WILDFIRE DISASTER RELIEF

GREAT SMOKEY MOUNTAINS WILDFIRE DISASTER RELIEF SUMMER MISSION TRIP INFO & REGISTRATION PACKET

IMPACT is more than just an annual mission trip. IMPACT is a team of students who are committed to bringing the message of God s love to people who need it. IMPACT students are committed to making an impact in the world, and being open to the impact in their own lives. IMPACT is an invitation from God to join him in his redemptive work in a broken world and an opportunity to join in this partnership with God to bring help and hope to people reminding them that they re loved. This project doesn t begin and end in June. We are inviting students to become a part of something bigger than just an annual mission trip that becomes the highlight of the summer (although that is totally one of the many perks of this project.) As we well know, lost, hurting and broken people exist all around us. They re at our schools, on our teams, in our families, they are our friends and they re us. This trip requires commitment, just like being a disciple of Jesus does. We are not asking you to be perfect, because Jesus already did that for you. We re not even asking you to be an on fire, Jesus-loving Christian superstar because we are all on a different leg of our spiritual journey. What we are asking of you is that you be committed to this team; that you be present with this team. We are asking that you sacrifice for this team. That may mean telling your coach you will be missing a practice or two. That may mean that you will have to say no to other things so that you can say yes to this team. Registration is not limited, although, we are expecting that those students who sign up understand what is expected of them. You are all a hard working group of students. I was very impressed with the work ethic of those of you who attended last years mission trip. I know however high the bar is raised you will exceed it. I am proud to be serving alongside you and making an IMPACT this year. Let s bring help, hope, and the love of Jesus to the folks of Gatlinburg. Mike Willis

On November 23, 2016, a fire started along Chimney Tops 2, an area within the Great Smokey Mountains, that would spread throughout Gatlinburg and nearby towns and become the worst fire in Tennessee of the last 100 years. It claimed 14 lives and over 2,000 homes and businesses. Cost: Dates: Group: Location: Mission: $650 based on 25 students and 5 leaders Sunday, June 11th Sunday, June 18th TEAMeffort Gatlinburg, Tennessee Over the years, youth mission teams and TEAMeffort s mission camp staff have formed strong bonds with the people they minister to in the poor communities scattered throughout the mountains of eastern Tennessee. Some of these local residents are displaced, destitute, and forgotten, living in clusters of dilapidated, seemingly unlivable homes alongside old dirt roads. Since the fire of November, 2016, many have had their homes completely destroyed. Some of the people are widows or young families. We will come alongside others already engaged in the disaster relief effort to provide help and hope to the victims of this disaster. There are even others who are trying to run outreach missions, but don't even have enough funds to keep up their own facilities. Throughout these areas are children and adults who need to be shown the love of Christ.

HOW ARE WE GETTING THERE? We will be renting 12 passenger vans and driving straight through to Gatlinburg. We will be stopping for lunch and dinner along the way. Our vans will be used throughout the week to take our groups from the lodging area to our worksites. WHERE ARE WE STAYING? TEAMeffort will be housing us in college dorms equipped with use of a dining hall, chapel, pool, gathering areas and recreational facilities. All meals are provided except two lunches and two dinners during free time. WHAT WORK WILL WE BE DOING? TEAMeffort has a close partnership with local ministries that coordinate home repair projects. Our mission will be to rebuild homes and restore hope for individuals and families who continue to feel the effects of last fall s wildfires. Many of these people have been displaced or face the threat of having to move out of their homes. Our work will allow them to either continue their lives or start over in their home. WHAT DOES A TYPICAL WORK DAY LOOK LIKE? Monday Wednesday: breakfast in the morning, travel to worksite, work 9am-3pm (bagged lunches provided for work days), travel back home, clean up, dinner, some free time, large group praise and worship from 8pm-9pm. Team devotion time and small groups. Thursday is a half-day of work, with the afternoon and evening a free day for Rejoice. Friday all day is a free day where we will spend the day as a group. We will spend Saturday night together at a beautiful cabin in Gatlinburg before returning home Sunday morning!

