7/5/07
Manning youth travel to ‘Ole Miss’ to heal hearts and homes
By Cathy Gilbert

Submitted Photo

The Youth Mission team from the Presbyterian Church at Manning traveled last month to D’Iberville, Mississippi. Pictured are (front): McCain Moore, Amelia Martin, Youth Leader Leslie St. John, Lauren Stogner, Banks Lee; (back) Ruth St. John, Chase Sprott, Hunter Lee, Jack Furse, Danielle Herlong, Bo Anthony, Collin Powell, Lynn Herlong and Randy Weitzel.

When the Presbyterian Church at Manning’s youth director, Leslie St. John began planning the 2007 edition of their youth mission trip, the plan was to go to Mississippi to do some post-Katrina repair work.

The 2005 storm that ravaged the Gulf Coast has left more than broken buildings and downed trees. In its wake, Katrina left scores of broken hearts and spirits.

And while the 10 kids and four adults were ready to face the heat and humidity that a Mississippi summer brings, they found that their most needed skill was an open ear and a caring heart.

“This year’s mission theme was ‘Imagine,’ and for most of us, all we could do was imagine what having gone through that storm was like,” St. John explained. “But every time we took a water break, someone would come up to us and want to tell us their story. There are still a lot of hurting people on the Gulf Coast.”

The mission trip to D’Iberville, Mississippi (near Biloxi) was part of the YouthWorks organization that helps facilitate student and family mission trips all over the United States and in Mexico and Canada.

“This is the fourth trip we have made with YouthWorks and they are wonderful to work with,” said St. John, now beginning her fifth year at Manning Presbyterian.

“YouthWorks provides all the logistics for shelter and food, supplies for whatever we are doing and the mission sites,” she said. “All we provide are labor and willing hearts.”

Bo Anthony, a recent graduate of Manning High School, made his third and final mission trip with his youth group this summer.

“It was really strange to see what Katrina has done to the area,” he noted. “As we drove through the Gulf area, you saw tons of driveways without any houses. You saw parking lots, with no stores. The debris has been cleared away, but little has been rebuilt. It is just empty.”

The Manning kids, along with St. John’s mother, Ruth and church members Lynn Herlong and Randy “The Randonator” Weitzel, were joined with two other groups, one from Michigan and another from Maryland, and the composite group was divided into five separate teams. Each team had cooking and cleaning responsibilities.

“These kids were wonderful,” said St. John. “No one bickered or fussed about doing their chores.”

“My team cooked spaghetti and meatballs one night, and it was awesome,” Anthony added.

The Manning youth started last summer raising money to make this trip. In addition to various fundraisers, support was provided by the church and several of its groups.

“We start planning the next trip in August,” said St. John, a native of Virginia. “I give the kids five choices and this year going to Mississippi was the clear favorite.”

The traveling group this year represented three churches and three different schools.

“We are very blessed to have a youth group that is really community oriented,” said St. John. “We welcome all kids, regardless of where they go to church or where they go to school.”

“Sometimes they might bicker like brothers and sisters, but they love each other like brothers and sisters, too,” she said.

After graduating from high school, a mission member must take a year off and can then come back as an adult leader.

Anthony says he will definitely be doing that. The adults seem just as committed.

“Lynn (Herlong) told me I was going to have to ask her not to come on a mission trip, she loves it so much,” St. John said. “And Randy, well he’s just like having another kid, yet he brings so much to the group. Not only does he have great skills, but he is also so patient and such a good listener. He’s a great role model for the kids.”

St. John said she is looking for another trip out west, perhaps to work on a Native American reservation, perhaps traveling by train.

“Not only do our kids get a chance to learn about life in a different kind of place, but they get to develop their passion for leadership and God; to discover what God’s purpose is in their lives by embracing their special God-given talents and the reward that comes from serving God by serving others.”