This was my first mission trip as a leader, but I clearly remember the impact of mission trips on my life growing up. The one I remember most clearly is when members of my church youth group carefully packed our things into the church van and traveled from Oklahoma to Texas. It was about a 9-hour trip and as the week unfolded, the impact our group made became clear. Even though our mission trip was to a different part of the country serving different people, I know that the impact we made was a positive one, just like the impact that our MUP group made the week of July 9-14, 2023.

​

We spent the week partnering with two other church groups, one from Columbus, Nebraska and the other from New Berlin, Wisconsin. We worked with the ARC of Quad Cities, Camp Excel and Active Day. The work ranged from indoor cleaning and organizing to outside yard work. During these projects our group also had the opportunity to interact with special needs adults by playing games and doing crafts. Our Blackhawk workgroup also got to spend an afternoon with the children and youth at Camp Excel. We played games in their gym, enjoyed their playground, and taught them our favorite dance, “Church Clap”. 

​

After our work during the day, we were able to have a little fun each evening. Monday’s activity was playing at White Water Junction, a local waterpark. On the second evening we enjoyed a treat at Whitey’s Ice Cream and explored the Davenport Skybridge. Listening to a community speaker from project PUNCH (People Uniting Neighbors and Churches), enjoying pizza and a lip sync battle kept us busy on Wednesday night.  On our last evening we had a whole group cookout and enjoyed playing at a local park.