This is what the world has to offer. What we as a faith community offer the world is much different. We hope those kinds of discussions will take place, even as the youth enjoy what this place offers. Some alternatives included a huge camping event similar to the Cornerstone Music Festival or using a university campus. We are working with churches to train their short-term mission teams to serve and learn in helpful and sensitive ways.
Preparation is very much the key, as is the attitude of the group going into the project.
If they come with the attitude that they are there to fix' the local people, the group is assigned to paint a wall as their project. That wall gets painted about 40 or 50 times a year. A discussion on the Samuel II project, which is focusing on how to encourage young people to consider the ministry, concluded that youth are not the only people who need to be addressed. Transformation issues brought mixed feelings and reactions from the group. Youth just want to meet together.