Mission Trip

The YG mission trip takes place during the New Canaan public school’s winter vacation.  This year the mission trip dates are February 9th to the 19th.

Going on a mission trip is a life-changing experience.  When youth have the opportunity to work on meaningful service projects with our host partners, they learn God has blessed them with the love and power to change the world.

The mission trip is probably best understood simply as an extraordinary, life-changing pilgrimage.  Five months of weekly YG experiences of love, covenant and participation lay the foundation for an intense pilgrimage rooted in love and service to work alongside a partner community and learn about and explore our faith together.

Mission trips are a way for youth to learn about and live out the Christian call to service and love our neighbors.  We do not go on mission trips simply because we can.  We go because we recognize and embrace God’s love for us and God’s desire for us to share God’s love with others and be in community.  Putting our faith into action is transformative, and the experiences that youth have on these trips impact them for the rest of their lives.

The YG mission trip is 10 days with a balance of hard work and fun designed to bring a ministry of love and hope to those in need.  Participants leave our trip with a changed perspective on their world and a better understanding of the difficulties faced by those who suffer the burdens of poverty, disability and neglect.

The program on the mission trip includes group work projects, meaningful interactions with community members, prayer, vespers and worship.  During the trip the youth will help repair existing structures and build new ones.  They will work in teams supervised by a YG advisor and a skilled builder.  Safety on the worksite is a paramount priority.

On the Thursday night before we depart, we gather for the Mission Trip Send-Off Dinner at the church.  All youth and advisors who are going on the trip come together to share a meal and spend the night at the church before we leave early the next morning.

Our trip destinations are typically sites that are not convenient using ground transportation from New Canaan.  Therefore, we use buses to get to the airport and then fly to our destination. Once we arrive at our destination we use buses or vans for transportation.

Our 2 Youth Ministers lead the trip along with the Team Advisors.  A squad of skilled builders comes to lead the work projects, and the Senior Minister and other adults also join us for this adventure to further assure that all the participants have a positive experience.  We are even lucky enough to have YG alums come back to join the effort.