Opening Our Hearts to God’s World

The Mission Trip Experience

2012 Mission Trips
    Mexico: February 18–25, 2012
    Cuba: April 21–28, 2012
    Urban Plunge/Regeneration: Chicago: May 18–20, 2012
    Lakota Rosebud and Pine Ridge Reservations: June 16–23, 2012
    Haley Farm, Tennessee: July 18–22, 2012
    Honduras: July 25–August 4, 2012
    New Orleans: September 24–30, 2012
    Presbyterian Disaster Assistance: Dates to be announced

Application Form

For More Information



Opening Our Hearts to God’s World

Mission trips planned for 2012 will enable us, as representatives of Fourth Presbyterian Church, to live with and learn from our brothers and sisters from around the world, from Central America to Chicago’s South Side. We share their struggles with hunger and violence. We do what we can to help, but mostly we show that we care.

We also discover that when we break away from our routines, we see new connections and make lasting friendships with each other.

If you are unable to travel, you can still participate in global mission by attending special programs featuring our partners from around the world. Events are announced in the News@FourthChurch e-newsletter (request a subscription via news@fourthchurch.org) and the Sunday bulletin insert “News and Opportunities.”

Occasionally calls go out for items needed by our hosts, such as medications and church school supplies, which our travelers can take with them. We invite you to consider supporting this aspect of global mission.

The material things, though, are secondary. Invariably our hosts make one request we all can honor: “Pray for us.”

The Fourth Church Mission Committee invites you to explore the spiritual adventures described here, to open your heart and answer the call.

Back to top


The Mission Trip Experience

However you can, take advantage of the opportunities described in this booklet and join us in reaching out to our brothers and sisters in other parts of the world. Experience the vastness of Christ’s church and build unforgettable relationships.
If you are able to travel with us, please know that—

• Estimated trip costs include airfare, most meals, lodging, and ground transportation. Actual costs may vary.
• Each trip participant must pay a 50 percent deposit of fees in advance, $100 of which is nonrefundable.
• Scholarship applications are available upon request.
• Individuals traveling on international mission trips must have passports valid for at least six months beyond the end of the trip.
• Reflective worship is an important part of every trip. Trip leaders include experienced lay leaders and members of the Fourth Church program and clergy staff.
• While our hosts make every effort to follow announced plans and itineraries, we must accept the blessing that plans change—often in wonderful and unexpected ways.
• Unless stated otherwise, all ages and abilities are welcome to apply.
• Travelers must adhere to the “Guidelines for Mission Trip Members” included with each application.

We hope you will join us in reaching out!

Back to top




Mexico

February 18–25, 2012

Accessing drinkable water for those who thirst

Todd Luke gave up his job as a Chicago lawyer to serve as a lay missionary in Xpujil, Mexico. Pronounced “shpoo-HEEL,” the village is surrounded by Mayan ruins in the southern part of the beautiful Yucatan Peninsula. The indigenous Chól people here face a basic problem that stymies sustained development: a lack of drinkable water.

Todd now works through Mexico’s Campechano Presbytery and the Outreach Foundation of the Presbyterian Church (USA). He and his family often host visiting work teams as they help families build concrete cisterns that capture clean rainwater off the metal rooftops of village houses.

The week will include

• moving sand and gravel for the cisterns
• field work related to other projects, such as agriculture and sheep-raising
• sharing in the spiritual growth of people who are new to the church
• a recuperative day and night in Cancun before flying back to Chicago

Accommodations for this trip are limited to eight participants.

“Our cistern project has the potential to motivate people
and communities in ways that go beyond our expectations.”
— Todd Luke, lay missionary

Trip leaders: Donna Gray and Joe Pixler

Applications due: December 1, 2011 (with $1,100 deposit)

Estimated cost: $2,200

Back to top

Cuba
April 21–28, 2012
Celebrating the gospel to a Latin beat

Fourth Church continues its unique sister-church relationship with the First Presbyterian Church of Havana (“Una Luz en la Ciudad”— A Light in the City) in 2012.

