In 2012 we will be taking our High School Mission Trip to St. Lucia. Fairmont Park supports Andrew Solomon, a missionary living in St. Lucia. We will be working with Andrew Solomon and the churches of Christ in St. Lucia to further God’s kingdom among the residents there.
Mission trip will be July 5th – 14th. We will be flying to St. Lucia on Friday July 6th out of Dallas. Our flight leaves Dallas in the early AM. Because of this we will travel to Dallas on Thursday July 5th and spend the night. We will return to Dallas on Friday July 13th in the Late PM and will spend the night once more before returning to Midland on July 14th
It is the desire of the Elders, Youth Deacons, and myself, that all of our teens who wish to go on Mission Trip raise their own support. We are encouraging all participants to send out letters to friends and families detailing our mission, what we will be doing on the trip, and why the teen desires to go. In these letters we encourage the teens to ask for prayers as well as financial support for the cost of the trip. See the attached letter for an example.
The Cost for one teen to go to St. Lucia for Mission Work is $1700.00. This includes airfare, hotel, travel insurance, and transportation on the island. This is significantly higher than the cost of previous mission trips which, is the reason we are encouraging our teens to send out letters for support. If you send 25 letters, and receive $70 from each recipient, you will have more then enough money to attend the trip. Of course we encourage you to send out more then 25 letters as some people will only be able to send small amounts of money. We suggest you don’t request a specific amount, rather state the cost of the trip and ask for any support possible, even if it is in the form of prayers. When requesting support you can request checks be made out to Fairmont Park Church of Christ.
We understand that many of your family and friends may be members at Fairmont Park, and the same may be true for other teens who wish to go on the mission trip. As you can imagine It can be overwhelming to get 20 or more letters asking for your support. Because of this we are asking that you NOT send out letters to Fairmont Park members, Instead we will send out one letter for the entire group and split the support among all the participants.
In order to keep trip logistics manageable, and prevent from overwhelming the St. Lucia residents, we are limiting the group to 20 teenagers and 5 adults. If we have more than 20 teens interested in going we will select participants based on two factors. The first will be a 750+ word essay by the teen telling the Elders and Deacons why they would like to participate in the Mission Trip. Our second factor will be based on the age of the participant, but, age will not be considered above the teen’s essay. The Essay will be due December 4th, 2011 so that group selection can be made as soon as possible in order to allow the participants the most time to raise support and obtain passports.
There are a number of requirements that will be expected of the teenagers who are chosen to participate in the mission effort. Unlike previous years, these requirements will not be used to select participants, but will be expected of everyone wishing to participate. These requirements will be detailed in a meeting on December 11th and will include participation in the upcoming “We Care” program and this summers Work Camp among other requirements. We expect all of our participants to place these activities as a priority and make needed arrangements now to be able to attend.
We are working closely with Andrew Solomon to find out the needs of the St. Lucia residents and how we can serve them effectively. At this early stage we are unsure of the exact work needed in St. Lucia but have some good ideas. It is likely we will be working to repair a church building damaged by a hurricane, visiting church members, and other personal work. The details of which will be determined as soon as possible. In any case we must remember that this is a mission trip and not a vacation. Participants will be expected to serve wholeheartedly and to the best of their ability. Your essay should include a description of the level of service you plan to commit. Anyone who does not wish to work hard should not apply to go on the trip.
Once the group is determined, participants should start taking steps to obtain a passport. To find help in obtaining a passport go to http://travel.state.gov/passport/ . Students will be responsible for the cost of the passport.
Andrew Solomon has expressed a need for 100 or more songbooks. We will do our best to bring these songbooks with us when we travel. In the meantime you should be looking for and collecting old songbooks.
