Reflections on Mission - Jenn

It’s been more than 20 years since I’ve visited the mountains and they are just as beautiful as I remember. Bozeman is a town very similar to Mankato in many ways…it is home to a State University, it has a very welcoming, downtown Methodist Church, and everywhere you go you find wonderful people. I was amazed at how grateful those we met along the way were. Almost everyone who passed by us working on the trails, pulling weeds in the park, completing small projects for a new UMC congregation, and helping out the local food shelf thanked us profusely for our efforts. Many times, their graciousness even surpassed “Minnesota Nice”. (I even had a chance to chat briefly with two ladies who knew exactly where Mankato was as one had a Maverick hockey player stay with her for a time!) This trip has again opened my eyes to realize what great need there is for people to care for the Earth and our fellow humankind whether you look in Bozeman, MT, Baldwin, LA or right at home in Mankato.

This trip was most amazing though because of our Youth. What an incredible group of young people we have at Centenary! They worked so hard for hours on end despite sun, heat, altitude, fatigue, and the endless supply of sandwiches that we ate for almost every lunch. It was hard to keep up with them! Each evening, we came together as a group and had devotional time. The depth of their faith is far greater than you can imagine. They love God and they are eager to show this love by caring for the least, the lost, the left out, and the Earth.

I thank all of you for entrusting me and the other Youth leaders with such a wonderful group. As we return them to you, remember that they are not the same people we left with a week ago. They have each grown and changed in ways no one expected. Ask them about their experiences – they have so much to share!

            Jennifer

Reflections on Mission - Pat

Despite my sore muscles and bleary eyes, I am energized. Energized by what our group has accomplished over the past week, both in the work we’ve done and how the faith of each one of us has grown. I always seemed to be energized by being around our youth group, watching them grow in their faith and seeing what they are capable of. I am blessed to be able to grow in my faith with them on trips like this.

It is easy to get content in one’s faith, easier than to decide to grow further. This trip has reminded me of an oath I made to myself not so long ago. “Never let your faith grow stagnant,” I told myself. My faith has grown on this trip, by watching our youth work for the environment and the people that enjoy it, by working to help people who cannot feed themselves, by going to the mountain, seeing what God has created and feeling thankful for the opportunity to experience God in that creation.

PC

Reflections on Mission - Seth

This mission trip has been a life-changing event for all of us, and we’ve all worked our heads off on the trails, in the garden, and in the food bank. We all left the world at home behind in Montana (except for those who spent all night on Facebook) and lived in our own little world of mission work. On the return trip we won’t forget Montana like we did Minnesota on the way out. Our mission experience will be carried with us for the rest of our lives and we will reference it in future mission trips. Everyone’s support back home made this whole thing possible and has changed our lives for the better. Right now I sit in the van bouncing up and down with Pat’s laptop in my lap, reflecting upon this week, and thinking about all the people we’ve met.  Looking around, many other youth groupers are also reflecting, some are playing games and others are sleeping. Everyone has bloodshot, sleep-deprived eyes and dark circles under them but we’re on our way home to a good night’s sleep.

-Seth

Reflections on Mission - Laura

           Amazing things can happen when you believe and I think that’s what we all did. We believed that we would help the environment.  We believed that God would look after us. We believed that the drive would be long. All of these proved to be true. This was my first of hopefully many mission trips. It was an amazing one. In my 13 years I have seen very few places that can compare to the beauty of Bozeman, Montana. I would really like to write so much more about our trip, and I could, but it would take up to much space.

            On this trip my faith has grown and developed. I am truly a different person. I wish I could stay in Montana forever, feeling the presence of God in everything I did. This trip has made it easier to feel that presence in even the smallest things.

            My favorite part of the trip was the fresh mountain air. I hope all who read this would be moved to do mission work in their community. Thank you all for fallowing our journey and keeping us in your prayers. I hope to be in church on Sunday and thank you personally. A special thanks to our Youth Director Erica for jumping in and supporting us. Wish you could have been there with us.

                       

                        Laura

Reflections on Mission - Jacob

My favorite part was being thanked for all our hard work. It was really fun and I felt a great sense of accomplishment after working so long. I would rather work than sit in a car, though.

Jacob

Reflections on Mission - Wilbur

“Flower in the crannied wall,

I pluck you out of the crannies,

I hold you here, root and all, in my hand,

Little flower- but if I could understand

What you are, root and all, and all in all,

I should know what God and man is.”

