Local youth raising funds for mission trip
At Faith Community Church in Red Oak, their heartbeat is missions, according to Connie MacDonald, Director of Youth Ministry.
So, on a mission trip they will go.
MacDonald and her husband, Rev. David, are taking 17 youth members of the congregation on a week-long mission trip to the Dominican Republic in June.
“It’s the first time we’re taking a group of young people,” MacDonald said. “It’s also the first time we’ll be going to this location, although we’ve personally participated in many mission trips before.”
MacDonald said multiple members of the church congregation participate in their own mission trips through other organizations, and the church itself has sponsored trips in the past for adults to Guatemala and Ecuador but not in several years.
This trip has been organized by “Envision,” a short term mission arm of the Christian Missionary Alliance, the denomination of which Faith Community is a part.
In the Dominican Republic, which is located southeast of Cuba on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean, the group will stay in Santiago with Richard and Tammy Romano, who have been missionaries for about 25 years, hosting more than 80 other service groups.
The youth will spend their mornings helping to build a dormitories for a camp and afternoons participating in Vacation Bible School. Music events and sporting events are also planned.
“We especially want to reach out to the local youth,” said MacDonald, “and to those who have no church.”
Trip participant Jody Vanderholm said the mission work is something she’s excited about.
“I’m excited about it,” Vanderholm said. “We’ll get to experience going to another country and seeing how things are there. I’m hoping we can help them out and see how things improve because of our trip.”
A trip of this kind comes with a high price tag. The total cost is around $31,000, or around $1,500 per person, including airfare. One-hundred dollars of each students’ cost, though, goes toward building materials for the mission work.
Each of the participating students is expected to raise as much money as possible on their own and to do so, the church has and will continue to sponsor optional fundraising events.
During the weekend, the church hosted a flea market, where trip participants could set up their own booths to sell items. MacDonald said a total of about $500 was raised during the weekend. However, the group is still $14,000 shy of their goal.
Other fundraisers including calendar and lasagna sales have also been held, and MacDonald said they are planning more events to raise money including a potato bar during lunchtime on Palm Sunday and a coffee shop event in late April.
To donate to the mission trip fund, checks can be mailed to Faith Community Church at 2701 N. 8th St. with “Dominican Mission Trip” in the memo line. Funds can be donated to a specific student or the group as a whole.
“We believe this will be a valuable experience for the kids,” said MacDonald. “The youth in our youth group are really motivated to serve, more service-driven than I’ve often seen in the past. In general, I think kids want to matter, to make a difference. Every time I raise the bar they surprise me.... no, not really. I know they can. But they surprise themselves. I always tell them, ‘I knew you could. I told you so.’”