“Yeah, before I came to Texas for the first time, I guess I kind of expected everyone to have ridiculously, well, Southern accents here,” 18-year old Mission Year intern, Kristin Wagner, shared with a laugh. “That hasn’t really come true, though.” From September 2012 until July 2013, Mission Centers of Houston is grateful for the opportunity to partner with 4 young adults pursuing a greater understanding of intentional community, neighboring and service in Near Northside through the year-long urban service program, Mission Year. Kristin and 20-year old Sam McClead volunteer with the food pantry, the senior citizen ministry and all of the after-school programs hosted at Gano Center every week as well as pitch in with gardening, yard work and other duties as assigned. Two of their 6 other teammates, including Traci Newton (originally from Rochester, New York) and Abi York (taking a gap year while enrolled at Belmont University in Tennessee), also serve with Mission Centers of Houston throughout the week at Fletcher Center.

Before he arrived in Houston in the fall, Sam was working as library staff part-time while spending the rest of his time volunteering at church, leading worship and helping run the youth group. Finding himself in a state of limbo after graduating from high school in 2010, Sam’s encounter with an old friend and Mission Year 2011-2012 alumna helped open the door for him to pursue an opportunity to better understand how to love people — an apt fit as the national non-profit organization’s tag line reads, “Love God, love people — nothing else matters.” In addition to spending around 30 hours of volunteer service with local non-profits such as Mission Centers of Houston, partnering with a local church and intentionally investing in relationships within their predominantly Latino neighborhood, Sam, Kristin and the rest of their teammates are all actively seeking to integrate their faith and service with acts of creativity and art-making. In his case, Sam’s particular artistic outlet lines in spoken word poetry and music; the former Floridian enjoys playing guitar as well as composing songs. When asked, Sam noted that his favorite aspect of his time at Gano Center is “the food with the seniors on Thursdays!” He then went on to add that he really looks forward to being with the kids in the afternoons. “I get the impression that some of the kids we spend time with don’t have a whole lot of people who genuinely care for them so I just really like the aspect of being there for them.”

Kristin echoed the same amount of enthusiasm and anticipation over being able to pour into the lives of the kids, pre-teens and teens who come to the Centers every Monday through Thursday afternoon. “Pretty much any time I can play soccer or other games with them is a highlight,” the Michigan native said. As a May 2012 high school grad, Kristin is the youngest on her team and brings a contagiously joyful smile with her wherever she goes. When she first heard about the opportunity to pursue a year of urban service, Kristin admitted she wasn’t initially drawn to the city but instead found the pull to the relational aspect of Mission Year and the opportunity to invest in people for longer than any of her other previous, week-at-a-time missions experiences. “It’s not as easy to do ministry 24-7 as I had once anticipated; I love it but it’s definitely harder, and requires a lot more energy, especially when you are seeking to be in intentional community, too. That’s like ministry, too!” With the invaluable life experience, sweet relationships and learning moments found throughout her time with Mission Centers of Houston and Mission Year, Kristin has plans to attend Eastern Michigan University in the fall before pursuing full-time youth ministry in the future.

We appreciate all that you do, Kristin, Sam, Traci and Abi! To read more about our Mission Year interns and to help their team reach their individual support goals (each is responsible for raising a total of $12,00 to cover the cost of living expenses for the year, including rent, groceries, transportation, insurance and more), look here: https://missionyear.org/supporters/