It’s 75 days until our departure as I write this update and there is a buzz of excitement for our journey ahead.

13 youth and 5 team staff from around Australia are preparing for the trip of a lifetime in July to USA where we will spend a few days learning about Community of Christ in Independence, sightseeing in Kansas City and then joining with other youth for the week-long SPECTACULAR camp at Graceland University.

Despite our geographic spread, we will head into this trip knowing each other quite well, thanks to our digital connections. The youth are regularly chatting on Snapchat and Discord, the parents and staff have a WhatsApp group and we are having whole group monthly zoom catchups on the last Sunday of each month.

There has been an enormous amount of support for this event from the Mission Centre as a whole (including from congregations, geographic areas and private donations from members) and we are so very grateful. It has made this trip affordable, enabling increased participation. The church’s combined act of faith and support in our youth is testament to the generosity of our community and willingness to plant seeds for our future.

Kristie Woodward

Community Plus Coordinator