Name of School: Faith Heritage School
Location of School: Syracuse, New York
Missions/Service
Program Objective: to provide an opportunity for students who have a close walk with the Lord, an interest in missions, and basic Spanish skills to serve Him in a country outside the United States
Summary of Program:
For several years prior to its first mission trip in 1995, Faith Heritage School wanted to offer a foreign missions experience to its students. In the fall of 1994, the school actively researched over 30 missions organizations, looking for a trip that would meet several criteria:
- It would not be tied to any particular denomination since the school was independent in nature.
- It would focus on evangelism using one-on-one ministry.
- It would allow students to experience life in a foreign country and use their Spanish skills.
- It would not be overly expensive or dangerous.
The school selected Youth United Gospel Outreach (Y.U.G.O.) because its trips met the above criteria and it had over 30 years of experience working in cities on the Mexican side of the border between the United States and Mexico. The school then chose Reynosa, Mexico, which is just across the border from McAllen, Texas, as their work location.
For the last seven years, the ministry of Faith Heritage has focused on the same small village church in an extremely poor area on the outskirts of Reynosa. The resulting ongoing relationship has been a great blessing to all involved, and many team members have returned for several years even after going on to college.
Planning for the trip begins before the school year starts, and applications to participate are made available in November. To qualify, students must have completed two years of Spanish, must meet the spiritual criteria for ministry, and must raise $850 for traveling expenses. Then by January, the team is formed. Training sessions begin immediately, and they are held approximately every three weeks for the rest of the school year and include two 24-hour overnight sessions.
The training is for three major ministries that take place simultaneously each morning in the village. Part of the team prepares to do a VBS ministry, which uses puppetry, skits, songs, memory verses, and clowns. This ministry occurs outside in a dirt lot near the church and typically involves about 130 children daily.
Another part of the team prepares to do a women’s ministry. This outreach includes daily crafts as well as Bible studies and testimonies, and it comprises about 25 ladies who meet in the church during VBS.
The third part of the team focuses on the young men of the village through a soccer outreach. Daily temperatures are 110 to 115 degrees Fahrenheit, so the players welcome breaks that provide cold drinks. Team members use skits and tracts as well as preaching and sharing testimonies to spread the gospel. This ministry takes place about a mile from the church in an open field and attracts 25 to 30 young men each day. In addition to these ministries, which last each morning from about 10:00 until 12:00, the team returns to the village around 6:00 P.M. for an evening service.
As a result of these missions trips, lasting friendships have been established, and each year the people of the village eagerly anticipate the week-long visit. Those involved from the school maintain contact with people from the village throughout the year and can thereby begin ministry upon arrival as though they had never left.
Saints with a Mission 5.5