Church youth travel to the South on mission trips

Leaving the familiar surroundings of DuPage County for summer mission trips challenged and inspired local youth and their adult leaders from Wheaton Bible Church and Grace Lutheran Church in Glen Ellyn.

More than 150 teens and adults associated with Wheaton Bible Church traveled to Alabama for Project Serve to help out in five communities. At least two of the groups volunteered to assist with rebuilding churches that had been burned by arsonists.

At Galilee Baptist Church in Panola, Ala., a Wheaton Bible team helped lay carpet, stain doors, paint, insulate and complete other finishing projects for a new building. The former church was burned to the ground in February 2006, and the congregation has been holding services in a trailer.

The churches there remain very segregated, and residents weren't accustomed to help from others, said Doug Kimball, a Wheaton Warrenville South High School senior and team leader at Galilee Baptist.

"I was amazed at how thankful they were for our work," Kimball said. "It's not very often that they receive this type of help."

The contrast with suburban living was stark. Panola is very isolated, with the nearest grocery story and high school 20 miles away. Living conditions in this area southwest of Birmingham, Ala., are very poor, Kimball added.

The visitors admittedly experienced some culture shock as they witnessed the effects of segregation.

"There isn't much interaction with whites in the area," said Mark Nelson, youth pastor at Wheaton Bible. "Reaching across racial lines, we're much more used to that here."

The experience included worshipping with the congregation, sharing music and enjoying a barbecue after church.

"We immediately felt a part of their community -- people here (Wheaton) don't give big hugs like that, even in our church," Nelson said.

The work at all five church sites included conducting vacation Bible school in the evenings and performing work in the host communities. In one town, the teens found themselves painting fire hydrants.

"We tried to partner with the churches to reach out into the communities with projects like tutoring, maintenance, whatever they needed," Nelson said.

Kimball and Nelson traveled with other leaders to the area last winter to find work sites. The annual mission experience spans two weeks and involves about 25 teens per location.

"The purpose is to work in a Christian ministry, to partner with churches in what they need us to do," Nelson said.

For details about Project Serve, call Nelson at (630) 260-1600.

Another mission trip to the south involved Grace Lutheran Church members, who traveled to New Orleans to continue rebuilding work from Hurricane Katrina.

Diane Lombardi, director of youth ministries, accompanied her two daughters, Liz and Emily, both 17, along with Kimberly Foster, 16, to a work site in St. Bernard Parish. They were part of a larger group from Ohio that stayed at a Salvation Army location.

"I was shocked by the destruction that's still there," Lombardi said. "Driving around the neighborhood, we didn't see any grocery stores or other businesses that were open. I was shocked that there continues to be so much need."

The group performed work on a recreation center and a duplex residence down the street. Despite the heat, Lombardi was impressed by the enthusiasm of the teens.

"The kids worked so hard, they were so motivated," she said. "There's still going to be 10 to 15 years of work there to rebuild, but I wouldn't have understood that until I saw it for myself."