This Trip Was Special, As We All Got to Work at One Location All Week Long! Our Worksite

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On Monday, July 6, 30 youth converged in the church parking lot to head down to Galveston for five days of service for the youth summer mission trip. We loaded the bus and hit the road!

This trip was special, as we all got to work at one location all week long! Our worksite was St. Vincent’s House, a social service agency on Galveston Island, and a part of the Episcopal Diocese of Texas. Our work for the week was primarily painting. We painted the floor of the preschool, repainted the mural on the floor of the pavilion, painted a circle of concrete that will become a splash pad for the preschoolers, and painted the sidewalk of the “Hope Mile”. The Hope Mile is a two and a half block path, much of it is painted with bright colors and encouraging words. Each person that is helped by St. Vincent’s House is asked to walk the mile, or at least a portion of it, as a chance to look inward and think about their life path.

We enjoyed free time on the beach and the Historical Strand district. Our group cooked their own meals and got to know each other better than ever.

The whole week was very bittersweet for me as my final mission trip. Fr. Chuck came down Friday evening for a beautiful Eucharist service on the beach, a wonderful service that ended in all the emotions (lots of tears), but was quite possibly one of the sweetest and most heartwarming experiences I’ve ever had on a mission trip.

We ended our time in Galveston with a fun trip to Schlitterbahn! We rode the rides and wore ourselves out for the ride home!

Thank you to all the parents that sent their sweet youth with me for a week. Thank you to the congregation that supported this trip through flower purchases, bake sale goodies, and carwash donations! We couldn’t make these trips happen without you.

And thank you so much to the adults that joined me on my final trip. It was a wonderful crew of adults, with quite a few first timers in the mix! So many thanks to Mark Felton, Joe LaBorde, Wes Lloyd, Keith Mikeska, Jennifer Mikeska, Suzy Nettles and Mary Wentworth. And to all your families for giving you up for a week while you spent time with St. Paul’s EYC!