By David Fleet
Editor
Two churches—one mission.
Last month, five youths from Ortonville and Mt. Bethel United Methodist churches, accompanied by OUMC Pastor Brian Johnson and Mt. Bethel Pastor Leah Caron set off on a five day mission 400 miles southeast to serve in the community of Charleston, W.V.
“Pastor Brian and I were really excited to get them out of their comfort zones and see how other people live outside of metro Detroit and especially outside of the rural areas of Ortonville and Oxford,” said Caron.
The trip was coordinated by Youthwork who partner with organizations already at work serving the needs of people within communities. Services include working the elderly, children, individuals with special needs, the homeless or in transition, hands-on labor with food banks, community gardens or neighborhood revitalization projects. Funds for the mission were supplied by both churches. The local group was hosted by First Presbyterian Church in the historic district of Charleston—a city of about 50,000 in the northwest corner of West Virginia. The local group joined other youth from  Illinois, California and New York on the mission.
“Youthworks put on evening worship with the week’s theme taken from Jesus’ story of the Good Samaritan — not where, but who?” said Johnson. “Not if, but how? Each group had time to discern the day’s events and how they experienced Jesus in new ways.”

They had many teachable moments, new experiences, saw difficult life situations, and served not only with their hands, but with their hearts, added Johnson.
“I know they are all better for it and that it will have a forever impact on their lives,” he said. “The local group participated in two Charleston summer school programs for struggling families with kids — they played games, read books and danced.”
Kayleigh Bowen was one of the five youth who participated in the mission.
“It made me realize just how much the little thing really mean to people,” said Bowen. “A lot of us take the little things for granted, if you pay close attention they mean a lot.”
In addition, they served at a Union Mission which offers help for the homeless, housing and programs for those struggling with addictions, and a thrift store with a variety of things at reasonable prices.
“The consignment shop helped pay for their other programs like men and women’s rehabilitation for addictions,” said Caron. “This place was very humble and honest. The CEO who used to be a pastor came and sat with us and truly got to know us before we worked. You could tell he was passionate about his program and truly wanted to help people who were struggling with addictions and poverty. It’s a nonprofit with lots of programs.”
They helped to beautify the small town of Dunbar, working with a couple who make it their mission to clean up its many garden landscape sites which are neglected by the city.
Caron emphasized the goal of the mission, to serve and learn a bit about how much God loves each of us, even though we come from different places.
“Somewhere out there is probably a group of students from West Virginia coming to serve in Michigan,” she said. “It was about getting away from our normal home life and learning about God while serving others.”
“I was really proud of the group of kids that we were blessed to lead on that mission trip,” she said. “The people we met and the ways our students interacted with them as God’s children was truly a blessing to witness. They just wanted to bring smiles to the kids’ faces and serve people in our limited time with them. They left filled with excitement about not only what they would experience, but in being able to share the love of Jesus by serving as he taught.”
Madayn Ball, a local youth who attended the mission reflected on the experience.
“Seeing people doing good things and given all that is going on in the world (today), we (all) saw a glimmer of hope,” she said.