Lots more photos to come! Please be patient as we gather the rest of our pictures and get them posted!

On the Road… Literally!

We are on the road… literally! I’m writing this post as we leave Cleveland, Ohio. We left school in Pennsylvania Friday morning and stopped at Patterson Farm, where we learned all about how they make maple syrup from the trees right on site! We also got to taste some yummy maple-flavored cotton candy and maple cream — yummy! And we saw some cool-looking “Oreo cows” too.

It was a great stop before we hopped back in the vans, said goodbye to Pennsylvania, and headed off to Cleveland, Ohio. There, we stayed in a cute duplex Airbnb and went to a fun Cleveland Guardians baseball game. Although Cleveland didn’t bring home a “W,” we still had a blast exploring the stadium, eating $1 hot dogs, and watching a great game. We even got to stick around for an amazing fireworks show — what a great way to end such a memorable week!

This morning, on our way out of Cleveland, we stopped for breakfast at Bob Evans. Now our bellies are full and we’re ready for the last leg of our trip. Enjoy some end-of-week photos! See ya back in Lombard!!! Thanks for following our week, it was a great trip!!!

Please keep us in your prayers as the team begins to travel back to Lombard… by way of Cleveland, Ohio! The team will stay in Cleveland this evening.. and enjoy a Guardians game!

We are tired and sore, but we are so thankful for the support that the church continues to give our Youth Community!

We wrapped up our work today! We spent the morning at various sites, then said goodbye to Develop Tioga, the organization we’ve been partnering with. They were fantastic to work with, and everyone gained valuable skills. We were fortunate to have such committed volunteers who supported, organized, and mentored our amazing youth members.

After lunch, we explored a local Mennonite-run grocery store, then headed to a state park to view a stunning gorge. Some of us tackled a challenging hike to see a beautiful waterfall—a perfect way to end our Thursday.

Tomorrow we’re heading to Cleveland for an overnight trip and a baseball game. After working hard all week, we’ve definitely earned some well-deserved fun!

If you have been itching to get a good look at this year’s Mission Trip t-shirt, here’s your chance! The high school seniors chose the color (pink)… and that includes 4 boys!

This year’s Scripture reference is from Isaiah 43:2, which talks about how God is with us in all times of hardship, especially mentioning flooded areas — a fitting verse for this year’s focus on flood recovery/relief! “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.”

We have been so busy these last few days!

Over the past two days, we tackled a big river cleanup, hauling out large pieces of garbage — tires, wood, sawdust bags, and all kinds of debris. It was a lot of work, but everyone pulled together and did a great job cleaning up the area for the neighborhood.

Our groups stayed busy across the board: digging mud out of a basement, building and repairing decks, weeding and cleaning up backyards, seeding and repairing lawns, clearing trash from the dam area, and even clearing out and reorganizing an entire warehouse! Phew! Our youth members worked through every task with real enthusiasm and grit.

On Tuesday night, we were lucky enough to tour Painterland Sister Farm. It was so much fun walking the grounds, meeting the animals, and learning about life on a working dairy farm. We saw goats, cows, chickens, pigs, sheep, and horses, and watched as they milked about 32 cows every five minutes — the farm is home to 450 cows in total, so that’s a whole lot of milk! Some of our youth members even got to hold baby lambs and piglets, and a few got sprayed by some cow manure along the way — fun for everyone all around!

Painterland Sister Farm also produces the delicious Painterland Sister’s yogurt sold at Pete’s Market, made by the family at the farm — who happens to be related to our own Keven and Marianne McGuire. It was wonderful getting to meet and talk with Mike and Hayley.

To top off the night, we enjoyed a farm-cooked barbecue, made s’mores, and went stargazing. It was truly an amazing evening!

Through our mission work, cooking meals together, and just having fun, we’ve been connecting with one another all week. It’s been such a great week of bonding. Stay tuned for more updates!

This week, the fantastic folks at Develop Tioga have coordinated most of our serving projects, focused on clearing out waterways and doing repairs to homes damaged by Tropical Storm Debby! It is thanks to them that we aren’t just twiddling our thumbs down here!

Develop Tioga serves as the lead economic development organization for Tioga County, PA. We are a non-profit, Certified Economic Development Organization (CEDO) here to promote business, community and employment opportunities; and connect you to the resources you need. Our community and economic development efforts strive to provide innovative business and community resources for those who live, work, travel, and do business in Tioga County.

See https://www.developtioga.org/ for much more!

Yep, you read that right — one of the most exciting things about our week is a chance to visit the Painterland Sisters farm, owned and operated by a family with connections to First Church of Lombard! Mike McGuire (son of FCL’s own Kevin and Marianne McGuire) is married to one of the Painterland sisters and is excited to host the Youth Community for an afternoon! Mike is especially excited to introduce the team to his beehives, because he learned about raising bees while on a Mission Trip with YC himself!

Learn so much more about Painterland at https://painterlandsisters.com/ … and be watching for lots of fun farm friendly photos!

Today was a wet, gloomy, and rainy day. Despite the gloomy weather we had a great day. We were busy making walking sticks and flower boxes. This involved many pieces of machinery! We used saws, nail guns, sanders, and torches. The kids did such a great job working together and making over 3,000 walking sticks that will be used to sell at various fairs to spread the good news of Jesus. We have such a great group of kids and we are all so very proud at how hard they worked together today!

While First Church of Lombard’s Youth Community is blessed to be staying here in Tioga County, Pennsylvania, we also want to acknowledge that we are staying on the native lands of the Susquehannock and Ho-de-n-sau-nee-ga peoples. Learn more about the all the Native tribes in our area at https://native-land.ca/