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The recent CAST Blast was a tremendous success, showcasing the vibrant relationships forming between our students and adults. It was heartening to witness the connections being nurtured, which are crucial for shaping the future generations of CAST.
Our adults are setting a powerful example that our students aspire to emulate. In addition to celebrating these relationships, we honored Ken Brunner's legacy by establishing a scholarship in his name. Your support in donating to this cause will help us continue his impactful work.
As I reflect on our summer CAST Student experiences, I am confident they will leave lasting impressions. Aliquippa and Wildside are not just settings, but transformative environments where relationships and experiences intersect, creating lasting change in the lives of our students.
With gratitude,
Sonja White
Executive Director
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This year, CAST took 16 high school students, 1 brave middle schooler and 4 young adult leaders to serve in Aliquippa, PA, a community in need of some extra love. We spent our two days there building relationships with families, painting, landscaping, playing with neighborhood kids and praying with members of the Aliquippa community while on prayer walks. Our nights were spent eating good food, hiking, hanging out by the lake and reflecting on all the amazing ways we were seeing God move each day. | |
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Before leaving for Aliquippa, we had so many hopes and prayers for our students. We prayed that students would walk into the weekend with open hearts and hands ready to serve, we prayed for safety and fun, we prayed that relationships between each other would strengthen, and most importantly we prayed that students would get to know Jesus while serving in Aliquippa.
Little did we know that God would find a way to answer all of these prayers...and then some!
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One of the coolest things I got to experience while in Aliquippa this year was the real and honest conversations I got to have with students about the "big things." Around the campfire one evening, I had the opportunity to check in with two of our students who I knew had bravely come on this faith filled mission trip to serve, despite coming from backgrounds very different from mainstream Christianity. It was during this simple late night chat that I learned that this trip had "changed how they viewed Christians.” The students expressed that they were "surprised and so thankful that everyone who had come on the trip (even the other churches) had been so kind, welcoming and accepting of differences.” Hearing how our trip made such a big and life changing impact for these students was the biggest "win" I could have asked for! We often talk about "seeds planted", "walls coming down" and "spiritual growth that we might not see during our time with students"...simply put...seeds were planted and walls came down while in Aliquippa this summer. -Taylor McCarthy, Student CAST Coordinator. | |
Visiting Mrs. Annette
A sweet moment where our students learned they can be an answer to a prayer.
For our students who attended last year’s missions trip, making time to visit Mrs. Annette was a must! Having formed a special bond with her in Aliquippa last summer, we knew that the trip would not be complete without a hug from Mrs. Annette. Little did we know that our quick visit would leave such a big impact on both Mrs. Annette and our students.
Zariyah, one of our student leaders, texted Mrs. Annette Saturday morning to see if she would be home and open to receiving visitors. Little did we know that Mrs. Annette had just prayed the night before that God would send someone from outside her community to help.
Having found herself in a difficult situation and needing prayer... God answered her prayer and sent four high school students from Ohio to visit her the very next day! Our students were able to visit with Mrs. Annette and put into practice their one sentence prayers as they stood and prayed with Mrs. Annette on her front porch.
This was such a powerful moment for our students as they realized that God had used them to answer Mrs. Annette's prayer!
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One sentence prayers are one of the many tools that RippleFX uses to teach students that talking to Jesus is easy. On every Ripple FX trip, students are encouraged to pray, out loud, one sentence. This happens every hour, on the hour and students only get one pass for the entire weekend! This hourly practice teaches students that they can always talk to Jesus. | Nick, hugging Mrs. Annette goodbye at the end of our visit last summer! | |
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5 Star Trip!
"This is my second year attending Aliquippa and it just continues to get better! Not only is the food amazing, but being able to go out and volunteer in a community you aren't familiar with gives you a sense of things outside of your comfort zone. An amazing experience!"-Nick Sharp, 12th Grade CAST Co-President
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5 Star Trip!
"The Aliquippa Mission Trip was awesome. I had a great time hanging out with friends and meeting new people. Definitely a trip you should go on." -Zaryiah Williams, 11th Grade CAST Co-President
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4.5 Star Trip!
"I had a wonderful time on the Aliquippa Trip! I've never been out of state before, so it was the perfect opportunity to experience another state. I highly recommend this trip!" -Oliver Wilkes, 11th Grade Student Leader
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5 Start Trip!
"The Aliquippa trip was very exciting and definitely a new experience. I really enjoyed myself while in Aliquippa and made a ton of new friends. The community was nice and friendly. If you are someone who likes outdoors, I would highly recommed." -Davie Dabney, 11th Grade CAST Student
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5 Star Trip!
"The Aliquippa Mission Trip was a great experience. Through the trip I was able to create many lifelong memories with my friends and was able to meet many amazing people! It was awesome to see the smiles of the families when they would see the finished product of their home!" -Taylor Burton, 11th Grade CAST Student
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5 Star Trip!
"Aliquippa cleansed my mind and my soul. The beautiful mountains coupled with the wonderful people and eye opening experiences made me appreciate the beauty of life." Tooba Sindhu, 12th Grade CAST Co-President
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CAST BLAST
This year’s annual CAST Blast lived up to its name in all the best ways! Friends, food, and the Ice Cream Truck...we simply could not think of another way to celebrate another year of Caring and Serving Together. Thank you to everyone who came out and made this evening such a special night.
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The Ken Brunner Scholarship
The Ken Brunner Scholarship is established to honor the legacy of Ken Brunner, a dedicated Early College High School Principal who deeply values CAMP and CAST programming. This scholarship aims to recognize the CAMP student who demonstrates exceptional commitment through their service hours with CAST, embodying Ken Brunner's belief in the potential of his students to make a positive impact in their community. By rewarding the student with the most serving hours, the scholarship celebrates both their dedication to service and Ken Brunner's legacy of fostering student excellence.
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Habitat Build 2024
During this year’s CAST Blast, we were excited to announce that CAST will be participating in the Habitat for Humanity Faith Build this summer! We are thrilled to once again be building with alongside Habitat! We can not wait to see our adults and students working together at our upcoming build dates!
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Five Star Trip!
"Wildside was a very fun experience! This was my second year and I can proudly say that Wildside gets better each year. I made a lot of memories and friends" -Alania Thorne, 11th Grade Student Leader
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5 Star Trip!
"Wildside was great. I had an amazing time on work crew! It was a lot of fun even through I was working"-Zaryiah Williams, 11th Grade CAST Vice President
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Just one quick week after we arrived home from Aliquippa, three of our student leaders headed off to Wildside to participate on the "work crew". As part of work crew, High School students spend 7 whole days volunteering on average 9-10 hours each day! Simply put..Wildside is WILD...but our CAST leaaders handled the long days like champs!
The days are long but the rewards are so worth it...middle schoolers meet Jesus while at camp...high school leaders meet Jesus while at camp..seeds were planted this year at camp... leaders grew this year at camp.
We are so thankful for our friends at RippleFX for always welcoming our CAST students into their family, training them up to be young leaders and encouraging them to build a personal relationship with Jesus.
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5 Star Trip!
Wildside, true to its name, was a very wild week but I enjoyed every second of it! I got to experience new friendships and create bonds with middle school students. Overall it was a very exciting experience! -Nick Sharp, 12th Grade CAST Co-President
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We still have open spots for Blessing Boot Camp! Do you know a student going into the 4th-8th grade looking for something fun to do in July? Use the QR code to sign them up for camp! | | | | |
