My Most Memorable Trip

by Grace Wiersma, member of Harvest OPC, Wyoming, Michigan

My short-term mission trip to Thousand Oaks, California has been my most memorable so far. While there, our group helped Thousand Oaks Presbyterian Church, an OPC church plant, run their annual VBS. Our time was spent setting up the venue with decorations and activities, singing gospel songs, playing games, memorizing Scripture verses, and helping wherever else was needed. We also had a lot of fellowship time with the various families of the church there.

Our group stayed with Pastor Caleb Smith and his family, and I am very thankful for their hospitality. The Smiths were great hosts, and I absolutely loved getting to get to know all of them. We enjoyed getting to go around the town of Thousand Oaks with some of the church families: the Smiths, Penroses, and Larevas. We also spent many of our evenings having fellowship meals with several other families from the church. I particularly enjoyed these dinners because I got to learn more about this church in California and the people we were working alongside. 

I also loved being able to work with the kids who came to VBS! There were many kids who had a real zeal for the gospel and others who didn't know it at all. Seeing the kids worship the Lord was a great joy. Getting to know the other people who came to volunteer was another huge blessing.  

The two Sundays we were at Thousand Oaks, pastor Smith preached on the fundamentals of a good church and why we should pursue those things. It was encouraging to worship with the church before and after serving with them during the week of VBS.

To top it all off, I couldn’t believe that I was able to reconnect with Schylie LaBelle (Presbyterian Church of Cape Cod (OPC), Barnstable, MA), another volunteer who traveled out to help with Thousand Oaks’ VBS, who had previously attended my church many years ago. That was such a fun little connecting moment for me. You never know who you’ll connect (or reconnect) with on a short-term mission trip!

In all, I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Thousand Oaks and would whole-heartedly do it again.