Go Beyond

This month, over 450 Kingsland student and adult volunteers are serving the purposes of God from Houston all the way to the ends of the earth. As I write these words, our teams are serving in Tanzania, Costa Rica, Montana, Chicago, Texas, and in Houston’s inner-city wards. And, on Monday, I will leave for India with our high school graduates. We are truly making a glocal (global + local) impact this month for the kingdom of God.

Trip chaperone Gil Harris leading morning devotional at GenerationOne.

This morning, my niece Maddie and I ventured down to Houston’s Third Ward to join Kingsland’s 6th Graders on mission. Every summer, our 6th grade students begin their missions experience by serving alongside our urban partners — this week with GenerationOne in the Third Ward and Rose of Sharon Baptist Church in the Fourth Ward. Our kids are engaged in a variety of service projects and other work with younger kids from inner-city neighborhoods.

My niece Maddie with GenOne staffer. Picking up garbage in Third Ward.

One of our house painting teams.

Our 6th Graders hard at work, in spite of the heat!

To say that it was hot today would be an understatement. But, the heat did not beat or slow down our kids. They picked up a ton (well, it looked like a ton) of garbage from streets and empty lots and also painted homes. In the afternoon, one of our teams worked at a non-profit mattress recycling place. Our boys took apart old mattresses and sorted materials for recycling, an operation that raises much-needed funds for the respective charity.

Our mattress recycling team.

My friend Bethany, director of Kingsland’s college class, joined us with a guest from Eastern Europe who serves with a ministry that works alongside adoption agencies. These young ladies worked hard. Before she left, our guest told me how impressed she was with our students and their willingness to work hard. We talked briefly about how initiatives like these help our kids to learn how to serve others, expecting nothing in return. We serve others because we love God and love people.

Our 6th Grade Team at the GenerationOne headquarters in Houston’s Third Ward.

I appreciate our student ministry and all that they do to prepare our students to serve. Every year, I hear from students who tell me that they feel God’s call to vocational ministry because of what they learned and experienced on our student mission trips. And so many of our students learn to see our community and our world through new eyes — to see as though through the eyes of Jesus. That’s a very good thing.

Thank you Trisha, Gil, chaperones, and 6th grade students for a great day of service. You can read more about what all of our student teams are doing by reading trip updates on our website.