Roots Youth Ministry Johnstown Trip
The Roots Youth Ministry of the First United Methodist Church of Kane went on an overnight trip to Johnstown, Pa. The Youth first attended church in the park where they were joined both by people from their Kane church, and the East Kane Methodist Church. Other friends from in and out of town joined the group to hear the newly organized Jubilee Youth Orchestra. The orchestra meets on Sundays, under the direction of Chelsea Cowan at the First United Methodist Church in Kane. This orchestra is open to any child interested in learning the process of playing with an orchestra. Then after the service by Pastor Cook, there was lunch available to all. The youth ate, headed home to get their overnight apparel, and finally met back at the church, where they were led in prayer by Pastor Cook, loaded the vehicles and began their trip.
Upon their arrival in Johnstown, they checked into their rooms and headed for dinner, then back to the hotel for some fun swimming and just enjoying each other. The following morning began with breakfast at the hotel then off to the Flight 93 National Memorial. Before entering the visitors center, youth director, Wesley Sprankle led the youth in a morning devotional on faith. Then the youth quietly made their way through the visitors center, reading and listening to the many stories. The adult chaperones were very impressed with the respect they showed/demonstrated in the center and when looking out over the Memorial Plaza Border seeing the crash site and the final resting place for the passengers and crew. Then the youth made their way to the Tower of Voices which stands as a musical tribute to those that lost their lives. After the Tower of Voices, Linda Hearst, chaperone, lead the youth in a daily prayer before leaving the area.
They had planned on visiting the Incline as their next stop, but to their dismay, it was closed. Therefore they made their way to the Heritage Discovery Mu
seum. This was another eye opening adventure for the youth. They began by choosing an immigrant's card to use that allowed them to listen to their story about what they went through in coming/arriving in America. The second floor showed the progression from the immigration to current day. The third floor was interesting to the youth as they got to explore some of the things the early people did. They mined for different minerals, built a dam (and tested it) and visited an old time store to experience the prices in comparison to what they would cost today. This was a great look at the history and beginning culture of our country. What a wonderful experience it was in showing the youth how working together as a team can help so many people in so many ways.*