Trusting God

By Andrew Pritchett, Senior at Christ Church Kennesaw

Hey y'all,

Last night, I got home from the Diocesan Mission Trip to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. This trip was one of the most amazing weeks of my life

During this trip, I formed new friendships and strengthened old ones. I helped an elderly couple that had a hard time getting around clean out their house and garage. I became friends with a little girl who could not speak a single word of English. I took part in the most beautiful church service of my life. I sang songs and played card games. But even though I did all these things, I saw so much more.

I saw our Episcopal Youth Community come together. I saw just how much we care for each other. I saw us bring hope into the city of Harrisburg.

Some of us visited the elderly, some of us packed food at a food bank, some of some of us surveyed the poorest areas of Harrisburg in order to pave the way for help to come to those areas in the future, some of us worked at community gardens, but all of us brought hope. We, as a community, brought hope into a city in an ocean of fear

During a compline service Wednesday night and our closing EucharistThursday night, we sang "Oceans" by Hillsong UNITED. The song talks about how, even in oceans deep, we need to trust God and call out to Him. I had heard this song countless times before this trip, but it was during this trip that the song finally clicked with me. 

On Tuesday night, I had another seizure. I was reminded of how these seizures could happen at anytime, this reminder brought me back into an ocean of fear. On Wednesday night, during our prayer stations, this community gathered around and prayed for me. During this, Father Tripp talked about how when we're in these oceans of fear, we need to call out to God together, as a community. So later that night, during compline, we sang "Oceans" for the first time and I remember crying as soon as I saw the song's name on the projector. This community gave me hope as I stood in an ocean of fear.

But I've gone on long enough about how what happened during the trip, it's time to tell you why this trip was one of the mos amazing weeks of my life. It all comes down to our Episcopal Youth Community. This community is what made this trip amazing. This community is why I wrote all of this. Because of this community, in oceans deep, my faith will stand. 

Stay Awesome.