                                    Alfred Tennyson

This week, while toiling and laughing aside the youth, in front of mountains and trees, it was a moment of knowing God, the Divine Creator of all that is.  There were so many moments that were memorable and remarkable.  Imagine sitting in the dirt, surrounded by mountains picking peas?  Or consider the pouring of “fine” on a trail then raking it and pondering the feet that will travel there?   Do you see, in your mind’s eye, the smiles of satisfaction when the labor of your hands sort through blueberries or wash the freshly picked peas to feed those who are hungry?  Our souls were fed this week with the labor of our hands and the extension of our hearts in empathy and love.  It is in our youth that we experience the ‘stream of hope” that runs through this world.  This is a gift that God gives to us when we sit at the middle years of our lives.  Ah, here I am at 51, blessed with the opportunity to experience this “stream of hope” and it causes me to pause and be grateful.  Oh, to sit beside a 14 year old picking peas and watch them so gracefully rise, smile and drop their bucket load of peas into the tub.  To see their face, to feel their satisfaction at the task, is to truly be in the presence of all that is Divine and good. 

As we consider what we as a human species has done to our home- Earth, take time to be present in nature and all this it wild.  Take time to look at the faces of our youth and empower them to be all that they can be, and encourage them to tap the Divine in every moment.  It is through their ability to be ever present in the moment and to feel the suffering of others and our Earth on a global scale, will we live together in peace and health. 

Bless these youth and all the generations of children yet to come.  May the faces of these children help us to live and act seventh genrationally and conscious of our responsibility to our home- Earth.

Wilbur

Reflections on Mission - Zach

This trip was the most exciting thing I had been on. My favorite part was when the people would stop and say thank you or just us how much it will help. The trail work was the best thing that we were doing on this trip. On Thursday morning we helped pick pea pods and had so much fun.

Zach

Reflections on Mission - Ainslie

When we first started discussing this mission trip, I thought it might be one of those trips that I wouldn’t be able to go on. And then, after discussing it with my parents, I realized I was able to go, I was really excited. I’ve heard of the mission trips in the past, to Louisiana and Colorado and I wanted to enjoy that same eye-opening experience. In Montana, I definitely did. When we were helping re-gravel those trails, and people would stop and say thank you, or even just smile, I realized how much we were not only helping the environment but also the people in Montana. I had the same worries that the leaders did, and that my dad did, that, yes, we would be helping the environment, but were we helping the people?  After seeing how grateful everyone was for what we were doing, I realized that helping the environment also benefits the people and for that I am thankful.

                                                                                    Ainslie

Reflections on Mission - Rose

I had a really good time going to Bozeman, Montana. Everyone there is very friendly and thankful. When we were redoing their trails or even cleaning up the brush people would walk by and thank you for doing it. It made me think on how its good to put other people first. I really enjoyed going to the food bank because I enjoy helping people with things that they need like food. By doing that you help many people in need and that made me feel good. I would have like better if we would have done more things directly with people to help, but I thought about it and by doing what we did we did help people directly on.

Rose

Reflections on Mission - Allie

I enjoyed going to Bozeman because it is such a pretty place. When you are there you are just very peaceful and happy. Well that is how I felt at least. The mountains all around you were defiantly something I could get used to everyday. When I worked on the trails I enjoyed it a lot. I did a lot of raking and evening out the gravel on the paths. I was very calming for some reason and all the appreciation from all the people made me feel really good about what I was doing because I knew what I was doing was going to be put to good use. The food bank was also really interesting cause everything they had set up was just so neat and organized and something I could do in Mankato also. The farmers market was also a favorite cause it was so big and had everything you could think of. It was the coolest thing. I really enjoyed my time in Bozeman but I think there were moor poor towns that could use our help also that would have been interesting to help.

                                                                                    Allie

Reflections on Mission - Kelsey

Bozeman, Montana is a beautiful city surrounded by mountains and awesome trails for the public to use. It is a place where one can find peace and serenity in our busy world, this is what I found and enjoyed on our mission trip. I enjoyed working on environmental projects because I feel like it is a huge issue and it is something that we can all take something away from it and apply it to our daily life. I think that those who put together the devotionals did a wonderful job connecting how God speaks to us through nature and how nature connects us to others throughout our community, state, nation, and world. My favorite part was working at the food bank because I think that is something that I can incorporate in my life back in Minnesota. The previous mission trips I have gone on, we have worked directly with people and I think that I was changed and I knew the qualities that I wanted in myself as a person. It was a little harder for me to find that this time around. I did take away an inner peace and a deeper understanding of the connectedness that we all share to the Earth.

Kelsey

Reflections on Mission - Dan

I really liked the idea of a environmentally friendly mission trip.  Like everyone else, I was wondering if we would really be doing anything to help people. But everyone is Bozeman was so appreciative of our work. My favorite part of mission work that we did was working at the food bank because we were helping people receive food, which is something you need in life to survive. The only part I didn’t like about this mission trip was that we didn’t get to help people directly, so it was harder to see the impact we had on the community. This was a really great mission trip and I can’t wait for the next one. I have definitely learned many things on this trip that I will be able to bring back to Mankato with me and try to make a difference in our community.

