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Jul 11, 2012 | Kim Johnson, Jon Henson

League City High Schoolers Take Mission Trip to San Diego

St. Chris Mission Trip San DiegoOn June 17, 12 high school students and three adults from St. Christopher's, League City, left for San Diego, California, on a mission trip that covered rural towns in the surrounding area. There were many firsts in this group. Some had never flown, others had never been to California and, for some, it was their first mission trip. The following account was taken from Kim Johnson, Christian education director and Jon Henson, youth minister:

 

 


It was a week that truly put us in an environment we were not used to and required us to stand firm outside of our normal comfort zones.  During the week, the 96 people that had gathered from around the country were divided into 17 work groups; these groups worked at 24 different sites.  The sites ranged from working in community gardens, clearing out fields, and cleaning up the streets, to telling the story of Jesus to children. 

 

One of the sites involved cleaning up a community garden that had been overtaken by weeds and litter.  The woman there had no trust in Christians.  At the beginning of the day she told a co-worker that she was not sure what good we could do for the garden.  By the end of the day she could not stop praising these Christians enough.  These young adults showed her what God's grace looks like.  What a blessing.    

 

At another site our kids were welcomed to Challenge Ranch, which was located in the valley.  This non-profit ranch is the home of 21 horses that are cared for by Jane and Ron Tomczak.  Jane has children from troubled backgrounds come to her ranch and learn to love horses, people and themselves.  Jane and Ron started the Ranch 8 years ago.  It is an amazing and peaceful place.  While our youth were there they helped clean up the landscape and shared teachings with Jane. 

 

Throughout the week, no matter what task our youth were given, they gave their full effort and were witnesses with their words and actions.  This was an amazing week for our youth as they not only helped others see Christ, but the grace that was poured on them can only be measured by our Lord Jesus Christ.