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Native American Trip Highlights Newsletter Activity
CHICAGO, IL (September 18, 2004) - Beverly Covenant Church in Chicago recently
sent a team of four adults and 10 youth to serve residents of a Native
American reservation in Pine Ridge, South Dakota.
The team stayed in nearby Rushville, Nebraska. Team members included
Tony, Shelly, Katy and Bobby Churchill; Ken and Dennis Gray, Jeni and
Jaclyn
Christ, Vanessa and Jackie Davis, Amy Lang, Kim Deering, Paul Heywood
and Doug Lesch. The team spent its time painting houses, coordinating
children's programs and pursuing opportunities to gain a better cultural
understanding of Native American culture in both Pine Ridge and
Whiteclay, Nebraska. YouthWorks was a co-sponsor of the mission work.
Young people in many Evangelical Covenant Church congregations have been
busy with mission and service projects as reflected in the more than 250
local church newsletters reviewed each month by the Department of
Communication. Following are some of those activities, grouped by
conference and region.
CENTRAL
- Rockford, Illinois: Broadway Covenant Church sent a team of teens to
Mexico for a mission trip via Youthworks, a parachurch organization. The
group helped with roofing and repair work to homes and did youth
ministry with local children while participating
in the local church's worship services.
EAST COAST
- North Attleboro, Massachusetts: The Evangelical Covenant Church of
Attleboro was blessed by a student from a La Coruna, Spain, Covenant
congregation this summer as Gisel Zapata spent two months helping the
church's worship leading and participating in Vacation Bible School,
among other things. She also helped a volunteer from a Riverside (RI)
Covenant congregation lead worship at a local prison and served at
Pilgrim Pines Conference Center in West Swanzey, New Hampshire, as a
servant-in-training.
- Bedford, New Hampshire: Bethany Covenant Church sent a mission team
to Mazatenango, Guatemala, from July 18-28 to help run 10 Vacation Bible
School programs for 1,000 children. Team members included: Jen Anthony,
Kristen Ferwerda, Joan and Justin Green, Tim Messina, Christen and Russ
Sheibler, Brian and Keith
Wallin and Laura Veckerelli. According to a newsletter report, the
settings were diverse – ranging from a small jungle area with dirt
flooring to a city building where we were televised. The group worked
through Sowers International and hosts Troy Jones,
Javier Celis and Jairo Soberanis.
- Riverside, Rhode Island: The Evangelical Covenant Church of
Riverside has a few young people involved in some type of mission work,
according to recent newsletter reports. Sarah Cowan is serving for
InterVarsity Christian Fellowship at Wheaton College in Norton,
Massachusetts. And Brittany Ross recently completed a year's assignment
in Chicago with a Mission Year team.
NORTH PACIFIC
- Bellingham, Washington: Bellingham Covenant Church took 22 people on
a one-week mission trip sponsored in part by Youth Unlimited Gospel
Outreach (YUGO). They
served Iglesia Christiana, a small congregation located in central
Tijuana, with a Vacation Bible School program and with some construction
projects, said Wayne Youngquist in a church newsletter report. Said one
student about the experience, "God showed us
in many ways how important prayer is – how prayer is, in fact, the real
work of the ministry." Another participant said, "The thing that stood
out most to me was the change in our students' attitudes (in sharing
their faith)...God showed me how He had worked in the hearts of the
students, developing in them a desire to share their faith in order to
bring others to Christ."
- Olympia, Washington: Grace Community Covenant Church sent a junior
high mission team to Yakima Indian Reservation (they painted houses and
worked with local
children) and sent a senior high group to Loma Linda, Mexico, during
recent months, stated its church newsletter. The church also donated
money to a congregation in Mexico to help them plant a church there.
NORTHWEST
- Minneapolis, Minnesota: Bethlehem Covenant Church's Alaya Diamond
was cast as Annabelle in "The Tale of Three Threes" on August 18. The
event was held at the
Bethlehem Child Care Center. Diamond had a solo as part of the performance.
- Willmar, Minnesota: First Covenant Church took a youth group to
Chicago for a mission work in the city.
PACIFIC SOUTHWEST
- Concord, California: Crossroads Covenant Church sent more than 40
individuals to serve in mission work during the summer, including 19
youth working in San Vicente, Mexico, with an outreach under the
leadership of Dan Valloton. Meanwhile, 28 people (including eight youth)
served in Ensenada, Mexico, with pastor Mario Cortez. Others involved in
mission projects included Kerin and Nicole Jensen and Bonnie Chalmers
and Mattie Dirato (Young Life) and Kristie Koll (Campus Crusade for
Christ), who served a summer in Ulan Ude, Siberia, helping run an
English camp, sports programs and doing
evangelism and outreach events in villages and orphanages.
To keep abreast of what ministry work Covenant youth and young adults
are doing throughout the world, regularly visit this online Covenant
news report at www.covchurch.org. To send information for consideration
in this report, email Covenant Communications at newsdesk@covchurch.org.
Copyright © 2008 The Evangelical Covenant Church. |
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