                                                                                                            Dan

Long day!

What a day! We started out with a fantastic horseback ride through the mountains near Yellowstone at Absaroka-Beartooth Outfitters, just down a winding gravel road from our campsite. Everyone had a great time, including Seth, who couldn't complete the ride after getting horse sick (fortunately, he doesn't get van sick!). We all felt bad for him, but he said he still enjoyed the part of the ride he was on.

After some quick shopping in Gardiner, we were guided into the park by Alyssa's parents, who smartly guided us to Mammoth Hot Springs. We enjoyed taking pictures and hiking around the hot springs so much we weren't able to get to any other areas of the park. Oh well! Something to look forward to next time.

We left Alyssa behind in Gardiner with her parents and other family and headed to Sheridan. We arrived here just before 11 p.m. local time, just in time to shower and crash before tomorrow's 11-hour marathon drive home. Each of our 3 drivers will take a 4-hour turn at the helm. Meanwhile, since we couldn't manage to get the screens in the van tro recognize a laptop so we can watch movies, I'll be handing my laptop and wireless card to each of the mission trippers to write an entry about the trip.

Now, time to sleep. Fast.

PC

The word from the Mountains!

I just got off the phone with Pat.  The group is doing great.  As he was talking, he shared the view from his perch....a gorgeous view of the valley and the entrance to Yellowstone!  The gang is camping just outside the entrance to Yellowstone tonight in Gardiner, MT.  They say the landscape is gorgeous and although a little breezy at the crest of the hill where they are camping, it is perfection.  I think God is rewarding them for all the hard work they have done this week.

Today, they capped their mission adventures off by working with the Gallatin Valley Food bank.  The morning was spent picking 200lbs of peas, and the afternoon sorting blueberries at the warehouse.  They said goodbye to their gracious hosts at Bozeman UMC and left an autographed Lola the Flamingo as a small thank you!

After packing up, they traveled about 45 miles to Gardiner and the entrance to Yellowstone.  They set up camp in beautiful Eagle Creek campground.  It sounded like it was pretty breezy and they were hoping the tents stayed up through the night!

Tomorrow morning, the group will be saddling up for a trip into Yellowstone on horseback, then taking the van to Old Faithful.  They plan to be back on the road around 5:30 PM, with a planned arrival in Sheridan WY by 10ish. 

Pat stressed how many compliments this group of young people has gotten.  I know these are great kids, you know these are great kids, and now a whole new community has been able to share in their energy and enthusiasm.  We should be proud of all they have done, living examples of God's grace and love.

They promise to update once they have a wireless signal again tomorrow night. In the meantime, send prayers for a restful night, a wonderful day in God's creation tomorrow, and a safe beginning to the journey home!

Erica

Pictures from tonight's activity

Here are some pictures of some of the stuff we did today. While I fancy myself as a pretty good photographer, we have some wonderful photographers in the group who have contributed to what you've seen on Go Fish!. Rarely does a photo op go by without three or four of us pulling out cameras. The mountains must think we're paparazzi!

Enjoy!
PC

Massage chains help keep weary bodies going.

We made this pile of fines (gravel we lay on the trail) go away.

Viktor and Lola checking out the second pile of fines we made disappear.

Jacob filling another wheelbarrow. I lost count at a kajillion how many of these we've filled.

We stained the wood entryway to Living Waters UMC. Yes, the peak inside was a challenge.

Fatigue takes its toll!

The Bite of Bozeman was packed with people! The guy in the foreground is grilling buffalo sliders. Yum!

One week just isn't enough.

I've been here for three days and can't figure out why they call it "big sky country."  With all of these beautiful mountains surrounding us, I haven't noticed the sky at all.

Today we started the day working with the Gallatin Valley Land Trust again.  We fixed up two more sections of trail.  The first was a beautiful connecting trail section in a wooded area near a stream.  The second section was close to the hospital.  This section is mainly used by people commuting to work on foot.  It's amazing to see the number of people who walk or bike everywhere they go.  After a quick lunch at Bozeman United Methodist Church, we headed out to the start-up church in Belgrade to finish up the work we started yesterday.  Part of the group weeded the area that the preschool kids will be using as a playground, another group stained the wooden playground equipment and the rest of us finished staining the front entrance.  We also scouted out the location for tomorrow's workday. 

We're looking forward to walking downtown for the "Bite of Bozeman" event tonight.  They close down main street for traffic and all of the vendors and restaurants put out their wares to sample.

If I hadn't promised to get everyone's children back safely, I might not come back.

