International (MMN) ― Several Teen Missions International trips this summer for preteens and teens allowed participants to share Christ love and make a difference at a young age.
The variety of trips had preteens and teens traveling to Malawi, Zambia, Cameroon, Ecuador, Brazil and Germany.
However, before any of the teams left for their destinations all around the world, they all met for boot camp training in Merritt Island, Florida, at the Teen Missions base.
Teens attended Super Boot Camp for two weeks, and preteens attended their own camp for 10 days to prepare them for their travels. There were also two other camps: Mustard Seeds for children ages 4-6, and Peanuts for ages 7-9.These groups did not travel internationally. The number of people who attended all of the camps totaled just under 1,000.
The camps began toward the end of June and concluded by July 5 said Paul Kostner with Teen Missions.
"When they come to boot camp, they're trained in music, puppets, evangelism that they use all during the summer in churches, open-air meetings and marketplaces. And then if they're a work team, they also receive training in block laying, carpentry, and steel tying," Kostner said. During training, several teams were also taught a phonics program they would be using in various countries.
When the boot camps concluded, a commissioning service for all the teams was held on July 5. Then, between July 6-8, each team began their travels.
Kostner said the preteen teams traveled to Malawi, Ecuador, Germany, or stayed in Florida to work on the Smiley Face project. This was a giant concrete circle where a smiley face was painted along Hall Road in Florida which said, "Jesus Loves You."
The team in Malawi worked with the AIDS orphans rescue unit in the area. While there, they taught VBS classes and helped plant gardens at the unit, working side by side with the Malawian young people receiving aid from the unit.
In Ecuador, the team prepared the Teen Missions base there for a boot camp for the Ecuadorian youth. Teen Missions holds boot camps in about 20 different countries around the world just like the one in the U.S.
Another preteen team ministered in eastern Germany, helping Siloah Christian Camp with painting and light construction projects.
The teen teams also traveled to various countries around the world, which included Malawi, Zambia, Cameroon and Brazil. The three teams traveling to Africa were foot washing teams, and Kostner said these teams also helped at the AIDS orphan rescue units. While in each country, the teams ministered to the young people at the units by tutoring them.
Kostner said these teens "washed the children's feet and gave them a brand new pair of shoes and socks. For some of them, they received the first shoes they've ever had."
The final teen team traveled to Brazil to the Amazon. Throughout their ministry in the country, they used riverboats and bicycles to reach remote villages they otherwise would not have been able to access.
Overall, these young people had great experience.
"Some of them just had excellent summers, going out and serving the Lord, and seeing that they can do something at such a young age. To be able to come home and say, this is what I did this summer and what the Lord's taught me," Kostner said. Especially among preteens, he said they were amazed at how much they were able to do and yet be so young.
One example was of a girl who was on the Cameroon foot washing team. In the past she had struggled with dyslexia, and while in Cameroon, she helped with the boot camp there and taught a phonics class. One of her students, a little boy, seemed disengaged and kept towards the back of the class. She spent one-on-one time with him, and within three days, he was reading the primer they had and showing it to everyone.
Kostner said he heard the girl share her testimony and say "how exciting it was for her because she had that same disability. And for her to be able to help somebody else to learn how to read, it just touched her heart so much."
After each team returned to the US, they had a chance to debrief and present all they had learned and done on their trip. The last team just finished with their trip, debrief and presentation yesterday.
Kostner said next year, which is Teen Missions fortieth anniversary, they also have a great line up of trips. These trips include a backpacking trip to Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, a bridge-building project in Zambia and a horseback evangelism ministry in Honduras.
If you know of a preteen or teen who would like to be a part of these upcoming trip in 2010, visit teenmissions.org .
