MOSES
(Making OurSelves Equipped Servants)
endeavors to equip Christian young people and adults to share the
love of God, the salvation of Jesus Christ, and the power of the
Holy Spirit by its service of word and deed.
Please scroll down to see some reports of our recent trips and Works, as well as information about upcoming trips, including how to sign up.
MOSES organizes several types of Mission Trips throughout each year. We have Weekend Missions to Chicago or Detroit, a Thanksgiving Mission to Toronto, Spring Break trips for younger and older teens, and our Mexico Mission trips in the summertime.
For more information on any of these trips, contact the MOSES office (616-949-0344, email mosesjudy@gmail.com) or Rob (231-670-6431, email robertbergman@students.kuyper.edu).
MOSES Weekends MOSES Weekend Trips are designed for youth groups to serve together and strengthen their bond in Christ. Youth leaders are given the opportunity to get to know their youth without having to concentrate on logistics and planning.
Typically the group will leave Friday evening and will arrive home Sunday afternoon. When we arrive to the site, either Chicago or Detroit , we have a time for our Team Leaders and the group to get acquainted, snacks, and sleep for the work day. On Saturday, the group works all day in various projects such as demolition, clean up, painting, light construction, sorting items for thrift stores and more. Our goal is to serve the church or organization in according to their needs. On Saturday evening, the group spends time exploring the city. Sunday we worship with the church that we were serving and journey back home.
As with all of our Trips, MOSES provides the leadership. The Trip Coordinator, Team Directors, Team Shepherds are trained to make your weekend a great experience.
Recently, we have been working in Chicago with several different ministries. At Lawndale Christian Reformed Church, we have been helping them with the new property that they have acquired, as well as some maintainence on their current buildings. We have also been working with Grace and Peace Church. They always keep us busy!!!
Weekend trips are scheduled with the churches when requested. See the Weekend Trips Contract Form (PDF): please print, fill out, and return to MOSES.
MOSES Thanksgiving in Toronto Our Toronto Thanksgiving trip is always a popular choice. This trip leaves on Wed. after school, arriving in Toronto late Wed. PM, serving at shelters, rescue missions and churches Thursday-Saturday and arriving home on Sunday evening. $100 covers round-trip transportation from Grand Rapids, MI; food and lodging on location. Daily devotions and worship are led by experienced MOSES teen leaders. Drivers are mature MOSES adults (over 21 with good driving records). The only out-of-pocket expenses for this trip would be two fast-food stops and possible sight-seeing/shopping. This trip, as most MOSES trips, provides a wonderful experience with many cultures and ethnicities.
MOSES Spring Break Missions MOSES Spring Break Trips are designed for young people and coincide with local college and high school spring break dates. These young people come from several different schools, pile into 15-passenger vans and over the 24 hour drive get to know each other quickly! During the week, the bond strengthens as they work together, study the Bible together and relax.
As with all of our Trips, MOSES provides the leadership. The Trip Coordinator, Team Directors, Team Shepherds are trained to make your Spring Break a great experience.
NOTE: High School destinations are assigned following prayer and drawing. High school participants (1 friend, same sex) are allowed to sign up for the same destination (to be drawn). Friends will be assigned to different travel team vans. Both names must be on the registration and the registrations must be sent in together.
Ensenada 2008 Report
Our ’08 summer trips were some of the best ever! We had 34 people on the combo trip, 28 on Trip I and 18 on Trip II for a total of 80. This meant we had 62 people at the hotel the first week and 52 the second week. These are good numbers for us to work with and we were able to provide assistance with VBS at 24 churches, run 3 sports camps, build three houses, put additions and improvements on two more existing houses and roofs on one house and one large church.
The churches we served were almost entirely mission churches or emerging ones and the children were from both the church and the community. As always, they enjoyed our songs, crafts, games, puppet shows and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. We were blessed to have been given several CASES of M & M’s by Ed Hultgren from the Rural Compassion ministry. These were a great treat for the kids and were often used as a reward for learning memory verses or answering Bible questions correctly.
