Youth Group Trip to the Adirondacks

The First Presbyterian Church of Matawan Youth Group sent eleven high school students and three adult leaders (Diane Ferry, Pat Cashin, and Nicole Spadafino) up to the Adirondacks for a summer mission trip in July. Don and Sara Day hosted the group at Daybreak, their wooded, four-acre homestead in Chester, New York. (Mailing address is North Creek) The group worked on several local mission projects in coordination with the pastor of the nearby Grace Bible Fellowship.

The youth group drove to upstate New York in a rented van on Saturday 18 July. Don and Sara made their way from Matawan in their family station wagon a day or two earlier. With only five bedrooms at Daybreak, Don thought they might have to put the boys up in the barn, but things worked out that everyone could sleep in the house. The barn was relegated to the group's morning yoga routine. The youth group had nightly Bible readings and discussion, as well as daily morning prayers after yoga.

On Sunday 19 July, the youth group attended worship at Grace Bible Fellowship, where the pastor's sermon focused on that week's recently completed Vacation Bible School. The chancel was covered with art boards telling various Bible stories. After church, the pastor fixed hamburgers for the youth group. After the cookout, the youth group went for a welcome swim at a local watering hole.

On Monday 20 July, the youth group met at the church at 8 am. The pastor and his wife and three children live in a manse right next door to the church. The pastor and his roughly 9-year-old son worked on all the projects.

The first job was for a pastor with a heart condition and his wife. They had a wrap-around porch that needed painting, plus a slope covered with 6-foot logs and tree limbs from the recent clearing of land leading down to a pond. Clearing the hill involved tying ropes to the ends of the logs, then manually pushing them up to level ground while others pulled the ropes. I hear that Pat did a lot of the pushing. Don says the neighbors have been encouraged to come by for firewood.

The second job was another porch that needed painting. This was for a woman who was recently widowed and was having difficulty making ends meet. The group got half the job done on Monday, then Don and a couple of the youth finished up on Wednesday morning.

The third job involved adding a pitched roof to a house trailer belonging to a husband and wife and infant child. The couple were missionaries heading to southeast China in two weeks to teach English (and spread the Gospel as much as the Chinese authorities will allow). The trailer had a flat roof that might cave in under the pressure of winter snows, so the youth installed joists across the top of the trailer to increase the pitch of a new roof. The missionaries spoke to the youth group over lunch about their planned trip to China. (I don't know if they are part of this particular program, but if you want to see an example of Christian mission work that is linked to English language training in China, see the Antioch School of Missions.)

The fourth job involved cleaning the windows at the church and putting the story boards away. Don says the Bible stories were illustrated by an amazing artist in the church. Don was disappointed that the Praise Band couldn't perform while the youth group was there, but the Vacation Bible School materials occupied the space where the band would normally set up. Maybe next year, if the youth group breaks its rule of never repeating a mission trip destination?

The youth group found time to visit Lake George and have some fun. The youth group Facebook site has plenty of photos of the trip. The picture at the very top of this article shows some crack shots at the arcade.

Don told me that the youth group worked amazingly well together, apparently because they get along so well. Don and Sara were both struck by how well organized they were and how discipline was simply never an issue. Well, there was the Silly Stringing of the pastor on his birthday. . .

Write me and let me know you're interested in writing your own FPC-related blog articles now and then and I'll sign you up as an author on the blog.