ROOTED - Saturday, July 12, 2025
Matthew 28:19
7 Go into all the world and make disciples.
Reflection: Youth Mission Trip
Written By: Pastor Jesse Caro
As I write this Rooted I am aware that as you read these words our youth will be on a mission trip to the Twin Cities. When I moved back to Lynchburg and took the Discipleship position here at Timberlake, I brought with me a passion many of you all share: mission trips. I was, as you likely know, called into vocational ministry on a mission trip when I was 18 years old. We went to Guatemala to play basketball in high schools (and share the gospel during half-time). I had no interest in the Gospel” part. My only interest was the “basketball” part. But God opened my eyes in a miraculous way. He opened my eyes to a dying world, and to the fact that there are people who have given their lives for Gospel ministry and sacrificed everything for it. I did not see the world that way in the confines of my middle-class world in Birmingham, Alabama. God use that trip to get me out of my comfort zone and see a world from a different perspective. So, please know, I am “all in” for mission trips (especially cross-cultural ones).
There are many reasons why I like mission trips. In the case of what the youth are doing this coming week… we plan to serve under-privileged communities. It is a good “hands and feet of Jesus” work we will be doing. I, for one, look forward to going on many more trips in the future (I am traveling with the teens for this one!!!). Hopefully in the future we will go overseas. But wherever we go and whatever we do, I pray that God will open the eyes of our teenagers, and they will see a world in need in a way that they have never seen it. I pray that they will be compelled by what they see (people in need of Jesus) and that they will commit their lives to Jesus more deeply. That is my prayer. Please pray for this youth trip with me. Pray for traveling mercies (we go halfway to Indianapolis today), safety, good health, and fruitful ministry work. We return Saturday the 19th! Please pray!
Prayer
Lord, we lift up our teenagers, the volunteer adults, and staff that are going on this trip. May you bless the labor they do, and may you grant for them favor and blessings for the week.