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We are excited to introduce our 2024 Missions Trip! Our Mission Trip this summer will be in Curllsville, PA, from July 7-13th

As part of our "Let's Go Mission Week," This team will be headed out of state while another serves in Brighton. Both will take part in Evangelism training and serving and sharing opportunities to advance the gospel to the communities.

1. Pray diligently. We encourage you to include your family in this process. 
2. Register online in accordance with your current grade, along with your $50 deposit. (Details below)
3. Then, turn in the attached application before our next meeting on Feb 25^th.
4. Dates for the training meetings will take place on Sundays after the 2nd service in the Student Worship Center: Feb 25, March 17, April 28, May 19, June 9, and June 30. 
5. Attend all Mission Project training unless pre-arranged with Josh.  Due to the higher number of people wanting to go and limited space, it will be imperative to attend training/meetings. 
6. This mission trip is a priority and, therefore, needs to be prioritized above extra plans.
7. Regularly attend Youth group and Service at least once a week
8.  Regularly Serve during 4^th Sundays each month
9. For the February 25th training, bring completed support letters to send out to 15 addresses of friends, family, coworkers, and neighbors to raise prayer and financial support. We will dedicate 45 minutes of our meeting to finalizing and mailing the letters. You may do so if you wish to send out your letters ahead of time. 

The $50 deposit will be your only out-of-pocket expense. We’re trusting that God will work through the fundraising process. Although this is rare, any funds that are not raised through the fundraising process will be charged to the student. Each student will also be sending out at least 15 support letters to have friends and family sponsor each student. This is an effective way to raise support, and I believe if your student makes an effort to raise the money, it should be easily obtainable. The approximate cost of the trip is $500 per person. This will cover all of your travel, lodging, supplies for the Mission Trip, cultural presentations, day activities, food, training materials, and much more! It would be a good idea to bring $30-50 of your money for gifts or snacks beyond what we provide. 

That deposit is part of your registration process (above)

This is not a repeat; this is not like last year. Although we are returning to Grace Community Church in Curllsville/Clarion County, PA, let me remind you of this, as always:  The spirit of expectation is not your friend.

In the past, our emphasis has been specifically on serving. However, in recent years, alongside our commitment to serving, we have also directed our attention to articulating and sharing the gospel. This summer, during our mission trip, we will participate in an Evangelism conference hosted by Dare 2 Share titled “Let’s Go.” The core mission of Dare 2 Share is to "energize the church to mobilize youth to gospelize their world." Here's a brief overview of their activities and what we will be gaining insights from:

“Dare 2 Share Ministries exists to see the Gospel advanced and disciples made among today’s youth. We do this by equipping youth leaders to build Gospel Advancing Ministries. Then, these youth leaders train their teens to share their faith with the lost around them. We know that evangelism accelerates the discipleship process. If your students are involved in sharing the Gospel, they will grow in their faith faster than any curriculum can take them through.”

We are so excited to go through this together, as well as some of the students at Grace.  But learning about it through a conference is great; we also will be putting “hands” to our “head and heart” through serving in VBS and other community projects in the area. As many will remember, this area, as many of our students will attest to, is “the middle of nowhere.” Although most resources are a drive away, the small town where the church is located is home to a population of 651 people, while the larger county had been hit by the pandemic, leaving some churches in the area unable to run their own VBS ever since 2020. 

With the partnership of GCC and other ministries in the area, our students will be a light and help to the community in general.  In Curllsville, Clarion County, and the surrounding area, our group will serve alongside the community in various community efforts that are working to improve the life of its residents and further gospel impact. You will have the opportunity to serve with local church programs and partners, work in community gardens and assist neighborhood associations with small home repair, community beautification, and cleanup projects. In the evenings, you’ll serve Grace Bible Church and their VBS, which hosts hundreds of kids from the area, attend a youth service with other local students, enjoy the beauty of PA, and more.

EVENING ACTIVITIES

Each night through the week, we will be split into two (later determined) teams. One will be serving along GCC in their VBS, which hosts many other churches that cannot on their own and, because of us, can raise the bar. We will share in a cookout with the residents, other VBS workers, and students and then will be doing everything from teaching to leading music to games and more. The second team will have other hands-on opportunities to share the gospel through other service projects in the surrounding community.

We will travel by rental van; Lord willing, we won’t have trouble this time... again. We will leave from Cornerstone's Student Center on Sunday, July 7, at 10 AM. It will take approx. 5 hours to drive to our destination.

Lodging- we will stay at one of two other local churches we are in contact with. Either using on-site (Christian school) gym showers or showers with the local “Y.” All showers will be the same gender at once, with leaders separated from students. Please bring a swimsuit to shower in. as we did with Youthworks.

Food

·       Breakfast is on-site at our Lodging- “prepared” by our team for our team.

·       Lunch-Cold cuts and easy “lunch bag” lunches to take with us to our work site.

·       Dinner- in conjunction with GCC, we will be part of a cookout/meal provided to VBS workers and attendees to VBS right before serving for the program.

MISSION TRIP MEETING & SIGN UP INFORMATION

Note: Each meeting will be appx 1.5 hours from 12-1:30.

SIGN UP PROCESS

Starting Sunday & Monday, Seniors will be able to sign. Up for the trip, the next grade level’s link goes live at 12:01 am the following day. You will find those sign-up links via the SM mission trip page at

www.Cornerstonebrighton.com/studentmissions Signups go live:

o 1/28-29 SENIORS

o 1/30 JUNIORS

o 1/31 SOPHOMORES

o 2/1 FRESHMAN

o 2/2 8th grade (incoming 9th Graders)

o February 25:

o Last day to turn in the completed application.

o Bring completed support letters to send out to 15 addresses of friends, family, coworkers, and neighbors to raise prayer and financial support. We will dedicate 45 minutes of our meeting to finalizing and mailing the letters. If you wish to send out your letters ahead of time, you may do so.

o March 17 

o April 28 (accommodations will be made for those attending CEPC Ladies’ Retreat only)

o May 19

o Financial Support is due.

o June 9

o June 30

o Team Commissioning during Family Worship Service

o Final Team Meeting-Last details

o July 7: Leave Cornerstone Student Center at 10:00 AM. Please arrive plenty early.

o July 13: Arrive back at Cornerstone Student Center in the evening. We will text an accurate arrival time on the day of.

If you, for an immovable reason, cannot make a meeting, please let Josh know well in advance. It is imperative that you come to each meeting as we build and prepare our team; in the past, we have let a lot slide. Because of the high desire of other students to come on the trip, we ask that you make it a priority.

The "Spirit of Expectations” is not your friend.

When we say the “Spirit of Expectation is not your friend,” we mean that creating expectations of how life “should” go can open our hearts up to disappointment. Rigid expectations, high or low, can become the thing we focus on. It can put undue pressure on yourself or others to meet those expectations, which can be stressful and detrimental to what is. It doesn’t mean we don’t expect anything; rather, whatever it is, we are excited that God has given it to us.  There’s joy in the journey, and we live in expectancy to see God move as he says.

I look forward to training with you, serving alongside you, and growing with you as we go through this Mission Trip! If you have any questions or input, please feel free to contact me at jnestor@cornerstoneepc.com