You Have Got To Be Kidding Me....

At the end of March in the year 2000 the youth of the Union Church of Hinsdale left on their annual Spring Break mission trip called Work Tour.   You can see the team assembled above, in the parking lot of the church just before departure.  I was so excited about the trip.  I had only been at the church a couple of weeks, and this would give me such a great opportunity to get to know the students faster and on a much deeper level than would have otherwise been possible.  I was also excited by the size of the group.  Given what I had been told about the lack of participation in youth events, I expected much smaller.  I hated leaving Marilyn and Will behind in a new place so soon after their arrival, but I knew Mary McKenzie and others from UC would look after them.  It was time to hit the road!

We were headed to Dungannon, VA, a tiny depressed little town located in the Appalachian mountains just across the border from Tennessee.  This was the third time (in 20 years) UC had sent a Work Tour to Dungannon, and the youth were very excited to be going.  It would take us two days of driving; we were spending the night at another UCC church along the way- although not actually on the way as it turned out.  It was really strange to be on a youth trip as a driver- that was really my only role.  I was there, but not in charge.  It was weird.  It quickly got weirder.  Here are a few of the moments from the first day that left me questioning everything about my new ministry:

You Have Got To Be Kidding Me #1-  The trip got off to a bad start because there was no CD player in my van, so I couldn't begin the trip with the traditional playing of Bohemian Rhapsody.  Still everything seemed like a normal youth trip- until...  The language on the van I was driving was atrocious.  Swear words were flying left and right, and when I asked the students to watch their language, I was greeted with blank stares.  Clearly this was not an issue to them- or to the other adults in the van.  I am not a prude about language, but I did (and do) believe that a mission trip in Jesus' name was not the place for it.  I quickly volunteered to drive the cargo van so I could be alone.  I needed some solitude.

You Have Got To Be Kidding Me #2-  After being on the road for just over an hour, we stopped at a rest area for a potty break.  It seemed like too soon for a stop to me, but it was no big deal.  Until...  The vans unloaded and no less than 4 of my new youth immediately lit up cigarettes.  I sat in my van in stunned disbelief.  Nothing was said to them; in fact, it became clear they were a part of the reason we stopped.  Again, this was not only acceptable behavior to the other adults, it seemed expected.  I pulled David Knecht (who was the trip's primary leader) aside and asked him what the deal was.  I was told a long story about the history of the trip and given reasons why nothing had been done about the language or the smoking.  I told him that when we got to Dungannon the group WOULD be talking about appropriate behavior.  He seemed excited that I was so willing to take a stand.

You Have Got To Be Kidding Me #3-  The first time we stopped for a meal I sat at a table with a few of my new students and started asking them questions about previous Work Tours.  I asked them about the size of the group, and they told me that the mission trip was the biggest event of the year, always drawing far more youth than an average Discovery.  I was impressed that missions were so important to the group, until...one of the guys told me that the reason more people went on Work Tour was because it looked good on college applications. It had little to do with faith and service for some of the participants.  It was about brownie points.  At this point, depression was setting in...

We drove an hour out of our way to get about 5 hours of sleep on the floor of a church (seemed odd, but hey, it was free) before continuing on to Dungannon.  I was no longer excited.  I just wanted to go home.  Fortunately, God was about to take over and turn the trip upside down.  It would turn out to be an awesome mission trip.  Those stories begin Friday.

Because of Jesus,