Youth have memorable mission to Washington D.C.

The Memorial Presbyterian Church of Bellona Youth Group recently completed a memorable mission trip to Washington D.C., reports  Youth Group Director Ronda Stokoe.

She says the youth group members and chaparones, as well as a few congregation and community members participated in some awesome mission projects, and created some wonderful memories.

The 23 participants were: Preston Ilnicki, Liz Gavigan, Sean Murphy, Tyler Stokoe, Heidi Leach, Alyssa Stokoe, Clay Knowlton Jr., Ashley Walker, Scott Walker, Kaitlyn Schiek, Kevin Dean, Jesse Cramer, Vanessa Cramer, Sam Parkhurst, Hunter Parkhurst, Erin Johnson, Brittney Tennies, Pam Slentz, Cindy Murphy, Karen Walker, Ann Loree, Danielle Slentz, and Ronda Stokoe.

The group left Bellona around 5 a.m. Thursday July 22.

They arrived at The Pilgrimage in D.C. around 12:30 p.m. The Pilgrimage is a large church that has a big area designed for mission groups. The group had a bedroom of 16 and a bedroom of eight (all bunk beds). There was a livingroom area, dining area, full kitchen, and boys/girls bathrooms and showers.

There was another bedroom (16 people) where a group from Long Island was staying. “We had to share kitchen/bathroom time with them and we made many friends from that group. They were also working on mission projects.” explains Stokoe.

The Pilgrimage staff gave an orientation and then we cooked our lunch. After lunch we got started with our first mission project, “Bread For The Journey.”

The group put together 100 bagged lunches and went to several parks by foot and metro to deliver them to the homeless.

“We met so many interesting people and heard alot of fantastic stories! This is always one of our favorite mission projects and something we never forget,” says Stokoe, explaining mission groups have done this before in New York City.

As they returned to The Pilgrimage they saw Casey James, a recent contestant on American Idol..

On Friday the group had two mission projects that The Pilgrimage helped line up for us. In the morning, they worked for Parks and People and helped clean up a park in a low income neighborhood.

They weeded, mulched, and watered trees on the very hot day.

In the afternoon they worked for Christian Community Group Homes, an organization that helps the elderly with work around their houses.

Part of our group worked to paint Ruth Harris’s front porch. She was doing repairs to her home after a fire. The rest of the group worked at the home of Ernestine Brown, helping to clean up her back yard which was actually a big brush pile.

The temperature was over 100 degrees and they were dripping wet when they finished.

That evening the group enjoyed a presentation from the National Coalition of the Homeless.
“We heard amazing stories from George and Mary, who had both lived on the streets for many years.

They had some tales we will never forget,” said Stokoe.

Saturday was their fun day. In the morning they went through the White House and Arlington Cemetery. They had lunch at Union Station and did a little shopping before splitting into two groups to go to the Smithsonian Museum of Air & Space and the Holocaust Museum.

The next stop was the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History  and then the Smithsonian Museum of American History.

They ate dinner and shopped at The Old Post Office and then visited the monuments after dinner so they could see them lit up at night.

“We saw the Lincoln Memorial, Reflecting Pool, WWII Memorial and the Washington Monument. We had a great day, despite the record-breaking temperatures of 109 degrees that day!” says Stokoe.

On Sunday we got up early and packed. We cleaned The Pilgrimage and left around 9:30 a.m. The group arrived back in Bellona around 6:30 p.m. on July 25.

“The trip participants would like to thank the Memorial Presbyterian Church of Bellona and all of its members. The church helped sponsor our trip and the members supported many fundraisers we have worked on over the last two years. They were very generous in helping us and we are so grateful,” says Stokoe.

The group will present a special service in Bellona at 11 a.m. Sept. 12 to report on the trip.