July 25, 2008

For the last 20 summers, a ministry program called SERVE has helped thousands of young people enhance their Christian faith by involving them in service projects in communities across the United States and Canada. They have also done volunteer work abroad.

This summer, SERVE volunteers have restored a damaged cemetery in Port Perry, Ont., painted a Hispanic church in Redlands, Calif., and did yard work for senior citizens in Alamosa, Colo.

In coming weeks, they will be working with persons with developmental disabilities in Gull Lake, Alberta, volunteering with mission organizations in Las Vegas, Nev., and doing home repair, painting, yard cleanup, and putting in time at a food pantry in Byron Center, Mich.

Geared for ages 12-20, SERVE is a ministry of Youth Unlimited, a Grand Rapids, Mich., organization that gets a portion of its support from the Christian Reformed Church in North America.

"SERVE helps youth leaders help their students to put their faith in action. It actually helps young people go out and see how the body of Christ can work together," says Carrie Ypma, missions program director for Youth Unlimited.

Hosted by churches in various communities, the young people don't simply spend their time working. They also have the chance to attend worship services and hear messages from a range of speakers who have been brought to the site by SERVE, says Ypma.

SERVE was launched by the Young Calvinist Federation – the organization that became Youth Unlimited in 1992 – under the direction of Char Merz. Although SERVE got started in 1988, it actually began with three mission sites in the summer of 1989.

Troy Kooima of Sioux Falls, S.D., recalls that first summer. He was among 40 teens who participated in a project in Rochester, N.Y.

Living in Rock Valley, Iowa, at the time, Kooima recalls how his faith was challenged and made deeper by the week-long experience of doing volunteer work in the community and of participating in worship services and attending talks and presentations put on by SERVE.

"When I got home from SERVE, God put me on a journey I never expected to go on," he says in a Youth Unlimited newsletter published this month. "I began to speak at area youth groups showing them slide pictures of Rochester and telling them why they needed to go on SERVE."

He has been part of SERVE nearly every year since. Most recently, he has helped to coordinate the SERVE program in Sioux Falls.

More than 1,500 young people from dozens of churches in the United States and Canada will have been involved in SERVE – or its companion program ENCOUNTER – at one of its 34 sites by the time this summer's session ends.

While SERVE generally involves a week-long project, ENCOUNTER is for longer-term, more in-depth mission experiences.

Every year, SERVE provides a biblical theme and resources for youth leaders to use with young people to the service sites.

During its 20th anniversary year, SERVE's theme is "Learn to do right, seek justice."

One effort reflecting that theme occurred early in July when SERVE volunteers, who were based at a CRC congregation in Prince Albert, Ontario, helped to replace headstones that vandals had toppled in an area cemetery.

"SERVE is very hands-on in nature," says Ypma. "It is designed for students to learn how God fits into their story and how that story fits into the larger world."

Christian Reformed Church in North America