Chicago Mission Trip 2023 - Entry 1

From Emily Shubilla

I decided to keep a journal of our daily happenings for our 2023 youth mission trip. I was inspired to do so, in part, by the late Wayne Fast who was an information collector and avid reporter. I discovered at his funeral that he required his children to journal their vacations; although, I don’t think review and criticism of work was part of the assignment. Mr. Fast just seemed to know the importance of observing and listening to the world around you and sharing it with others- anything worth doing is worth writing about.

We leave for the mission trip tomorrow. Four leaders and seven youth are travelling to Chicago together. For some of us, including me, this is our first mission trip. Volunteerism has always been a big part of my life. I like helping people a lot. I have taught kids everything from ABCs to banking, planted flowers, painted fences, hosted drives to collect school supplies and more to give back to the communities that I have been blessed to be a part of.  This time though, is a little different. I am not only doing the work for others and with others, but for God. I am excited to walk beside the leaders and youth of our church in God’s name. I can tell them the importance of doing God’s work until I am blue in the face, but when I walk the walk, act with them, and show them the connection between mission and Jesus, it hits a little differently.