During their first meeting of the year, North Hills Christian School’s seniors made a unique decision about their senior trip.
Each year, the school’s seniors are required to spend at least one day completing a mission project on their annual senior trip, but this year’s class “wanted to really get involved,” said Natalie Whicker, one of the students who’s going this year.
As they were trying to decide where to go, the students also decided they wanted their entire trip to be mission oriented.
The group settled on New York City, and 14 students and three staff chaperones boarded a plane Thursday night headed to the Big Apple.
They will be staying in Queens at the New York School of Urban Ministry and will be doing ministry projects in Manhattan, the Bronx and Astoria.
The students will be doing children’s ministry in the Bronx, working in a World Vision warehouse, serving food at St. John’s soup kitchen and food pantry and visiting children in their homes through Children of the City.
They will also take part in evangelism in a local park, do prayer stations in Astoria, spend time with children at a family shelter and serve the homeless through a food truck that gives out food and toiletries in Manhattan.
“The main point is for the spreading of the gospel,” said Kevin Mitchell, a North Hills senior.
He added that the individual service projects will allow the students to take care of people’s physical needs and open doors for them to talk about their faith, which, in turn, could lead to a change of heart.
“We may be the only Jesus these people ever encounter,” senior Morgan Bowman said.
“I’m really looking forward to the children’s ministry,” said Emily Boggs, also a senior at North Hills.
Whicker said she’s excited to work with the food truck ministry.
“Everybody keeps telling us that it’s going to be so different,” she said.
The students also believe that the trip will lead to personal life-change and will allow them to bond as a class.
While the trip is primarily missions oriented, the students will have the opportunity to explore New York City as well.
The students plan to attend Hillsong Church on Sunday, visit the 9/11 Memorial, go to Ellis Island and take a bus tour.
Then, they said, they’re going to figure out what they want to see and do from there. Several of them mentioned going to the Rockefeller Center, exploring Manhattan and going to Times Square.
North Hills’ senior class left Thursday and will return Tuesday. Check the Salisbury Post’s website for daily updates from the team.