Participants will

• learn about Cuban history and culture and the key roles Cuban Presbyterians have played
• witness the resilience of a church thriving amid scarcity
• experience great music and lively worship services at First Havana and house churches, celebrating the gospel to a Latin beat
• be inspired by the programs and projects of First Havana, including its Bible-studying baseball teams
• interact with children, parents, and leaders of First Havana and Havana Presbytery
• learn about the growing importance of urban gardening in Cuba

All travelers stay at the air-conditioned dormitory of First Havana in the central city. Rooms are on the second and third floors with no elevator.

Our license to visit Cuba, as granted by the U.S. government, requires that all participants be members of a church.

“When people from Fourth Church go to Havana, we find a familiar church in an unfamiliar country.
Together we’ve made a family that overcomes all barriers to become one in Christ.”
— Gretchen Wahl, Cuba mission trip participant

Web resource: Presbiteriana de la Habana on Facebook

Trip leaders: Judy Watt and Gretchen Wahl

Applications due: January 23, 2012 (with $1,250 deposit)

Estimated cost: $2,500

“The Urban Plunge is a great way to participate in the global mission of Fourth Church right here in the city.”
— Beth Rizer, 2011 trip participant

Urban Plunge/Regeneration
May 18–20, 2012
Working and worshiping in Woodlawn

When First Presbyterian Church was founded in 1833, Chicago consisted of a fort and a few log cabins. First Church leaders saw an urgent need to address social and spiritual ills then, and their commitment to social ministry continues.

This event is a special opportunity for members, families, and friends of Fourth Church—once a mission church of First Church—to support the South Side congregation of modern urban pioneers as they serve their Woodlawn neighborhood, one of the city’s poorest.

Participants can expect to

• do building maintenance and spring cleanup on the grounds of the historic church at 6400 S. Kimbark
• learn how the church works with the Angelic Organics organization to improve local access to fresh, healthy food via community gardens and urban farming classes
• share a meal and Sunday morning worship with the congregation

Web resources: www.firstpreschicago.org | www.learngrowconnect.org

Trip leaders: Stanley Smith and Vicki Reynolds

Applications due: May 15, 2012 (with payment of event cost)

Estimated cost: $30

Back to top

“On this trip, we are reminded that we are a part of nature and the earth and that we are all related: ‘Mitakuye oyasin.’”
— Ruth Mortensen, 2011 trip participant

Lakota Rosebud and Pine Ridge Reservations
June 16–23, 2012
Reconciling with Native Americans

Lakota (Sioux) Indians of South Dakota’s Great Plains describe life as a spiritual journey in human form to reconnect with our relatives who have gone before us. In this trip, we witness this journey on the Lakota Rosebud and Pine Ridge Reservations near Rapid City and celebrate our shared faith in one Creator.

Mission trip participants are challenged to fully appreciate this trip purely as a learning experience, to see how Native Americans maintain a vital link to their rich heritage. Particularly inspiring is the work of Tillie Black Bear, who has dedicated her life to finding local solutions to the escalating social epidemics of domestic violence and teen suicide that threaten the Native American culture’s future. Accommodations are in a basic motel and travel is by van.

Participants can expect to

• strive toward reconciliation with Native Americans
• gain deeper understanding of Lakota spirituality
• listen to Lakota lesson stories
• visit Wounded Knee and Crazy Horse Monument
• tour the beautiful Badlands and Black Hills

Trip leader: John Vest and Vicki Reynolds

Applications due: March 19, 2012 (with $750 deposit)

Estimated cost: $1,300

Haley Farm, Tennessee
July 18–22, 2012
Advocating for children

Each summer, leading Christian voices from throughout the United States gather for five days of faith-based advocacy training, spiritual renewal, movement-building workshops, and continuing education around the urgent needs of children. This summer we will join them in Clinton, Tennessee, for the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Institute for Child Advocacy Ministry conference sponsored by the Children’s Defense Fund (CDF) at Haley Farm.

Once home to the late Roots author Alex Haley, the Children’s Defense Fund Haley Farm is considered the spiritual home of the CDF movement. The beautiful setting of the farm and lodge also includes the Langston Hughes Library and the interfaith Riggio Lynch Chapel designed by Maya Lin.

