Hello everybody! If you have not met me, I am Ainsley, the summer intern for the FUMC Youth Ministries program. If you have looked at our schedule this summer, or taken a gander at our Instagram, you know we have been quite busy with dozens of hours of service projects and shenanigans.
Our first overnight event this summer was our Middle School Mission Blitz held at the Justin building. Over a couple of days, we had 7th and 8th graders working together to improve the Fort Worth community. They worked at outstanding organizations all around town like the Learning Garden, Project Transformation, Union Gospel Mission, and our very own First Street Methodist Mission. At these sites they participated in sorting clothes, picking vegetables, playing with kids, shoveling compost, and painting tiles to beautify our city. These kids spread their wings like birds in the wind and really reached out to our community to lend an extra hand. Beyond these amazing projects we helped with, we of course got into our regular antics and fun at the Justin.

Adventure is the best way to explain how this High School Mission Trip went. We took our high schoolers on an adventure to St Louis, Missouri, and learned about the culture and history of the city. Through Youth Works, we were able to go to different work sites every day and experience all new types of people, work, and the history of the community. We spent time gardening, sorting clothes for women in need, and helping people utilize food pantries, among other things. With all of these work sites during the day, the evenings came with worship. All of these teenagers dove into our time of worship exhausted and in need of a real shower. However, this did not deter them from being present throughout the week.

Camp Barnabas is another trip we go on each summer to Purdy, Missouri to volunteer as one on one caretakers for kids with physical and developmental disabilities for a week. This summer we brought a total of 23 youth to Barnabas and they were absolutely amazing. Through the hard times, gross times, and times of confusion we found laughs together everywhere we went. This is one of our favorite organizations to volunteer with and I cannot wait to see all of the new people and old that show up next year for this trip.
Our overall theme this summer was Camp Justin which we based on the letters in the new testament to Paul. This summer, we all came together in our big community room to talk about these letters and the material in them. We also explored our community and our theme by going out to FUMC’s very own Lyle Lodge for ‘Camp Days’. We had a kickoff camp day, messy camp day, and craft camp day. They were a big hit for our youth ministries department.

Now that all of our trips are done for this summer, we are planning for our classes and scheduling events for our fall season. For me personally, I am unfortunately heading back to the University of Oklahoma and will be away from these amazing teens for a few months. I have had an unbelievable time this summer with this crazy staff and chaotic teens. Although moody, messy, and ridiculous, these kids are easily the greatest people I have ever been around. It has been a true honor getting to know all of them this summer and I cannot wait to come back and see them again.

Love,
Ainsley Bond