WHO IS TEAMEFFORT? TEAMeffort is a non-profit, inter-denominational Christian youth mission organization dedicated to providing opportunities for both youth and adult leaders to reach out to others through Christian service and live out a passion for God, in the context of "putting our faith into action. Rejoice has partnered with TEAMeffort in many past high school mission trips. "The mission trips are designed to be a mixture of hard work, spiritual growth, and good clean adventurous fun. It is our desire that at the end of each mission trip, the youth will return to their churches in more cohesive groups, sharing in memories that will last a lifetime and enjoying a renewed excitement about what Jesus Christ is doing in all of their lives. -TEAMeffort WHO WILL BE PARTICIPATING? TEAMeffort hosts several different student ministries from all around the country at their camps. The Gatlinburg location hosts up to a few hundred students at a time. WILL WE BE WORKING TOGETHER? Yes, TEAMeffort understands the importance of youth groups strengthening relationships with one another, and they will keep us working with our own group during the day. While we will be eating, living with and worshiping alongside students from other churches, we will still get time every day for our own individual group devotions and small group time. Not to mention a half-day Thursday and all day Friday and Saturday to be together as a group. WHAT DOES THE REGISTRATION FEES COVER? The mission trip fees covers the costs for lodging, building materials, food (except travel days and free days), student devotional, t-shirt, transportation, cabin costs for travel days and registration costs with TEAMeffort.

The goal of Summit is to provide as many opportunities as we can to help students and families raise support for this trip. As a ministry, we are going to be hosting various fundraisers to help lift the financial burden. EASTER BREAKFAST APRIL 16TH The IMPACT mission team prepares a hot breakfast (pancakes, eggs, sausage, fruit etc.) for worshippers on Easter morning. We do this in shifts so that students may worship with their families on Easter Sunday. The breakfast involves a free-will offering which is divided among the students who participate. REJOICE REVUE APRIL 30th An annual tradition at Rejoice Lutheran Church which is a No-Talent Talent Show is now Under New Management! We will be keeping a lot of what has worked, revamping what hasn t, and reviving and improving on some things that have stopped such as the Silent Auction portion of the event. The total amount raised from Rejoice Review generally is evenly divided among the students who participate leading up to and during the event. Students are divided into teams and given responsibilities that include table arrangement, set up/tear down, clean up, child care, stage set up/tear down, and everyone is asked to bring a dessert to share. More details about this fundraiser will be available as it draws closer. BUTTERBRAIDS Summit will also be selling ButterBraids in the weeks leading up to Easter Breakfast. Information on that will be available for you in March. The ButterBraids fundraiser is 100% voluntary you are not required to sell ButterBraids if you choose not to. For every Butter- Braid you sell, you earn $5 towards your mission trip. ENVELOPE FUNDRAISER We will be creating a mission trip board at Rejoice with pictures of Gatlinburg and descriptions of the work we will be doing, along with 100 envelopes marked with amounts from $1 to $100. Members of the church can select an envelope and fill it with the amount written on the outside. The envelope is turned in and 100% money goes towards the mission trip. If all the envelopes are fulfilled, we will raise over $5,000!

INDIVIDUAL SUPPORT LETTERS Included in this packet is a sample support letter. Each student is encouraged to send these out to everyone they know family, friends, neighbors and whoever you can think of. Even if people can only give a small amount like $25 it makes a huge difference. If you can get 12 people to give $25 for your trip, that s $300 you just raised!! We fully understand that some families may choose not to send support letters. We fully support families in this decision. However, remember that any extra money that goes above and beyond the $650 for this trip may be applied to other students who need the help. ARE THE FUNDRAISER EVENTS MANDATORY? Yes they are. They not only serve as a way for us to collectively raise finances and awareness for our mission, but they also serve as a way for our mission team to work together, solve problems, and serve one another prior to our trip. The benefits of these events are paramount for team building. However, if it s just not possible for you to make an event, please see me. Your student is certainly still a welcomed part of our team.

