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YOUTH MINISTRIES Doug Sayers 717.795.5921 dyd@penndel.org YOUTH ALIVE MISSIONARY Lee Rogers 717.795.9780 lee@reachtheschool.com reachtheschool.com • twitter.com/reachtheschool • facebook.com/reachtheschool Spreading the “Good News” By Lee Rogers I was fifteen years old the first time I participated in an overseas missions trip. I feel like I need to make a personal confession about this: although I went on the missions trip, my own faith in God was less than exemplary. Despite growing up in church and being involved in church activities as a child, my own faith in God was weak and possibly nonexistent. Yet, somehow I found myself traveling to a different country to spread the Gospel, and I’m glad I did. Something happened to me on that trip, something I can only describe as a deep work of the Holy Spirit. I came back changed. The Gospel I went to spread to others also began to grow deeper inside of me. That’s because there is something inherently good about participating in missions trips. Here are three ways missions trips help us: It’s Good for Our RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD A 2009 study found that teenagers who participate in missions trips have two lasting positive personal results. 1 First, students involved in missions trips are even more involved in practicing their faith when they return. In other words, they pray, read their Bible, attend church, and share their faith with others even more after the missions trip than before the missions trip. This is good news! It confirms through research what many of us have personally experienced— being involved in God’s work around the world increases the work of God’s Spirit in our hearts. It is beneficial to us, and it is beneficial to our youth ministries. It’s Good for Our BELIEF IN GOD Secondly, researchers found that teenagers who participate in missions trips move forward in life with solidified religious beliefs. The real-world application of faith through missions trips strengthens a student’s belief in God. Students participating in missions trips found God to be closer, more personal than students who did not participate. This multiplies the good news! In a generation characterized by moralistic therapeutic deism, participating in missions trips can be a key to firmly cementing faith in God. It’s Good for Our COMMUNITY It might seem somewhat paradoxical, but when a student participates in a short-term missions trip it is also beneficial to the local community. Another study conducted in 2011 found that teenagers who become involved in missions trips are far more likely to volunteer and become involved in their local communities. 2 It’s not simply that these students like to help others in general; researchers concluded “there is something special about the mission trip experience itself that generates differences…” This maximizes the good news! God cares about our local communities as much as He cares for distant and far away communities. If involvement in a missions trip increases a Christian’s involvement in the local community, that’s all the more reason to go on one. Join us July 10-18 in Banesea, Romania for a trip that will change your relationship with God, your belief in God, and your local community. We will join Ana and Mike Dascalescu in reaching their local community, and we would love to have you be a part of this trip. For more details and to download an application, visit www.penndelyouth.com/aim. 1 Jenny Trinitapoli and Stephen Vaisey, “The Transformative Role of Religious Experience: The Case of Short-Term Missions,” in Social Forces 88 (January 17, 2009). 2 Kraig Beyerlein, Jenny Trinitapoli, and Gary J Adler, “The Effect of Religious Short-Term Mission Trips on Youth Civic Engagement,” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 50, no. 4 (December 2011). <strong>Network</strong> connexions | Spring <strong>2017</strong> | 15