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'Mystery Journey' Helps Students Explore Faith
By Stan Friedman
WORCESTER, MA (July 27, 2005) - The youth group of Salem Covenant Church
recently sojourned more than 3,000 miles across nine states on a
journey to destinations that only the youth pastor knew in advance.
The 16 students and five adults traveled to places that included the
site of the 1963 World's Fair in New York City, a float trip in
Wisconsin, and a mausoleum at the Rosehill Cemetery in Chicago. A daily
Internet blog maintained by one of the students kept church members
informed about where the students were traveling from July 9 to July 17.
"Each stop had a spiritual connection," says youth pastor Mike Nyman who
conceived and led the trip. The students and adults discussed faith
lessons related to each of the stopping points.
A trip to the Hudson River serves as one example of the kind of
discussion and reports that followed each stop:
"The Hudson was once so polluted that state documents called it an open
sewer. Today it is celebrated as an American Heritage River, in part due
to the success of cleanup efforts over the last three decades. But,
without continued, vigilant environmental protection, economic expansion
and population growth could lead to deteriorating water quality, habitat
destruction, and negative impacts on key species. In addition, an
unfortunate legacy of past contamination still impairs the ecosystem and
limits the availability of important resources."
The group then read Psalm 51 and addressed the questions:
- What are the effects of sin on your own life?
- Despite the "clean-up effort" that God has performed on our lives,
does past contamination still impair us?
- Are there any areas in your life that you don't believe God could
possibly clean up?
Nyman says he was inspired by two disparate journeys: a former MTV show
that followed the exploits of young adults on a road trip, and Abraham's
journey of faith.
Students had a mission at each site ranging from scavenger hunts to
painting a room at Grace Covenant Church in Chicago.
"The logistics were a nightmare," says Nyman. That included whittling
the numerous ideas he had for the trip. The students stayed with
families at several Covenant churches during the trip, and a hotel
donated rooms for one evening. The trip cost each student $400, which
included a ticket for a flight from Albany, New York, to Indianapolis,
Indiana, as well as meals. The church budget provided funds for use of
the church van, Nyman noted. Costs were kept to a minimum because most
of the activities and sites were free.
It was the second time Nyman led the journey and he says parents didn't
offer any resistance to the idea, including the first trip three years
ago. He adds that parents had some idea where the students were
traveling on that trip. "Besides, I've been here seven years."
Students were given a list of items to pack, including some items
designed to fool the teenagers as to where they might be headed. Others
were used, but in ways students could never imagine. On the previous
trip, for example, students each brought a small stone. At the Boston
Holocaust Museum, the students stacked the stones on top of each other
because that is the Jewish custom, instead of placing flowers.
Students also were exposed to new experiences by visiting different
churches. A worship service at Brooklyn Covenant Ministries at the
beginning of the trip led Kate Clayborne to write in the blog: "I never
thought I would be able to say that I've conga-lined during a church
service, but I sure can now. Everyone there was so warm and friendly,
the service was lively, and we were prayed for by a woman from Trinidad."
By the end of the trip, the students could say they had done a lot of
things they never did before.
(Editor's note: top photo shows the students at Millennium Park in
Chicago. The lower photo shows students in the painting project at Grace
Covenant.)
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