Long history for First Congregational UCC of Des Plaines mission trips

Summer mission trips are nothing new to First Congregational United Church of Christ (UCC) in Des Plaines. For decades the church's Pilgrim Fellowship (PF) high school youth have traveled to places like Florida and Colorado to work with developmentally challenged youth and adults. For the past eight years, adult church members and friends also have traveled to volunteer their time, working at disaster recovery sites in New Orleans, Joplin, Nashville and - closer to home - in Henryville and Washington, Illinois.

In June of 2015 and 2016, the church's adult mission trip took on a different focus as the group traveled to Sawyer, Michigan, to spend a week at the UCC Illinois conference camp. A stone's throw from Lake Michigan and Warren Dunes, Tower Hill Camp & Retreat Center has been home to countless children's and adult gatherings over the years - HUG Camp, MADD Camp, Grandparent & Me Camp, various adult and youth retreats and much more. As each year passes, new opportunities occur for maintenance and repair at Tower Hill. So, while their 2015 and 2016 trips weren't exactly "disaster recovery" missions, the First Congregational group had their work cut out for them when they offered their services for a week in June.

In their daily emailed report to fellow church members and friends, the 2016 mission group noted the following:

"I'm a part of the wood shed team. We are constructing an 8-foot by 22-foot shed with an open front and mesh back. It feels good to be back at Tower Hill, helping repair a place that my kids love so much."

"Holes! Holes! Holes! Our team augured lots of holes today and cut lots of posts to make 15 more benches around the four fire pits in the campground. Apparently, our first seven benches were so nice that they wanted us to produce more!"

"Today we were charged with preparing the archery range and soccer field for summer campers. We attached the archery shield and installed the soccer nets. After lunch, we put bunk beds together and bolted them in place in Marshall Hall for a group arriving this weekend. We did six bunks, but we still have over twenty more to do. All part of preparing the campground for the summer season."

"So, my favorite thing about working with this group is, they teach me things that I would never dream of doing. They have faith in me and trust me to do things my own husband would never believe I could do. Today we finished the roof and I got to use the nail gun all day and finished with the caps! I even filled the nail gun a gazillion times by myself. It was awesome!"

Proceeds from the church's metal recycling program helped offset mission trip expenses.

The 2016 mission team members are Anthony & Sue Almerigi, Mary Buckholtz, Don Cameron, Dave DeHart, Jim Foster, Barry Haas, Bob McCullough, Ralph Murdy, Brenda Posey, Heather Van Meenen and Rev. Francois "Co" DuToit.