Youth Mission

Attention Summer mission trip teams

Watch your e-mails regarding upcoming meetings.

Youth Mission Trips-2008

Our mission team has a vision. We envision a world where people are willing and able to help those who are in need. We are going to spread God’s love and mercy through deed and example, and to lend a helping hand to some of God’s less fortunate children. Our mission trips this summer are about taking steps towards that vision. In July, we are sending out two teams, one going to Eagle Ranch near Copperhill, Tennessee and the other to Good Shepherd Mission in the Diocese of Navajoland. In both locations, near & far, we plan to share our abilities through construction, outreach, and interacting daily with the people we meet. More importantly, we are going to share the awesome love and mercy that God has shared with us. We go to make a difference through our deeds and actions. We go to serve, to teach, to learn, to lead by example, and to love.

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Why Youth Mission?

Testimonials from our youth.

[COOS 2005] Do you ever wonder why Church of Our Saviour and St. Johns Chapel place so much emphasis on outreach and mission for our youth? True, they are offering hope and help to many.

COOS young people are impacting their community ... and the world. But it is also because these trips do not just change the lives of those who have a need. The youth are changed as well! Over the next few months, you are going to be hearing a lot about our 2005 Summer Mission Trips. The young people of COOS are given the wonderful opportunity of outreach through mission trips. Some of our teens who have now finished high school and are young adults can attest to the positive and enriching experience of the Mission Trip. Their reflections will be featured in the next few issues of the Word on the Riverbank and on the website and you will learn what happened to them when they answered, "Here am I, Send Me!"

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[COOS 2005] Team Honduras Raises $1500 for SAMS Missionary

Back in October, several of our college members of Team Honduras said they wanted to continue the mission work they had started with Malcolm Alexander, SAMS missionary in Tegucigalpa, Honduras and asked to perform a benefit concert on his behalf. This effort was totally organized and orchestrated by the teens, college age and young adult members of the team. It is not just an effort to support the ministry of friend in Honduras, but also demonstrates some pretty awesome leadership development by these young adults.

The benefit concert was held on Wednesday night, December 21 and was an awesome experience. They raised just over $1500 to send to SAMS (South American Missionary Society) for Malcolm’s ministry.

Thank you for your support!

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[COOS 2003] Please keep our young people who are serving in the mission field this summer in your prayers.

Did you know?

Of the just over $32,000 collected to date for Team Bolivia’s trip, 218 families inside and outside our parish contributed funds to the trip; 121 of those families and individuals noting that they had begun supporting the team in prayer beginning now and through the duration of the trip. In addition, 66 individuals and couples in our parish along with 11 couple hosts supported them in the very successful Memorable Meals for Missions contributing just over $7,000 to the overall funds collected.

Thank you for your generous financial and spiritual stewardship!!

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Mission Reflections:

“Going to Honduras made me realize that I have a lot to be thankful for. I will remember that trip for the rest of my life. The people we were helping were very touched by our efforts to assist them. The power of God was truly shown on our mission trip. Even though there were language barriers, the word of God is understood by people all over the world.”
Lori Harvey - 20, UCF

“I think the question is not how did our mission trips affect our lives, but rather how could we have not been affected by our trips to Mexico, Virginia, Tennessee and Honduras. To work hand in hand with people who had no food, no clean water, and a cardboard hut for a house and to see the love of Christ shining through as they graciously thanked us. It would be impossible to forget those trips and to forget how these poor people had nothing and loved Jesus more than I know possible.”

Billy Claytor - 22, Santa Fe Community College

"Destitute Mexican children were always saying `mas to me whenever I would play with them in my spare time or give them something that was insignificant to me personally. `Mas is one of the few Spanish words I learned in Mexico. It literally translates to ‘more’ in English. These children were in need for more love, more food, more clothes and more time to enjoy life. Here is where I understood that it is not what you have that matters; it is what you do with what you have that matters. Mission!”
Ethan Gregory, 22, recent graduate of UF

“Living in the material world of the new millennium, youth are often faced with problems and questions about wealth, love and happiness. My trips to Honduras and Mexico brought me face to face with all three. The poverty stricken and hurricane damaged countries knew nothing of material possessions because they have none, yet they were complete with their family and their love for the Lord. As a 15 year old clouded with questions, my mission trips taught me that love and happiness can be achieved, not through stuff, but community, selflessness and Christ’s hand.”

Lauren Lunsford, 21, Senior at UF

“My trip to Honduras during my first year of high school, I value as one of the greatest experiences of my life. Not only was I able to experience a part of the world that I would otherwise not be able to, but I saw the face of God in a beautiful and undeniable way that has not left my mind a day since. When I visited Cuba this past year, rather than witnessing my own change as in Honduras, I felt the change of others. I saw and am still experiencing the gradual development of new believers among the friends I made in Cuba, as a result of myself and my companion’s examples in Christ.

Honduras may have been my first opportunity to witness the undeniable presence of God, but Cuba has been my first chance to see Him entering lives of those who have not known Him, partly because of my example. It is a powerful testament to those, like me, who find themselves growing up in an environment that is more and more coming to reject the teachings of the church. These trips have given me memories and experiences that I would probably never have had. They have not only infinitely touched my life, but are truly helping me to affect the lives of others, something I never thought I could do just by loving Christ.”

Kate Shults, 19, UCF, Orlando