*Editor’s Note: After speaking with the youth and adults who experienced the Callaway Senior High Youth Group mission trip a couple of weeks ago and hearing their passion for sharing their stories, I want to be sure and give them all the space they need. Therefore, this article will be done in two installments. Be sure and see the July 4 issue of the Courier for, as Paul Harvey would say, “The rest of the story.”

Fourteen Callaway youth of different backgrounds and grade levels recently shared an experience that they all say was very humbling and eye-opening. They will tell you the mission trip they took to Oklahoma City changed them, and their perspective on the world.

Skyler Ellison, a 2024 graduate of Callaway High School, was one of the students. She had taken a trip with the Callaway Youth Group to Chadron in the past, but said that was much different than their recent trip.

“We went to Oklahoma City and weren’t really sure what we were going to do when we went. We pulled up to a small building that didn’t even look like a church. We headed to the back and it was just filled with garbage and rocks, and it had rained the night before so it was muddy. Our job was to pick up the rocks and trash so they could plant grass,” Ellison explained. “I learned not everyone is as fortunate as we are. It made me appreciate what we have here.”

Though the Callaway Senior High Youth Group meets in the Callaway United Methodist Church, group leader Darin Ellis explained that the group is not representative of any one denomination. “The Callaway United Methodist Church has graciously supported us physically and financially. We are supported by many in the

cont. PAGE 3 - Mission community, and we appreciate that immensely,” said Ellis. “Many of the youth that come do not belong to one church denomination. That makes it kind of special.”

Ellis said he was looking for something a little different for a mission trip this year, which the youth group does every three years or so. He found this one online, reached out to the Pastor, and felt led to take the 14 kids and six adults. “About two weeks before we went down there they changed their plans, and instead of working at the camp they wanted us to go into the city and work on this area he (Pastor Chad) had designed for this church,” said Ellis.

The church is located in the inner city on the south side of Oklahoma City, and the kids on the trip all said it was unlike any area they had ever been in before. They stayed at the camp they originally thought they were going to be working at, which is located about an hour from the church.

Aubrie Birkel will be a junior this fall at CHS and said she wanted to go on the mission trip because she “thought it would be a good experience”. “Probably the most surprising thing to me was all the kids that did not come from a good family home. I went on the bus to go pick up the kids and bring them back to the church, and it was very different,” said Birkel who shared that she would absolutely do a trip like this again.

CJ Quandt is heading into his senior year this fall and said he was excited to go on his first mission trip. “It’s been on my heart here recently, and I wanted to serve the Lord,” Quandt shared when asked why he chose to go. “After seeing all of the smiles on the kids' faces when we cleaned up that lot was so rewarding. That gave them a safer place to be after school and a place for activities.”

Another incoming senior, Dawson Mason, agreed with everything Quandt had shared. “I wanted to be able to show the kids Christianity through acts. I knew we weren’t going to be able to do any preaching or anything, but I just wanted to show them the goodness of the Lord through our actions,” Mason shared. “I had never been in a big city like that before, and it was a bit of a surprise to see how some of the kids lived. But that also made it even more impactful.”

The Callaway teens did get to spend an evening with the kids from the church, and all of them said that was their favorite part of the trip. “A lot of them were asking us if we were going to come back, and some of them were a little sad that we had to leave. I just thought that was pretty neat,” Mason added.

This was the first mission trip for Jozi Edgington, who is also going to be a senior. “I think I got a lesson on a good work ethic. And I also really liked interacting with the kids,” she said. “I actually wanted to stay a little while longer, though when we were actually doing the work it wasn’t very fun. It was so hot!”

Incoming senior Bo Brennan looked forward to a fun trip with good friends, but also said he was motivated by the opportunity to “do the Lord’s work”. He said he did not know what to expect. “I thought maybe it was going to be like picking up trash along the street or something. But it wasn’t like that at all. It was like a construction dump basically,” said Brennan. “It was crazy to see a different culture. And the church was not what you would expect for a church. It was like a storage unit along the railroad tracks, the last place you would think a church would be. But we learned that church can be anywhere.”

Brennan also mentioned the bus that picked up the kids, and how that impacted him. “The first ones we picked up just sat right next to us and started talking instantly. We got to go to church with them and have rec time with them. They weren’t shy at all - it was awesome.”

Kaygan Witthuhn will be entering her junior year of high school and said she wanted to go on the mission trip to deepen her relationship with God. “And my sisters and other kids older than me have always talked about the mission trips that they have went on, and it just sounded really fun,” she said. She admitted the work was a little harder than she expected, but what surprised her most was the environment she saw that the kids were growing up in.

Another incoming junior on the trip was Tyra Brestel, who was also on her first mission trip. Like her classmate and friend Kaygan, Brestel said she worked harder than she expected. “My arms were definitely sore when I got back,” she laughed. “It looked like a landfill and was a little shocking.”

Brestel said she shared with some of the kids about what it’s like living in a small town like Callaway, and comparing the differences between the two locations.

When asked what her biggest takeaway from the trip was, Brestel responded, “That the Lord definitely produces miracles.”