Today we had our second meeting for our mission trip to Tijuana, Mexico!! We found out who was in our work groups as well as more important dates for the trip. I am joining the juniors and seniors in the youth group as well as several adults and our youth leaders on going on a mission trip to Tijuana, Mexico. This trip is with an organization called World Vision. World Vision is one of the largest Christian relief organizations in the world! Our church has been working with people in Tijuana for many years and there have been many wonderful stories and relationships that have resulted from going to Mexico. Huron Hills partners with World Vision and helps provide sponsor children as well as many different opportunities to be involved in mission work. We leave June 16th and come back the 22nd and we are going to be helping in different communities near Tijuana. Some different things we will be doing are helping build houses, community centers, stairways, walls and other things that will help improve community life.
I have not been to Tijuana, Mexico; however, I am so excited to see what God has prepared for me as I go and serve others as well as grow more in my relationship with Christ. Our goal is to build relationships with people in Mexico and show love to others while helping in the different communities. I am very much looking forward to meeting people in Mexico and getting to serve others as well as getting to grow as a youth group! I am also looking forward to being able to share different stories, experiences, and pictures with you from the trip!!
Throughout Middle School and High School, I have participated in several different outreach trips to different places in the United States such as Kansas City, Oklahoma City, Kentucky, and Detroit. On those trips, I have helped with a VBS in Oklahoma City that my church was running. There were several kids that came and they really loved playing games and singing songs and just playing with other kids, I remember seeing great big smiles as they learned how to play a new game or made crafts, and I remember hearing the different stories shared among my youth group at LSCC and how people came to have a new perspective on things. In Kansas City, I have gone to a community center and helped paint different rooms, watch toddlers and babies in the nursery at the day care, and going around different neighborhoods handing out fliers about a carnival my church was having for people to come and fellowship and have free food and go to a worship service. There, I saw several people come to know Christ and I saw my youth group at ALBC come together in prayer that we would be able to help show Christ to others. One week in Detroit, I helped paint a mural on a wall of a building alongside my youth group at Huron Hills as well as assisting with landscaping, cleaning up a park, and getting to know people in Detroit. I also remember the unity and seeing God's love among the group as we would share stories about our day, worship God, and pray with one another.
One reason why I really enjoy outreach trips is because I have been able to see how much joy and hope people have when they see kids helping out for no other reason than them wanting to serve others. Another reason I enjoy outreach trips is because each trip opens my eyes to something new and allows me to gain a different perspective on things and hear the different testimonies people have. Each trip I have been on has changed me in one way or another, they have all given me an opportunity to see God work in great ways.
As I prepare to go to Mexico along with people in my youth group, I ask that you would pray for safety as we are in Mexico, that God would prepare our hearts and help us to be lights to others, that everyone would raise the $1,000 dollars needed for the trip, and that we could share our experiences and stories with others as we come back from Mexico. I also ask that you would become a part of my team and pray for the mission trip. Also, if you feel led to donate money, I ask that you pray about it and give any amount which you feel led to give, no amount is too small to donate. Donations are tax deductible and you will receive a receipt from the church at the end of the tax year, so in December. If you are writing checks, you can make them out to "Huron Hills Church" and on the memo line, you can write "Burke-Mexico Challenge". I hope that you would join me and become a part of my team as I prepare to go to Tijuana!
Also, there are several fundraisers that may interest you:
1)
Coffee Sales- We are working with a company to raise money for the mission trip. We are selling bags of coffee for $13 each and $5 of each purchase goes towards the trip. There are different kinds of coffee and hot chocolate available, so if you are interested please contact me!
2)
Church Garage Sale-
Saturday May 5th, 2012 at Huron Hills Church!
3)
Can and Bottle Drive- I am collecting cans and bottles that can be recycled, so if you have any soda cans or bottles or glass bottles, I would be happy to pick them up or something and then use the money to go towards the mission trip!
If you would like to know more about this trip, about me going, or about Huron Hills Church and the ministry programs, feel free to contact me with any questions. Also, I shall be updating the blog as I prepare to go about different events and hopefully during the trip as well as after the trip. I will also be sending out letters after the trip about my experiences, stories, and hopefully pictures!!! Feel free to e-mail me with any thoughts, questions, or anything! My e-mail is: servehim12@gmail.com
I am so excited for this trip and I am hoping that you would join me as I prepare to go to Mexico and I hope that you feel that you are a part of my team. I pray that I would be able to include you in this very exciting opportunity that God has given me to serve others!!
Muchas Gracias,
Emily Burke
