Middle school youth served locally this year, staying at the church, living together in community, preparing our own meals as well as a meal for others, and serving at a variety of sites. Daybreak, an organization supported by the Lehigh Conference of Churches, offers meals, education, and a place for fellowship to those who struggle with daily living. While there, we engaged in a simulation that showed us how losing what we take for granted can change our lives in the blink of an eye. We helped them clean up the exterior property as well as their sanctuary. While there, we heard about Family Promise and the incredible way they are meeting the needs of homeless families in the Lehigh Valley as well as the sobering number of families needing help.


residents of Phoebe Home. We helped the Warming Station get ready for the amazing cold-weather service that they soon will provide to those experiencing homelessness. Jerusalem House was grateful for the organizing we did so they could pull off Michael’s Annual Fun Day for their neighborhood. At the Ecumenical Food Bank, we were able to help feed hungry families. Ten there was Daybreak and the YMCA. Did we see God in the people we served and the work we did? For sure!


Work Camps Luke 10:27: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.’”


We understand our neighbors when we live together, work together, and hear each other’s stories. It’s then that we can truly love our neighbors as ourselves. Both middle school and high school youth and adult leaders had these opportunities at their work camps this summer. We based our devotions on “Dream Small,” a song that reminds us that little things make a big difference.


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We visited with guests at Ripple Community, Inc., playing games with them, hearing their stories, and providing them with a lunch and treat. (We enjoyed it so much, we went back later in the summer!) We rolled up our sleeves with Pastor Maritza Dolich at St. Stephen’s Outreach Center, where we weeded the outside of their property. (St. Stephen’s runs a monthlong summer learning camp as well as an after-school learning academy for local children.) And the most fun service opportunity? Visiting with some of our own elder congregation members, hearing their stories, getting to know them, and sharing a homemade treat with them.


We cooled off each evening in the Layfields’ swimming pool, played mini golf, and enjoyed the movie Moana.


High School youth traveled to Te Center (run by the local Presbytery) in Baltimore, where they lived in community with an intergenerational work camp team from St. Louis. Te youth and adult leaders served as camp counselors at the weeklong Soaring Eagles Camp offered by partner church Brown Memorial Presbyterian in a


neighborhood surrounded by social injustice. Te two work camp teams worked together with the children at six learning stations, where they played math games, engaged in creative activities, took part in hands-on science and robotics, and learned about “Healthy Me.” A highlight was taking the children on an outdoor adventure to explore a stream, hunt for frogs, and play! Before leaving the area, our youth and their leaders visited with representatives from Senator Pat Toomey’s and Congresswoman Susan Wild’s offices and toured Washington, D.C.


Each evening during devotions, the high school teams responded to three prompts: “Where did you see God today?” “What did you learn?” and “How has this week made you thankful?” In offering a post-work-camp reflection from the pulpit, Jake Dent charged the congregation to look at their own neighborhoods and ask themselves the same three questions.


Middle and High School Fellowship Was this summer all work and no play? Of course not! Opportunities to grow in Christian fellowship were plentiful. Summer Youth Ministry interns Charal Steele and Giancarlo Levano offered a weekly Conversation Cafe and Sunday evening Fellowship, which always included laughter, games, and a time for reflection. In addition, both middle and high school youth went hiking to enjoy and explore God’s creation and helped lead Vacation Bible School. Off-site fun included playing mini golf, bouncing at Skyzone, riding attractions at Dorney Park, tubing on the Delaware River, and bowling. High schoolers spent a weekend in Ocean Grove, New Jersey, on their Beach Retreat. And everyone had a great time at the Youth Ministry End of Summer Celebration. Whew, it’s exhausting having fun!


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