Park Cities Presbyterian Church (PCA)

Project Austin ‘09

By Amy Westervelt

Published May 1, 2009 in Witness

This spring break the high school and junior high ministries teamed up for a mission trip to Austin. We spent four days in and around the city helping out a variety of organizations and ministries.

The focus of the trip was found in James 1:19-27 as the students were challenged to be doers of God’s Word and not merely hearers. We started our trip by serving lunch and playing with kids in an under-resourced neighborhood through Community New Start, a ministry that focuses on strengthening communities that have been weakened by poverty and lack of education through programs based on biblical truths. Then we were able to hear about God’s work in a post-prison outreach ministry, Texas Reach Out, and served this ministry by cleaning out their storage area.

Other activities and highlights were attending the “Church under the Bridge” service, prayer-walking on the UT campus, serving at Capitol Area Food Bank, and times of worship and teaching.

Katie Little, a high school junior, said, “The Austin Trip was an incredible and unique experience in that we got to participate in a variety of service opportunities, and we got to see different areas of the city of Austin instead of one particular place. I also loved working alongside of the middle school and really enjoyed getting to know people who I didn’t know beforehand!”

The students not only loved the city of Austin, but they also loved each other well as age and grade barriers were broken down. God’s Word challenged their hearts as they tangibly saw that “Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world” (James 1:27).