by Jeff Crague

A is for attitude…amazing, positive, and caring

B is for bug spray…a necessity during our work on farms and in gardens

C is for Cinderella…we saw a wonderful production at the Muny in Forest Park

D is for donuts…Kyle brought some from Worlds’s Fair Donuts

E is for emergency room…we had a slight scare, but fortunately everything is okay

F is for foosball…we had fun playing human foosball with our new friends in the community

G is for go…always on the go!

H is for heat…and humidity!

I is for Italian food…who knew that Kyle was such a great chef…he showed some of the youth some good cooking methods

J is for Jackson…both of them

K is for Kyle…Pastor Kyle does an awesome job!

L is for laughter…the youth spent a lot of time in laughter and fellowship on this trip

M is for Mia…we celebrated her birthday on the trip

N is for nice…which describes all of the youth and all of our new friends that we made

O is for odd…food combinations tried by Kyle…like a vanilla Oreo with hot sauce and bread and butter pickle (and it’s really not half bad)

P is for Pappy’s BBQ…voted the best BBQ in the Lou and a great treat on Wednesday

Q is for quantity…mass quantities of food were consumed

R is for rest…which is well deserved after this trip

S is for St. Louis…the site of our mission work this week

T is for Ted Drewes…a St. Louis icon known for its frozen custard

U is for unique…which describes the opportunity that the youth have on mission trips and all of their personalities

V is for victory…winning at card games was a source of pride during the trip

W is for weeds…large quantities of weeds were pulled this week

X is for xtra…a theme for some on this trip

Y is for youth…the youth are a great group and do extraordinary things!

Z is for zoo…no trip to St. Louis is complete without a visit

Fun Day

This was my first mission trip and we did lots of service, but today was our last day so we got a break. We went to the City Museum this morning and I think it was a really neat experience. We climbed through tunnels, up ladders, and through caves. We also slid down some pretty cool slides. I think I made a lot of neat new friendships with people from GCC and others, and I made existing friendships even stronger.

-Mia Schiesser