Joshua Stewart, Associate Pastor

Dear friends,

This past July, our high school Youth Group traveled to Arecibo, Puerto Rico for our annual Mission Trip. Our theme was “Go, Give, Grow” alongside the verse “Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received” (1 Peter 4:10). There were over 50 of us in Arecibo (24 from FPC) doing mission work with an incredible mission organization called Youthworks. Let me say, it was an absolutely excellent mission trip! Our students got the opportunity to plunge into relational ministries such as a drug rehab center for young men, a foster child transition home, a kid’s club in the “projects” of Arecibo, a center for the elderly, and a daycare and preschool.

Logan is a senior in high school, and we were in the kid’s club group that worked with children in a rough neighborhood in Arecibo. Logan and I have been on three mission trips together. We’ve worked on houses together in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, and we’ve seen the destruction of Hurricane Katrina. This year, we were in for a much different experience. Logan and I worked in “kid’s club” all week. A tough assignment. The children in kid’s club were extremely at-risk and impoverished. Tough kids. Kids who are tough for a reason, if you catch my drift. “Organized chaos” was our goal all week at kid’s club, and I am proud of all our students who worked so hard to befriend and play with these challenging children. Well, on Tuesday, July 8th, something happened. Our group spent the morning with another neighborhood group of children on a beach. This beach was covered in litter and black-sticky sand. After playing in this run-down beach all morning, we went to wash off our dirty legs and shoes. While the washing was happening, Logan came to find me and said rather excitedly, “Hey Josh, guess what? I just had my feet washed…BY A KID!” Sure enough, one child (the youngest child actually, named Brian) was washing everyone’s feet. This child whom we came to serve was washing our feet. My emotions went in every direction, and then it hit me! Right in front of our faces, we were witnessing the grace of God, the face of God, in this small poor child. This little servant was doing the lowliest of tasks. He was blessing us. And I am so proud of Logan for seeing this. Because he “got it.” He knew something important just happened, and he immediately went to share the good news. I will never forget that moment, and I don’t think Logan will either. Because in that moment, we saw a glimpse of the Holy One. A glimpse of our eternal God who will stop at nothing to find us, serve us, bless us, and send us on our way to serve others. Thanks be to God for children such as these…for theirs is the kingdom of God.