At the end of this packet is a registration form. In order to register for the mission trip, this form needs to be filled out and turned in along with payment instillation #1 by March 23rd. The deadline for registrations is March 31st. TEAMeffort will close registrations once they are full and groups are given spots on a first come first served basis. SO TURN REGISTRATIONS IN EARLY even if you don t have the full payment ready. Any money down with your registration form holds your spot. Medical release forms, a packing list and final itinerary will be provided several weeks before the trip. EXPECTATIONS FOR ALL MISSIONARIES We are expecting that all of our missionaries demonstrate a high degree of commitment to the team by participating in all fundraisers and team huddles. If a pattern of absence develops or it becomes evident that the team is not a high priority you will be contacted. If your student continues to be absent from meetings and fundraisers, he or she may forfeit their spot. However, that won t be an issue because all of our students are not only committed to the trip, but they are extremely committed to one another and no one will let that happen. Right? In order to avoid a large lump sum that comes in the week before we depart for Gatlinburg, there will be three major payment installations. This helps us pay the upfront fees of reserving spots with TEAMeffort, security deposits for the van rentals as well as covering many upfront fees we encounter along the way. After every fundraiser you will receive a balance sheet stating what you owe minus earnings from the previous fundraisers and support letter earnings. You will stay up to date on your financial standing along the way through regular mission trip emails to the email address you provide with a balance sheet included. PAYMENT INSTALATION DATES: March 23: $150 due this includes the $90 non-refundable registration fee with TEAMeffort May 7: June 4: $250 due ButterBraids, Easter Breakfast & Rejoice Revue fundraisers are prior to this and you will receive a credit that will apply toward this fee from the funds raised. $250 (or final balance) due. A balance sheet will go out stating what is due for the final balance

I M P O R T A N T D A T E S Thursday, March 2nd: FUNDRAISER: ButterBraid order forms available Thursday, March 16th: ButterBraid orders/monies due Thursday, March 23rd: ButterBraid pickup @ Rejoice Payment #1 $150 payment due $90 nonrefundable registration fee applies Friday, March 31st: DROP DEAD REGISTRATION DEADLINE Saturday, April 15th: Easter Breakfast set up time tba Sunday, April 20th: FUNDRAISER: Easter Breakfast 7AM-NOON We will split the event into two 2 1/2 hour shifts Sunday, April 30th: FUNDRAISER : Rejoice Revue 6-8PM set up-time tba Sunday, May 7th: Payment #2 $250 payment due Sunday, June 4th: TEAM SEND-OFF @ church 10AM service Pastor Lou will present our missionary team to the church. We will be prayed for and commissioned with God s word Payment #3 $250 payment due. ALL FINAL BALANCES DUE Sunday, June 11th: DEPARTURE!

BASIC INFORMATION Name: T-shirt size (circle one): S M L XL XXL Address: Phone(s): home cell Birthday: / / Grade ( 16-17 year): School: Email: (We will send important trip information to all participants to the e-mail you provide. You may give us multiple e-mails to send information.) Parent/Guardian s names: PLEASE TELL US ABOUT YOURSELF: Please describe your relationship with Jesus Christ: (if you re unsure about this, just say I m not sure ) What is the biggest reason why you want to go on this mission trip? What experiences are you most looking forward to regarding this trip? I am committed to this trip and our entire IMPACT team and promise to do all I can to show up with my best energy to all meetings and fundraisers. Student s signature Today s date

/ / Dear, This June I will have the privilege of participating with a team of high school students and our adult mentors from my church on a week-long mission trip to Gatlinburg, Tennessee to serve in rural areas of the Great Smokey Mountains. We will be partnering with an organization called TEAMeffort for this mission outreach. TEAMeffort an international, interdenominational Christian mission agency that has sites all over the continental United States. They specialize in home repair projects for people who are living in poverty. My group will be performing relief work for the people whose homes were lost or damaged during the devastating wildfires in the fall of 2016. I am very excited about this opportunity. Our team will be working in the poor communities in eastern Tennessee, but we will also be working on building relationships with each other and with Christ. I know this trip will deeply impact me personally and I look forward to the growth I will experience as well. I would like to invite you to consider partnering with us as we pursue what we feel God is leading us to do. There are two areas of need: prayer and financial. Prayer for unity and safety with our team, for us to be sensitive and obedient to God s leading, and that God would change lives ours and the people we serve. You can also help financially by contributing to offset the costs of the trip. Your financial contribution is 100% tax-deductible. If you wish to help, please fill out the donation slip, and return the slip and your gift by May 15 th to: Rejoice Lutheran Church c/o IMPACT High School Mission Trip 0N377 N Mill Creek Dr Geneva IL 60134 If you would like to write a check, please make it payable to Rejoice Lutheran Church (do not write my name in the memo line or per IRS rules you will forego your tax deduction). Thank you for your support. Sincerely, Please detach and send with your contribution Yes, I d like to support the 2017 Impact High School Mission Trip to Gatlinburg, TN! Yes, I will commit to pray for you leading up to and during your trip. Yes, I will make a financial contribution to your trip, as indicated below: Amount donated $ Given for (student s name) (Your gift is tax deductible. If writing a check, it must be made out to Rejoice Lutheran Church with no name in the memo line.) Your Name Address City State Zip