On June 6, a group of 37 students and adults from Our Saviour’s will travel to Anchorage, Alaska, for a week of service in partnership with Praying Pelican Missions. Among the cohort are high school students experiencing a week away from home for the first time; college students who missed the chance to participate in an OSLC mission trip during the COVID-19 pandemic; and adults who have been part of mission trips at Our Saviour’s for years.

Scott Damge falls into the last category, having gone on his first OSLC mission trip in 2017 with his daughters, Rachel (now 26) and Abby (24). (Son Will is 21.)

“I’m glad I stepped out of my comfort zone and did it,” says Scott of that first trip, a Praying Pelican mission experience in Haiti. For Scott, the mission-trip experiences when his children were in school were so meaningful that he was inspired to continued serving as a chaperone for new classes of Ignition high school students.

“Being involved in youth mission trips has been a very rewarding experience,” Scott says. “Seeing the kids persevere through challenges and growing from the experience is awesome.”

Youth Ministries administrative assistant Karen (Kiki) Lindflott echoes the sentiment. “It takes a village to raise kids, especially during their high school years,” says Kiki. During mission trips, as with other Ignition programming, students “get to hear the ideas of other adults and youth with similar goals and values,” she says.

Kiki says that when her own children reached high school, she saw how important it was for them to have a safe, fun place where they were welcomed and part of a specific community of young adults with similar values. She was grateful that Our Saviour’s provided just such a community, and that gratitude fueled her continued involvement as a volunteer after her kids graduated, much like Scott’s experience.

Sports teams, artistic endeavors, academic leagues and affinity groups all compete for students' time, Kiki notes, and all of these can benefit students' physical, artistic and intellectual development, but they don't necessarily center on core values that students can take with them and use throughout their life. In Ignition, students learn about God's love for them and all creation and about what hope in action looks like.

Over the course of the past year, Ignition students have assembled hygiene bundles for the West Side Opiod and Heroin Task Force, slept out at Celebration Campus and raised money for Bridge Communities, and prepared and served dinner for unhoused individuals at Chicago’s South Loop Community Table. The Alaska mission trip, like these other service projects, offers a chance for students to be part of Our Saviour’s mission to Know Jesus and Make Jesus Known.

“Having this legacy of involvement is invaluable for high schoolers,” Kiki says. “Through this outreach, the teens get to see the value in getting together with those they wouldn’t typically come into contact with during their usual meetings or activities. They get to see and experience the impact they can have on improving the lives of others.”

For those who might be interested in being part of a future OSLC mission trip, Scott offers this encouragement: “Take Nike's advice and ‘just do it’!” he says. “Push through your fears and apprehensions and step out of your comfort zone. You won't regret it, and you’ll make memories that you will cherish forever.”