This summer I had an awesome opportunity to lead a team of 12 from my youth group, Path Youth, (Federal Way Church of the Nazarene) on a ten-day missions trip to Montana. We ministered to the Blackfeet nation in northern Montana.

For the teens, this was by far the biggest ministry opportunity any of them had ever been a part of. They spent a week in construction on a children’s camp doing everything from digging ditches to wiring electricity. At the same time, we also ran a vacation Bible school for the Blackfeet children, where the team got an opportunity to play games with the kids and teach them about the Bible. We also had many different opportunities to share Christ with the kids using the "Missions Ball", a soccer ball with the gospel emblazoned upon it.

It was probably one of the most significant things I have ever done. It was the culmination of almost a year of planning, fund-raising and spiritual preparation. The teens were ready to minister and performed excellently. From a spiritual perspective it was great because, I had so much time to pour into the youth and they had so much time to pour into ministry. As a group we grew closer together and, more importantly, I saw the group grow closer to God. From a practical sense this trip was awesome because everything we spent so long planning for, pretty much went to plan. Sure there were some wrenches thrown in along the way, but overall it fairly smoothly.

Let me know if anyone wants to join us next year.