"Our Eyes Were Opened" Sermon by Maddie McGill

My name is Maddie McGill and in the fall, I will be a ninth grader at Walt Whitman high school.

Saturday June 15, I had one friend, in the PPC mission group, just one, my sister, Carolyn.

I am an introvert. I do not walk up to a random people on the street and start a conversation. I would never start a conversation with stranger at school, let alone expose all my vulnerabilities to a group of young adults that to me were foreigners. It is hard for me to meet new people. It is hard for me to let go of my insecurities and become unreserved in a new environment. My mom knew me all too well when she reminded me I needed to work hard, step out of my comfort zone, and really talk to these kids in the upcoming week. Yes, she was right, but in the back of my mind knew it would not be easy.

Going into the trip, I did not know why I signed up. Maybe it would be fun, maybe I could really make a difference, maybe it would be an opportunity to make new friends, or maybe somehow it would change me. Even that morning of June 15^th  I was hesitant to go. Perhaps I should stay home with my phone and other electronics. A whole week with no communication between my parents and I seemed unimaginable. Not to mention I was nervous in the sense that not only were these kids strangers to me but I was a stranger to them. Nevertheless, I packed and drove to PPC that morning with my one friend.  I’m not going to lie, when we stood in the parking lot that morning waiting to embark on our journey to Kentucky, I felt like an outsider, excluded and awkward.

Throughout the week when the youth group goes on mission, there is never a time one can be alone. Whether it is when we went to the Wal-Mart, worked on the worksite, when we showered, brushed teeth or changed, you name it we were together. If I was to survive, I had to interact. Just put myself out there and have faith these people would accept me.

When I sat down to write this sermon, I told myself: it would be simple; just write about how much fun you had and how you bonded with everyone. But, when I met 23 new people and spent a week living with them, and then was asked to look back and write about how I became friends with these people: I couldn’t.

Bonding: the present participle of the word bond (verb); to establish a relationship with someone based on shared feelings, interests, or experiences.

Although everyone that went to Kentucky seemed to be different from one another, in the end we all shared basic similarities: we were away from home, out of our comfort zones, needed some privacy, were tired, sore, frustrated with others, upset with our worksites, happy with our worksites, and most of all we were all a mission aiming to help others. Perhaps that was something that brought us all together.

When Kendra informed us that we would not be allowed to use our phones because we all needed to “bond”, I think maybe she should have used a different word. I mean, yes, we all bonded, but bonding is just establishing a relationship, or an association. The connections I made last week were much deeper than an association; they are companionships.  The youth group became a family.

When I first came to PPC and saw Kendra do children’s worship, then Sean do his sermon, I immediately felt comforted, spiritually touched and knew that this was my new church. There was I a way I idolized them both; I looked up to them as if they were of much higher power; like a child to their parent. And yes I still do idolize pastor Sean and Kendra, but they are more like the older sibling now. The relationships they have with each and every youth group member is truly indescribable, something one must experience for them self. One I feel for me has only started to begin. I never thought I would connect to them like I would with the kids on the trip but I did, and it was life- changing.

I may not be able to establish or recognize the exact events or moments at which the youth became friends, but I do know why. The PPC youth group is made up of the most fun loving, caring, welcoming, optimistic and sometimes crazy people. The moment I would start to feel excluded I would be asked to ride in someone’s car, help them cut down a tree, offered a pack of gummies from their food stash or saved a seat a dinner; these small, seemingly insignificant gestures made all the difference. 

A lot of people who go on mission trips will tell you that the residents, and carpenters changed their lives. For me, getting to know my pastors and this youth changed my perspective on life and required me to open my eyes.

In the book John chapter 9, Jesus heals the blind man. Not only does Jesus literally undo the man’s blindness but also opens the eyes of the towns’ people to see whom the blind man really is. When reading the scripture one can easily envision Jesus physically healing his eyes and changing the town people’s outlook. But did the town’s people really know what he was doing? Healing the blind man is a metaphor for how sometimes you have to change one to change the perspectives of others. The towns’ people were quick to judge the man for why he was blind. Most believed it was from sin. Jesus clarified that the man had not sinned nor had his parents and ancestors. One should not be quick to judge for the stories of others may be untold. We must open our eyes to see the world as Jesus would. I too, was once quick to judge the PPC youth group. But once my eyes opened I learned wonders about how accepting they are. I learned about the Youth, and they helped me learn about myself; I just had to open my eyes to see it. 

God opens the eyes of people every day, we just have to stop and allow them to open.

I walk away from my experience understanding that God truly does everything for a reason. God will test you but only for your own good. You may not know why or how he is testing you but you should always trust what he has in store for you. Sometimes one has to take a leap of faith and know that trust will fall later. I know I was meant to go to Kentucky. I know I was meant to meet all these new people. And I know that, on June 15, God tested me.

Sunday June 30, I have 24 new friends, the PPC mission group. 

I love you all.