Ready to SERVE

Ready to SERVE

BY CHRIS VANDEREIDE Fulton, IL

Seven years ago, my husband and I decided to become volunteer youth leaders at our church the same year our twin daughters joined the youth group. We had a small youth group through Thrive Ministries—a collaboration of three Christian Reformed Churches and some kids from other area churches—and it was here that our co-leader, Rollie VanderEide, introduced us to Youth Unlimited and SERVE.

We had no idea what to expect but, with our faith in God, we loaded up nine teens, four leaders and all our gear for a week-long SERVE trip to Alamosa, Colorado. Words cannot describe the spiritual high we found ourselves on and brought back to our church after this amazing, God-filled experience. After just one week, we were hooked.

Our youth group kids were on fire. They excitedly told their friends about the trip, and they wanted to incorporate some of the SERVE experience into our weekly meetings. We started changing things, and our youth group soon began to grow. We had 20-plus teens join us every Sunday evening and our supporting churches noticed. We wanted to share our SERVE experiences with our town.

However, the thought of hosting SERVE in our small town in Illinois along the Mississippi was planted in our souls, but our church wasn’t ready just yet. As with several churches across America, our church was struggling, but our youth group was thriving. Our students were learning and growing. They were taking the things they learned through their SERVE experiences and going on college mission trips to other countries and/or staying close to home and becoming leaders in our youth group, hoping to see a Fulton SERVE happen.

We were able to gain more experience while going to Bunde, Minnesota SERVE, Houston SERVE, Sioux Falls SERVE, Holland SERVE and Brookside SERVE. After each week of SERVE we’ve attended, our youth group kids would again ask, “When can we host our own SERVE?” They would brainstorm with us how we could do worksites, praise time, the day away and more, all while waiting for God to tell us it’s time.

This year marks the seventh year my husband, Jeff, and I (along with at least one of our three kids) have attended SERVE. We are excited to have now crossed the border for our first time to Thunder Bay SERVE! But as Thrive Ministries is thriving, so is our youth group. God spoke and we listened. After seven years of gaining ideas and waiting patiently, we will be hosting our first SERVE in Fulton, IL in the summer of 2020.

It has been such a blessing to see how SERVE has affected our youth group kids as they’ve moved on in life, and we cannot wait to create an atmosphere for other kids to experience that, too.

We hope to see you at Fulton SERVE 2020!

“It has been such a blessing to see how SERVE has affected our youth group kids as they’ve moved on in life, and we cannot wait to create an atmosphere for other kids to experience that, too.”