One of the incredible aspects of CTCYM is that through the earnest dedication and faithfulness of the Adult Leaders and the Youth Workers a little bit of the Kingdom of God is opened up on Earth. It may only be a glimpse, a week long glimpse covered in sweat and dirt and saw dust, but it is a glimpse of the glory that is yet to come.
Embodied in the Mission Trip is the fullness of United Methodist Wesleyan Theology. The Youth Groups all gather in a Living Center prepared just for them. Most, if not all of them, know absolutley nothing about the host church; the leaders who chose this church, why it was chosen, who would be preparing meals, where they would sleep, all of the details of simply "living." And yet, there it is, ready for us to "live in."
Then there are the clients and the work projects that each team will be doing. We don't know any of these people or their needs. But someone does. At least a year's worth of planning goes into the choosing of living centers, center leaders, work projects and all the other aspects of Mission Trip. It doesn't just happen.
God's prevenient grace is just like that. God goes before us to prepare the way. To make straight the paths, as Scripture says, to open our hearts and the hearts of the clients we will meet. To prepare the way. There is nowhere that we can go that God hasn't already been, making everything ready for whatever happens.
All of the projects, chores, and activities are how we live out the Grace of God in a physical way. The evening worship, the noon time devotionals, the evening activities and even the meals are all Means of God's Grace. They draw us closer to God and closer to each other. God's love and Grace are felt deeply in and through the giving of ourselves in Christian Service and in Christian Community.
The dedication to finishing the project, the projects themselves, the tears at the end with clients who began as strangers who we leave as friends and sometimes family, the tears as team members and leaders depart each others company, the lives that are changed are all part of the Sanctifying Grace of God. Each person on Mission Trip has been drawn close to the presence of God. They have seen a microcosm of what the Kingdom of God can and does look like. They have been used as instruments of God's Amazing Grace.
What a privilege it is to be used in this way. What a privilege it is to see God's hand at work in thelives and work of the Youth of the Central Texas Conference Youth Minitry Mission Trip.
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