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February 5, 2006Mission to Moss PointStudents learn to comprehend the reality of 'Amazing Grace'Teamwork led to real results on the ground
Twelve- year-old Meagan Van Til sings with class- mates from Traverse City Christian during service at Temple Baptist Church in Moss Point, Miss. Van Til, 12, joined classmates from Traverse City Christian School during a worship service on the final night of their mission trip last month to Moss Point, Miss. They sang standards like "Amazing Grace" - the words to which they saw echoed on makeshift signs among the wreckage of Hurricane Katrina. Van Til said those words hit home. "This experience has given me perspective on how natural disasters can influence faith," she said. "God is not punishing people, he is only making us stronger." Volunteers who toiled to assist victims of Hurricane Katrina gathered at the service and celebrated, laughed and reflected on how the journey impacted them and their faith. Les Wiseman, a youth pastor from Traverse City who escorted students on the trip, called the relief work humbling. "You will be a different kind of believer after this experience," Wiseman said. The 118 seventh- through 12th-graders spent Jan. 21-28 helping repair southern Mississippi homes ravaged by Hurricane Katrina. The students and their adult chaperones cleaned, painted, drywalled and replaced roofs during Traverse City Christian's first school-wide mission trip. A handful of students who didn't travel to Mississippi worked on mission projects in Traverse City. Elizabeth Palmer, 18, spent a day in Mississippi clearing trees and brush from the backyard of an Ocean Springs home. The owner had stayed on in his house. "When we got there, I thought there was no way we could get it all done in one day," she said. "But we did." The students worshipped at Temple Baptist Church and donned green T-shirts with a map of Mississippi - gifts from their hosts at the church. Michelle Benson, a junior at Traverse City Christian, looked forward to another mission trip next year. Senior students choose and raise funds for an annual trip. "I think it's definitely unified us," Benson said.
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