What would you say if I told you to fly to South Dakota, drive for fourteen hours on a straight road in a van with ten other wild teens? Not bad right? Well what if I added sleeping on a hard school floor and getting up at an ungodly hours of the morning and not going to sleep until well past dark? But wait there is more!Now I am going to add gross food, no showers, and lots of BIG bugs. You still think you could take it? Well what about cleaning and painting mud caked walls, or bathrooms that not even the strongest fly can go near? what if I told you, that you had to clean and paint houses that look and smell like that three year old brown lunch bag that you found in the bottom of a back pack that is so old your not to sure what was in it in the first place? Right about now most people would be telling me i am crazy. . . and there is a good chance that I am, but i found a group called Youth On Mission (YOM) that does just that and loves it.
Youth On Mission is a group of about ten teens and two adults. They go to the Lakota Indian reservation in Manderson South Dakota, to clean and paint houses over the summer. " its so much more . . . so far more then painting houses. if it was just about painting houses I would say you were crazy and to come paint my house. Its about the experience. its about the experience inside the experience." says YOM Leader John Maroni, when asked why he takes the team to South Dakota. Believe it or not this team does so much more then paint houses. When they get to South Dakota they break up into two groups. One group cleans and paints houses, and the other group goes to 'Kids Club'. Kids club is a place where the Lakota children can come and have a free lunch and a buddy to play with. "Its about learning who the Lakota people are and what they stand for while at the same time we're finding out who we are" says YOM member Nicole Schwan
They weren't just there to work no no no from what I have learned about Youth On Mission that was never really the idea behind it. "Its about breaking down resell walls, to build relationships, and to be the hands and feet of God" says YOM Leader Chris Penov when asked what youth on mission was all about. Its about learning as well. They learned about God, the lakota people, and themselves. They learned how to play basketball, learned to work with kids, how to work as a team. I even heard they tried to teach one YOM member to know when it was time to give in and sit it out, but i also heard she was too hard headed and it didn't stick well.
What makes a team like this so great? Well for starters the love and passion for what they are doing, but also a team is only as great as the person leading them. If you have a weak leader chances are you'll have a weak team. John Maroni and Chris Penov are both strong leaders.
29 year old John Maroni is a student at Trinity seminary school to become a Pastor. John as been the youth Director for Faith Lutheran Church for many years. He takes alot of time out of his life to take the youth group to Ceder Point, New York or even getting a group together to have a small devotions time and a movie. "Sometimes I dont think John knows how much He means to us"says Nicole Schwan." I believe john in a great person, and a wonderful leader. He has so much energy and is great to work with. you can tell he really loves us kids and would do anything to help us reach our goal. he want's to do this as much as we do and it really shows." says YOM member Abby Penov when asked about how she feels about John. "PEACHY KEAN" Says YOM member Jody heil.
Chris Penov is a working mother who willingly gives her free time to Youth On Mission. She went to South Dakota last year as the girls leader. She was an English foriegn Lauguage teacher. " I think my mom is a good leader for youth on mission. I think she wants YOM to be a success, so sometimes she may push us a bit but it's all good. I think she knows when to let us do our thing and when to take control" says YOM Member Abby Penov when asked about how she feels about her mother being a leader."I love working with all the kids on our youth on Mission team because each child is better at everything then I am ...... humility is a lakota virtue" says Chris Penov when asked why she was part of youth on Mission. known to the group as 'Mrs. P' she has done everything from using her home for a place to meet to bring in people to teach the group about the Lakota people. "she really is a great person and a hard worker" says Nicole Schwan
Most new groups are so busy trying to get threw one year they dont think too much about the next year. A topic some of the team members have been talking about was what they will do about the kids who will be old enough to come within the next few years. Do they know what YOM is? Do they have any interest in it? "I think we have to spark their interests enough like have a 'learn about the lakota nation day' or things of that sort, but they have to realize how meaningful of an experience it is. it is not just a mission trip but a life experience, and from what i have heard its more a leason in life" Says Yom Member Jody heil when asked if she thinks the younger childeren would be into yom.
So you have an idea of what they go threw. You have an idea of how much they love it and how hard they work. Now what do you think? Is it worth their time? I think it is, and I think these mission trip and all their hard work will help these Young teens to helo others even if it isn't threw YOM.
