Here we go again!

We are less than 7 hours from departing for our second mission trip to Gloversville. And it's crazy. But SOOO exciting.

Since last July, many things have changed. Most of us guys know where we are going to college. Many of us know what we are going to study in college. We have gained members in AOF and we have lost a few.

But one thing has not changed: All of us have continued to seek and more deeply understand our relationship with Christ and what that means practically. In AOF's (the name of our Bible study -- it stands for Adventure of Faith) study of Acts, we have learned about the very first community of believers, who "were together and had everything in common" and who lived out the life of Christ by "selling their possessions and goods" and "[giving] to anyone as he had need" (Acts 2:44-45). We saw the radical example of Stephen, the first Christian martyr, who, as he was dying, cried out "Lord, do not hold this sin against them" (Acts 7:60). Just like Jesus did, he submitted to persecution and even asked forgiveness upon his murderers. We learned about the apostle Phillip, and how he obeyed the Spirit's call – "Go to that chariot" – without question, leading to the baptism and conversion of the Ethiopian eunuch.

Now we have a chance to live out Jesus' life just like the first believers did. We have a second chance to go to Gloversville. We have a chance to let the Spirit lead us as we talk to and learn from those who live in Gloversville. 

And the coolest thing is this: we get to live out Christ's life TOGETHER as a Bible study, as friends, as family. For just like Jesus says in the verse on the back of our AOF t-shirts, "where two or three come together in My Name, there I am with them." We are certainly gathering and serving in Jesus' Name on this trip, so I know he will be there with us.

A little history and background on Gloversville and this trip:

In the '40s and '50s, Gloversville thrived. The glove industry made most of the residents rich and comfortable. But when leather gloves fell out of favor, Gloversville seemingly fell off the map. Unemployment ran rampant, addictions became commonplace, and homelessness was not uncommon. This decline continues even today, with boarded-up factories hanging over lonely streets and dilapidated houses falling apart at the seams. And even more importantly and more scarily: Gloversville has become more and more spiritually lifeless. 

But there is hope in Gloversville. And much of that hope stems from God working through a man named Donn Truax (pictured below). Donn is a former youth pastor at my church. He and I got to be really close, as we knew each other in some of my most formative years -- 7th through 9th grade. Around my freshman year, Donn felt a calling to go back up to Gloversville (his hometown as a child) and start a ministry there. So, with just that calling and his wife and (at the time) three young children, Donn picked up from his comfortable life here and moved into the unknown, following only the voice of God.

Since then, Donn has started a ministry in Gloversville called Change of 1 Ministry (Change of 1's Website, logo pictured below), and it has grown ever since.

Meanwhile, God had been working in my life in parallel ways to Donn's. My sophomore year, I felt a call to start an all-teenage-guys' Bible study. I delayed, scared, for a while until I finally acted and started the Bible study, which came to be known as AOF (Adventure of Faith). As Donn's ministry in Gloversville grew, so did AOF. We started with just 7 members and now have over 20 regular members.

Then, my path with Donn intersected in a HUGE way. He and I had talked, almost jokingly and definitely tentatively, about me coming up and visiting his ministry. But that talk had never come to fruition before last summer. With Donn and my family's encouragement and another call from God, I committed to leading a mission team to Gloversville, made up of the guys in AOF. With TONS of help and leadership and experience from my dad and Donn and others, and TONS of prayer, the 2011 Gloversville Mission Trip happened. The team is pictured below.

And now, in less than 12 hours, we will awake and prepare to do it again! And this time, instead of 12 mission team members (8 youth and 4 adults), we will have 20 MISSION TEAM MEMBERS! God has blessed the trip HUGELY to allow so many to participate. There are 15 teenagers (14 guys from AOF and my sister) and 5 adults (two of whom have never before been on a mission trip)! 

I have been on a lot of mission trips, but there's one huge difference with this one: we are going back to the same place! So, we get to continue relationships we made last year, grow in them, and become even closer. I am very excited about that.

We will have nightly blog updates during the trip, so keep checking back. This will be our primary means of communication.

So now, I ask you to pray.

Pray that we drive safely tomorrow, and that the drivers are consistently aware and alert. Pray that the drive brings our team closer together so that we may serve more effectively.

Throughout the week, pray that Christ leads us in our words and actions so that we may make Him known as clear as we can. We appreciate your prayers deeply.

Thank you all for your support. May God bless you this week.

Keep checking back!

~Quinn