This summer, Grace Youth Ministry will again travel out of state for a week on our "Side-by-Side" mission as well as engage in mission with various organizations right here in the Chicagoland area on our "Hope at Home" mission.  We welcome and encourage the participation of youth and adults not only from our own Grace Church congregation, but from the greater community as well.  Please talk to your families and pray about how you might be involved in one--or both--of our 2012 Grace Youth Summer Missions!

SIDE-BY-SIDE JUNE 10-17, 2012--JONESBORO, ARKANSAS
For adults and youth who have completed 8th grade 
"One is six Americans is in need of a decent place to live.  One in three Americans spends 30 percent of his or her income on housing.  There is not a single county in the United States in which a minimum wage worker can afford even a one-bedroom apartment on what HUD determines to be the fair market rent." (information courtesy of Habitat For Humanity). 
These statistics are frightening, saddening, frustrating, and difficult to hear.  While some neighborhoods in Jonesboro, AR, resemble those in Naperville and surrounding communities, far too many people in Jonesboro fit the above profile. God calls us to pay attention to the details, to see the heart of others, to do things we think we don't have the capacity to do, to help others "fit in."  While we might be hesitant, God suits us up in his armor, providing all we need to share his love, walk in truth, share our faith, and work to bring hope to communities where daily struggle is far too commonplace.  Won't you join us in putting on the armor and saying "yes" to God's call to travel to Jonesboro, AR, this June 10-17?  If so, please click the Side-by-Side registration link below.  There, you will find all you need to know about this life-changing experience. 

HOPE AT HOME JULY 17-19, 2012--CHICAGO, IL, and surrounding suburbs
For adults and youth who have completed 5th grade
God is calling us to go this summer into the heart of Chicago and help create a safer place for young children. He is calling us to Wheaton to help stock shelves and feed the hungry, to Waukegan to help with property beautification, to far-off lands by way of Aurora to feed the hungry, and to our own town of Naperville to bring a ray of hope to those who are homebound.  If you would like to give of yourself for two days this summer, to put on the armor of God by going into our communities to bring hope to those around us, please click the Hope at Home registration link below and discover all you need to know.