Across the Northern Illinois Conference, churches are finding creative ways to turn faith into action through summer mission experiences. From local service projects to weeklong trips in other states, youth and adults are stepping outside their routines to serve others, build relationships, and discover what it means to be the hands and feet of Christ. 

A common thread among the experiences was a focus on people, not just projects. Participants repaired homes, packed food, served seniors, supported community organizations, and welcomed new neighbors.  

The work also created opportunities to listen to, learn from, and form relationships with the people they encountered. For many churches, mission became a way for young people to see themselves not simply as participants in a church program, but as people with gifts and a role to play in serving their communities. 

Some churches offered multiple mission experiences, giving participants many opportunities to serve. First Church in Crystal Lake offered youth a local Serve Week in addition to a trip to Kentucky through Appalachia Service Project, allowing youth to take part in missions in their own community as well as beyond it.  

Kingswood UMC in Buffalo Grove and Deerfield offered adult and youth trips. Adults served in rural Tennessee and youth traveled to Pennsylvania.  

“Though the projects and communities were different, the heart of both experiences was the same: showing up, serving faithfully, and being willing to help wherever there was a need,” said Kate Lapetino, coordinator of youth and serving ministries at Kingswood UMC. 

Some churches demonstrated how mission can take place close to home, giving young people opportunities to serve their communities, build relationships, and put their faith into action. Christ UMC in Rockford continued its annual Youth Workcamp, welcoming youth and adult leaders to serve churches, nonprofits, and community sites throughout their area. 

Similarly, Hinckley UMC focused its mission efforts locally, partnering with organizations that provide food and other resources while also reaching out to new neighbors.  

Other congregations partnered with established mission organizations to help participants engage communities beyond their own. Many church’s Appalachia Service Project trips brought youth and adults together to make homes safer while building relationships with the families they served. Participants experienced mission as hands-on service with faith formation, helping them recognize God’s presence not only within the church but also in the people and communities around them. 

Whether repairing a home, packing food, serving at a community organization, or welcoming a new neighbor, these projects offered a reminder that mission does not have to look the same everywhere. What matters is the willingness to show up, listen, serve, and build relationships. Through these opportunities, churches are helping people of all ages discover that faith is something we live out, not only on Sunday, but wherever there is a need and an invitation to love our neighbors. 

Read more stories from mission trips across the Northern Illinois Conference below. If your church is missing, please share your story and photos with Lisa Smith, and we will continue updating the story as we receive more information.

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See the photos at the bottom of the article. 

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Lake North 

Arlington Heights: First  

First UMC in Arlington Heights traveled to Detroit for a mission trip with Motown Mission, serving local organizations in three areas: rebuilding homes and communities, feeding neighbors, and supporting urban agriculture. Youth and adults participated in hands-on projects designed to address local needs and learned about the communities they were serving. 

Evanston: First  

First UMC in Evanston held its 28th Appalachia Service Project trip, bringing 52 youth, four college students and 25 adults to Perry County, Kentucky. Volunteers built wheelchair ramps, repaired siding, installed roofing, replaced flooring, and completed other projects to make homes warmer, safer, and drier, while building relationships with the people they served. 

Kingswood UMC in Buffalo Grove and Deerfield 

Kingswood UMC offered two mission experiences for adults and youth. In May, 13 adults traveled to Obion County, Tenn,, with Reelfoot Rural Ministries to complete home repairs and accessibility projects. In July, 14 youth and six adults traveled to Altoona, Penn., with TEAMeffort Ministries to help prepare a former church building for use as a school. Both groups emphasized that mission is about more than completing projects: it entails meeting people, building relationships, and serving wherever there is a need. 

Park Ridge: First  

First UMC in Park Ridge traveled to Duluth, Minn., with YouthWorks for a week of service, learning, and faith formation. Participants served at a memory care center, worked in community gardens, spent time with children at Youth Valley Center, and packed weekend food bags at Union Gospel Mission, while also sharing daily devotions and building community. 
 

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Lake South 

LaGrange: First

First UMC in LaGrange sent 95 people to Clay County, W.V., with Appalachia Service Project. Volunteers spent a week replacing flooring, building porches, repairing walls, installing trim, underpinning homes, and completing siding work while embracing ASP’s summer theme of loving their neighbors.  

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Prairie Central 

Crystal Lake: First

First Church Crystal Lake offered two mission opportunities for youth. During Serve Week, youth stayed closer to home, completing a different service project each day at the church or with local nonprofits, including painting fences at the Hooved Animal Human Society. The youth also traveled to Harlan, Ky., with Appalachia Service Project, where they helped repair the flooring and stairs of a home, giving them an opportunity to serve a family in need. 

Journey of Hope in Elgin and Bartlet

Journey of Hope members from Elgin and Bartlet traveled to North Dakota for its annual mission trip to the Spirit Lake Ministry Center on the Spirit Lake Nation reservation. A group of 13 spent the week working around the ministry center and reservation neighborhood. They helped with a VBS program for local kids, gardnening, and minor construction projects including dismantling the old bath house in preparation for the new Lindstrom Family Cabin. They also attending the regional Powwow and learning more about the Lakota community and its traditions. 

Naperville: Grace with Antioch 

Grace UMC in Naperville, joined by friends from Antioch UMC, traveled to Omaha, Nebraska, for a mission experience serving with Habitat for Humanity, HomeWoven and Santa’s Camp & Wonderland. The team of high school and college students and adults built and refurbished homes, beautified properties, and constructed glamping pads for families with neurodivergent children and children in hospice. Along the way, participants built relationships, shared worship, played games, and experienced plenty of laughter and tears.  

Schaumburg: Our Saviour‘s  

Our Saviour’s UMC in Schaumburg's annual youth mission trip took place in Detroit, giving students an opportunity to step outside their everyday lives and serve with compassion, humility, and purpose. Working alongside local organizations and meeting people from different backgrounds, students explored how mission is not simply about completing a project but about building relationships and personal transformation. 

Wheaton: Gary

Gary UMC in Wheaton’s high school students traveled to Leslie County, Ky., for a mission trip with Appalachia Service Project. Volunteers helped build a staircase and repair a roof, combining hands-on home repair with an opportunity to serve families in Appalachia. 

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Prairie North 

Cedarville & Warren  

Members of Cedarville and Warren UMCs joined together for a day of service at Midwest Mission in Pawnee, Ill. The team sorted and prepared donated uniforms for distribution and assembled United Methodist Committee on Relief personal hygiene and women’s personal dignity kits, providing practical resources for people experiencing crisis. 

Rockford: Christ  

Nearly 50 youth and numerous adult leaders participated in Christ UMC’s annual Youth Workcamp, serving churches, nonprofits, and community sites throughout the Rockford area. Under the theme RE:New, centered on Romans 12:2, the workcamp combined worship, fellowship, and hands-on service, with the wider congregation supporting participants through meals, transportation, donations, prayer, and service. 

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Prairie South 

Hinckley  

Hinckley UMC’s youth mission brought 10 youth and three adults together to serve with several local organizations. They delivered groceries to seniors and sorted food with Rooted for Good, packed food at Northern Illinois Food Bank and Feed My Starving Children, delivered blessing bags to new neighbors and wrote invitations to VBS children who do not yet attend the church. 

Oregon  

Oregon UMC’s Dangerous Hope Mission Team brought 17 youth and six adults to Milwaukee with YouthWorks. Participants served at an intergenerational daycare, sorted donations and painted at a community nonprofit, worked in community gardens and parks, and sorted food at Feeding America while exploring the theme “Made for This.”