The Bozeman Farmer's Market

This afternoon a couple youth groupers decided to walk on down to the Bozeman farmer's market. We expected to find some ingredients for our resident spaghetti chefs but ended up finding much more. (Including but not limited to alpaca products, pies of numerous flavors, pizza, tamales, goat cheese, and pineapple tea smoothies.) We proceeded to explore the market feel the overpowering urge to ruin our dinners. Pat and I were the first to go with a couples slices of pizza that looked too good to pass up. We then non-verbally persuaded several others they also need some. Everyone ate something else after that and several smoothies, tamales, and chips later we decided to return to the church. We were toting a couple pies that we bought out of pity for the unfortunate souls who stayed back.  Needless to say, all the farmer's market attendees ate full dinners complete with pie (which Laura will describe in painfully extensive detail in a moment). The Bozeman farmers market was a very fulfilling (and filling) experience.

-Seth Peterson

Photos from today's work

Here are some pictures I took today. Half of us are on the way to the Bozeman Farmers' Market, while the other half are sitting in the youth room exhaused, lounging on the couches and drooling.

Top of the day at the top of the trail with Gary.

Lola, shovel, Ryan.

Our longest-distance flamingo-ing: Living Waters United Methodist Church, Belgrade, MT.

Our group at Living Waters.

It's a keeper!

Feel the burn

We spent this morning clearing burdock from the edge of a Bozeman park with Gary this morning, but first he took us to the head of one of the city's trails on a hill overlooking Bozeman. What a view! Mountains behind us. Bozeman in the valley in front of us. What a beautiful place to live!

We hiked 15 minutes down the trail to the work site and got to see a lot of people using the trails we are improving. Everyone that passes by thanks us for our hard work and is genuinely appreciative for what we're doing here.

That really helps motivate us, since the energy levels are fading fast! Everyone's sore. We're resting after lunch at the church now, but we have an afternoon of work planned at a new church start about 8 miles east of Bozeman. Then, swimming and the farmers' market.

I pray we find the second wind soon! Photos to come tonight.

PC

A few photos from Monday's work and play

Tuesday, our plan is to hike one of the trails we'll be working on before pulling weeds in the morning. In the afternoon we will be clearing brush at Living Waters United Methodist Church, a new church start in Bozeman.

Here are a few pictures from today's work and play:

Work in progress.

Improving the trail.

Kelsey running the tamper over the new trail gravel.

Zach testing the water at Palisade Falls.

Oh Seth, where art thou?

Palisade Falls.

monday

Today we woke up early. Then we went to the trails and met Gary. Gary has a really cute chill dog named zu zu. At the trails we laid out gravel. It was really easy, you had some people filling wheel barrels with gravel, others bringing the gravel down the trails, and the others raked out the gravel to make it even. It went really fast and smooth. When we were done with that we came back to the church and got ready to go up into the mountains. We walked up a trail and went to a reeeeallly pretty waterfall and stayed there for like an hour taking pictures and just chilling. Then we went to a different area in the mountains and some went swimming. It was all very pretty. So far it has been really fun!


-Allie

Working on the trail

Our morning of work is done, and we accomplished a lot! We went to work repairing the Sourdough Trail on the edge of Bozeman. We fixed two sections of the trail, each about 200 yards long. We spent the morning spreading gravel to raise the level of the trail, then raking it smooth before our work leader, Gary, flattened it out.

Gary was impressed with our work, and repeatedly said so. So did the all of the joggers, walkers and bicyclists who used the trail as we worked.

Shoveling gravel.

This afternoon, after getting used to the thinner air here (we're at around 5000 feet, compared to Mankato's 680 feet), we're headed to a nearby reservoir in the mountains to go swimming and hiking.

Working on the Sourdough trail.

Kelsey and Jacob smoothing gravel.

Off to get another load.

Gary flattening our new trail.

We have reached the mountains!

We arrived in Bozeman tonight around 8 p.m. Mountain Time, and after connecting with our 14th crew member Seth Peterson, we got settled into the youth room and music room at Bozeman UMC. The drive into the mountains was beautiful, especially since we had no mechanical problems today!

After chatting with Pastor Dave and getting the trailer unhooked, we took the advice of a local (Seth used to live out here) and ate at Burger Bob's. Bob did not disappoint! Ryan said the Cardiac Arrest Burger was fantastic (1/2 pound burger, 4 cheeses, fried mushrooms, fried onions, raw onions and bacon).

Tonight, we sleep fast and head out to work on restoring a trail near Bozeman tomorrow morning.

Zach in an intense PSP session.

Road to the mountains.

The group's excited to see mountains.

Mmmmm. Burgers!

Our home for the next few days.

We are there in spirit

Isn't technology great! Worship for us this morning will start at 8 a.m. over breakfast. We plan to listen to most of this morning's 9 a.m. service at Centenary over the Internet, courtesy of our web broadcast.

A long-distance prayer request: Pray for our youth as we continue our trip to Bozeman today, and pray for us throughout the week as we learn to connect with God through the beautiful creation around us.

Oh, and also pray for strong tires!