Each day of the conference participants will have opportunity to

• begin the morning with devotions, Bible study, and theological reflection
• attend a plenary discussion
• take part in breakout workshops focusing on critical issues facing children in the twenty-first century
• worship with others committed to justice issues and hear some of the most well-known and prolific preaching voices as part of the “Great Preacher Series” 

Web resources: www.childrensdefense.org/programs-campaigns/faith-based-action/proctor-institute/

Trip leader: Kerri Allen

Applications due: May 15, 2012 (with $600 deposit)

Estimated cost: $1,200

“We feel very independent now. We have hope.”
— Habitat for Humanity homeowner

 
Honduras
July 25–August 4, 2012
Building upon a foundation of faith

Fourth Church will continue its work with Habitat for Humanity by traveling to Santa Rosa de Copan in the western mountains of Honduras for a week of home-building.

All able-bodied workers over are welcome. It's a great opportunity for families with children thirteen and older. The group divides up each day to work at separate home sites and reconnects each evening for dinner and reflection. Labors over the six workdays include

• filling floors with soil and tamping it firm
• constructing reinforced steel supports
• laying blocks for foundations and walls
• mixing cement

Participants can expect to develop relationships with the family whose house they help build and with the neighbors, especially the children. The workweek ends with a home dedication ceremony. A Sunday excursion to the Mayan ruins of Copan and an end-of-trip stay at the island resort of Roatán complete the itinerary.

Weather should be temperate but possibly wet at the worksites, hot at the resort.

Web resource: www.habitat.hn

Trip leaders: Tom and Sue Schemper

Applications due: April 16 (with $1,250 deposit)

Estimated cost: $2,500


Back to top

“Why are we rebuilding a place prone to the ravages of hurricanes? Because life is a series of acts of faith, like these mission trips.”
— Joe Pixler, 2010 trip participant

New Orleans
September 24–30, 2012
Wrapping up our work with RHINO

Fourth Church has been sending work groups to the Gulf Coast since early 2006 when the effects of Hurricane Katrina were most brutally evident. Initially the work was demolition to clear the way for reconstruction. Under the auspices of Rebuilding Hope in New Orleans (RHINO), a mission of St. Charles Avenue Presbyterian Church in partnership with Habitat for Humanity, our work evolved into the construction of affordable housing.

We’ve have a hand in turning empty city lots into new and vibrant neighborhoods such as Musicians Village and Ferry Place. Now we are planning a final RHINO work trip to New Orleans, including a celebration with families who live in the homes we helped build.

While all able-bodied workers are welcome, especially past trip participants, there are particular needs for those with basic skills in

• general carpentry
• roofing
• painting

Workdays are Tuesday through Saturday, with a Sunday morning service at St. Charles Avenue Presbyterian Church. Group housing accommodations are provided.

Web resource: www.scapc.org/RHINO/

Trip leaders: Vicky Curtiss and Lisa Radetski

Applications due: July 2, 2012 (with $450 deposit)

Estimated cost: $900

Back to top

Presbyterian Disaster Assistance
Dates to be announced
Building a team for a quicker response

Hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, wildfires—disasters, whether natural or manmade, are instant realities of life. Fourth Church wants to meet the needs of people in affected areas by sending mission teams to help in any way we can.

In the past, we’ve scheduled trips to locations well after disasters have occurred. This year, we plan to work with Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) to take a more proactive approach.

The plan is to

• develop a team of able-bodied adult members and friends of Fourth Church who want to be called upon to assist in future disaster recovery efforts
• send available team members to a location within the continental United States that needs our help in a more timely way

Preparation with PDA representatives will be provided, starting with a general informational program open to all. The one-week trip will be set at least eight weeks in advance.

To receive details as they become available, contact Vicki Reynolds (312.981.3384).

Web resource: http://gamc.pcusa.org/ministries/pda/

Trip leaders: Fourth Church staff to be determined

Estimated cost: Up to $1,000 depending on location (half due with application)

Back to top



For More Information
Contact Vicki Reynolds
Director of Mission, Fourth Presbyterian Church
vreynolds@fourthchurch.org
312.981.3384