Missions Team Purposeful Connections is making Purposeful Connections in Bangor this week

Day 1

After meeting in the school parking lot at 1:45, our team of 4 (Simon, Mrs. Trowsdale, Mr. Martens, and Mr. Huffman) hit the road to Bangor, Maine on our 3 hour drive plus an extra 2 hours at Panera Bread for lunch where we got to meet a fellow missionary and Purposeful Connections expert named Billy.

After lunch, we got to meet our host families; (the girls are staying with Jackie and the boys are staying with the Smyth’s).  Overall a great day of car fellowship and settling into our new life for the next week!

Day 2

A 7:00 am departure for school felt very normal to a day at Jesse and a beautiful chapel service with worship led by Billy and teaching led by Mr. Huffman.

After chapel and a chance to meet many of the kids, we engaged in some journaling with the kids where we get to talk about the complexities of teenage life through a series of letters and offer wisdom and support for the kids where they are at. It is a great way to build intimate relationships. We also played a game called coffee mug where students anonymously write questions about faith on notecards and our panel of leaders does their best to answer the questions.  

Today, school let out early for the “holiday” known as the solar eclipse.  Our team got to drive up to a small park with lots of food, music, and dancing to witness this once in a lifetime event.  To conclude our evening, we are spending more time with our host families to prepare for our day again tomorrow.

Day 3

This morning we had another 7:30 am arrival to prepare for chapel.  We also got to meet 3 new members of the team, Maddy, Christina and Christina (yes there are 2 of them); all alumna of the Purposeful Connections program.  During chapel, we got to hear our very own Mrs. Trowsdale speak on the deceptive attractiveness of sin and Simon spoke about the different facades he has hidden behind in life and how he has put them aside to receive the fullness of God’s grace that comes from vulnerability.

After chapel, we spent more time journaling with our 8th graders and playing the coffee cup game with grades 7-10.  During lunch we got to hang out with the students as peers and further develop relationships with them.  Also, special shout out to The Downs Family for cooking the team a very special lasagna dinner and to The Smyth’s for hosting the dinner!