Weekly Article

Editor’s Note: Last month a group of Derry Church youth and leaders spent a week in Niagara Falls, NY on a mission and fellowship adventure. What follows are Kate’s reflections on that experience. 

What was your impression on what you saw in Niagara Falls?
I did not expect Niagara Falls (the city) to be so run down and deserted. Leaving the amazing falls and then driving down an abandoned Main Street is something I will never forget.

What did you do on the mission trip?
We had the chance to work at Community Missions in their soup kitchen and food pantry.  It felt really good to talk with people who came to pick up food for their family and to help them load everything into their cars.  I will never forget the smile on one woman’s face when I handed her a bouquet of flowers.  Everyone was so thankful for our help.

We also served at Center City and got to assist people at their homes.  We met a woman who had a fire in her home and we were able to help her work in her yard to make it look nice even though her house was still being fixed up after the fire. We also met a man who needed help cleaning up his property and we worked to transform all the overgrown gardens and make the yard look really nice for him.

Some of our group spent two days at Holy Trinity, a former Catholic church that is now a historical site.  The church was built in the early 1900s by a Polish community and has so much amazing history.  Marge, the lady who now cares for the whole property and runs the mission organization that is housed there, very much appreciated our help with the yard work and preparing it for their upcoming Polish Polka Festival fundraiser that raises the funds needed to keep the historical site going.

What is your favorite memory from this youth mission trip?
Our last night in Niagara Falls our group had free time together and we had a lot of fun exploring the falls. We visited a park and took sunset pictures, did some souvenir shopping, saw Niagara Falls lit up at nighttime and saw fireworks over the falls.  It was a super fun way to end our mission week.

How do you see your life differently now that you are back home?
I look forward to helping others more than I did before.  I hope that our youth group will find ways to help make a difference in our own community.

Would you want to go on another trip? Why or why not?
Yes!  I enjoyed this mission experience and having the opportunity to meet youth from other churches.  I look forward to going on more mission trips in the years to come.

In case you missed it: click here to watch a short video of the group’s adventures in Niagara Falls.