We held a large sewing class at Iglesia Prinicpe de Paz – about a dozen ladies, some sewing for the first time. The ladies were each given a machine from those donated to us by Family Sewing in
Carol Schuitema led another health and fitness class at the church, teaching people how to monitor their blood pressure, heart rate and the proper use of good diet and exercise.
We like to think of our ministry in
Lives are being built within our participants, too. Each year we hear testimonies as to how being in this community has impacted our teens, sometimes even our adults. Many of our teens consider it a sacrifice to live without their cell phones, computers and I-pods for a week or two. But, often, when they see the living conditions of some of the Mexican people, they realize how much they have and how little they have actually sacrificed. Many Mexican adults earn $70 a week. The cost of food and other items is quite comparable to ours in the states, so they struggle to provide basic needs for their families.
Some of us have been studying Spanish a bit more intensely this last year and I think it has paid off. We were able to converse on a little deeper level than previously. We also learned that we still have a long way to go and need much more practice in making conversation. We really appreciate those young people who have taken Spanish in school and who aren’t afraid to try it. Sometimes we also have a good laugh as I did when I complimented a young Mexican girl on her English, saying something like, “Tu ingles es bueno.” She replied, “You don’t have to speak Spanish to me – I’m visiting from
Each year, our relationships with the local church people grow deeper. I feel we learn a great deal from each other. We try to do things THEIR way, not the way we’re accustomed to or the way that seems best to us. This is what we strive to teach our participants, both student and adult. Our friends in
Greensburg, Kansas McLain Mississippi Chocolate/Vanilla Swirl
McLain is a tiny, rural town south of Hattiesburg MS. It boasts one gas station, a city Hall, fire barn, community building, and one hardware store. Both the gas station and the hardware sell a few groceries. Most of the residents are African American. There is still a lot of segregation in this part of the south and it is a struggle for the blacks to get ahead, educationally and economically. After spending a week with these folks, we gained tremendous respect for what they are striving to accomplish in their little community. There is a great deal of poverty and we did the usual things, such as painting, construction of steps, ramps, etc. We also built a large jungle gym in the park, on a piece of property donated to the African Americans when their school was demolished and the children were bussed to schools 20 miles away. We were truly blessed by working along side of these folks and becoming one with them in Christ We anticipate an even great blessing when we return next year and see BOTH white and black children playing on the new jungle gym, totally color-blind! We pray that this may be serve to bring McLain one step closer to reconciliation. God's Word tells us there is neither Jew no Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ
MOSES Mexico Missions
MOSES Mexico Trips are designed for young people who want an international service opportunity. We offer two trips or a combined trip; one in mid-July and a second trip in late July. Just like our Spring Break Trips, young people pile into 15-passenger vans and for the next 52 hours have a great time with the other 14 members of their team. MOSES believes that the van ride is one of the most valuable times of the trip as it provides a great opportunity to bond with other young people.
Building a house: a home for this family. These trips generally leave on Wednesday morning and return on a Sunday. During travel, the group spends one night at a church in route. While in Mexico , the group works with several churches conducting Vacation Bible School, Sports Camps, and building homes. MOSES has been able to rent a hotel for the week, so that our teams have a safe environment to sleep, relax, and learn about God.
As with all of our trips, MOSES provides the leadership. The Trip Coordinator, Team Directors, Team Shepherds are trained to make your Mexico trip a great experience.
For two weeks in March, a dozen adults from west Michigan worked with Pastor Ernesto on various construction projects in Ensenada. We stayed at Campo Suenos, a mission house that provides lodging for volunteers in the area. We enjoyed worship on two Sundays at Ernesto's church, Iglesia Principe de Paz, the Church of the Prince of Peace.
In all, we completed seven construction projects, including four complete homes, a couple of add-ons, and a major re-build of a roof structure. The three ladies in our group spent lots of time on painting projects at the children's home, Pequenos Hermanos. Upon the completion of each home-building project, we gathered with local pastors for a house blessing, asking God to watch over the family that would move into the new casa, and make them a light in their community. On this trip, we instituted what will certainly become a tradition for us. We presented each family with a Spanish Bible inscribed with the date and the signatures of each member of our group.