By: Heather Kenison, Diocesan Youth Minister
June 3-10 we had our first Diocesan Youth Mission Trip in more than four years. Led by Heather Kenison, Canon Brendan O-Sullivan Hale, and Tyler Regnier, a group of thirteen people spent the week serving and learning about the city of New Orleans.
Our youth first met each other two weeks before the trip at a pre-trip overnight retreat. Participants come from five different churches across the diocese, but it didn’t take long for the group to become comfortable with one another.
We worked with a missions organization called Wonder Voyage, which coordinated the serving and experiences for the trip. Our youth showed up to each service project eager to serve. Some of the projects were more social – like creating a Kids Club program through Youth with a Mission, where the students chose and taught on a scripture passage related to humility. Other projects were more hands-on, like clearing a garden bed full of weeds at RENEW Schools, painting fences at Levees.org, and clearing invasive plant species at Barataria Preserve.
The group was blessed with the opportunity to discover the city of New Orleans. We visited several historic landmarks, including the Katrina Museum, and one of the locations of a major levee breach. Our students learned about Hurricane Katrina and its long-term impacts on the city. This helped them connect their service work to the history of the city and its ongoing efforts to heal.
Our group also experienced some of the joy that New Orleans has to offer! We visited Preservation Hall to hear jazz music performed by four-generation musicians. We had beignets twice – a favorite of the group – and visited the Audubon Aquarium. Mission trip students were split into three teams who were each given a budget and the task of cooking dinner one night during our stay. They brought creativity, leadership, and excellence to each of the meals they made.
There were many holy moments on our trip. Each day, our students led Morning and Evening Prayer by splitting up pieces of the services and making it their own. On our last night together, we had a special “Remembering Your Baptism” service. Students each received an olive wood comfort cross from the Holy Land. As they immersed the cross into a basin of water, they named something new about themselves as a result of the trip. As they raised the cross from the water, the rest of the group laid hands upon them and prayed a blessing or said affirmations over them. It was a powerful ending to the trip and marked a spiritual milestone for many of our youth.
As we relaunch diocesan youth ministry, this mission trip was a perfect first step. The group of young people who participated is full of leaders who are eager to serve and are unafraid to use their voices to point out injustices. We were able to form relationships with one another that can build a foundation for diocesan-wide events and ministry in the future. We are excited about what is to come, and we invite you to pray for us. If you’d like to know how you can get involved, reach out to Heather Kenison.
