A Massanetta Story: In Real Time

Alicia heard about Mission at Massanetta through her friend and colleague Laura. “Laura had participated in Mission at Massanetta before and spoke highly of it,” with her strong recommendation, Alicia decided to sign the youth from The Presbyterian Church of Lawrenceville up for their first experience at Massanetta.

On previous mission trips, Alicia had to do everything–plan the work sites, cook, and lead the devotions. “For someone who works full time in youth ministry, Mission at Massanetta was really appealing to me because all of the programming was done for us. ” Not spending time setting up worksites, planning devotions, or cooking meals meant Alicia could focus on the experience of her youth.

Over the course of their week, they served seven different local Harrisonburg and Rockingham organizations with missions ranging from alleviating food insecurity to sheltering and caring for animals. The volunteer work provided The Presbyterian Church of Lawrenceville’s youth with a way to live out and reflect on their faith each day.

“I loved that each night we were able to have a devotion with one another and connect the work we had done that day back to scripture. We would talk about how our Christian faith connected with the work we were doing and how that matters as Christian leaders.” Alicia continued, “It was amazing to see the impact the trip had on the youth in real time. For me as a young person, I connected to my faith through service and it was amazing to see that happening for the young people on this trip.”

Mission at Massanetta continued to make an impact when they returned home. One of the youth was so inspired by their own experience that, as soon as they got back, decided to deepen their faith and understanding of the church by for the church’s confirmation class. Because of the generous Massanetta Springs community youth learn about their faith in hands-on ways that make a lasting difference. Thank you.