Last weekend our middle and high school youth weathered the cold and enjoyed their Winter Retreat at Camp Timber-Lee. Attending were Natalie Anderson, Preston and Addison Meyer, Josh Morris, and Matt and Megan Schatz and their hearty chaperones, Sue and Brad Meyer and Kyle Jones.

The picture above is from the 2019 high school mission trip to the Virginia/West Virginia border. There, Calvary high school students joined other students from across the country to serve the local community by doing light construction work on homes in the area. They repainted houses, they tore down and rebuilt porches and wheelchair ramps, and they even recoated roofs of mobile homes.

They grew in relationships with each other, with the other students they met, and with the residents they served, most of whom are no longer able to do or afford repairs to their homes. They also spent intentional time in God's word and in worship and grew in their faith.

Every year at Calvary we set aside one of the Missions of the Month for student and youth missions. The high school mission trip is a transformative experience for the students who participate. But the cost of an average mission trip can be steep. Calvary has always tried to minimize the cost to families, but to do that takes a congregation of people willing to support students. And Calvary is one of those congregations.

The registration fee for the mission trip this year is $468 per participant (students and adults). We ask parents to pay $250 of that and Calvary aims to cover the rest to make it possible for as many students as possible to participate. While the fee covers food, lodging, and a myriad of other things while we're on location, the overall cost of a mission trip also includes vehicle rental, gas, hotel rooms, and meals while we travel to and from our place of service. It can cost upwards of $8,000 to take 10 people (8 students and 2 adults) on a mission trip. This year's trip will be to Gilbert, South Carolina from June 18 - 27, 2021.

The students of Calvary are blessed to be members of a congregation that firmly believes that money should not be an obstacle for students called to serve God and their neighbors on a mission trip. As the Director of Faith Formation, I cannot thank you enough for praying for and supporting our students and providing them opportunities to grow in faith through service.

So please remember that when you give to the February Mission of the Month in support of youth missions you are providing more than an opportunity to better the lives of the individuals and communities our students serve, but providing a chance for them to grow ever closer to the God who draws them near in baptism and forgives their sins again and again through the blood of his Son.

In Christ,

Kyle G. Jones

To support this important Mission for the Month, you may include it in your weekly offering envelope or designate the donation as "Mission of the Month" in your online giving.