April 24, 2002

Youth group makes Belize their mission

Former church member speaks on his missionary work in country

By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
       Two years ago, a group of area youth from the First Congregational Church helped build a playground on a small island in the country of Belize. Next summer, another group from the church may help with the beginnings of the first high school on the island.
      For these young people, the sacrifices needed to go will be greatly outweighed by the opportunity to serve others and share their faith.
      "I think the trip will be a good way to grow and obviously it will be way out of my comfort zone," said Audrey Wasielewski, a ninth-grade student at Traverse City East Junior high and a member of the Unforgettables Student Ministry considering the Belize trip. "Their lives are much different from my life here in Traverse City."
      Wasielewski and 50 other area teens came to the First Congregational Church Wednesday evening to hear missionary George Ferrar speak of his work in Belize. He described the country's culture, economy, language and lifestyle for the students.
      Ferrar focused on the island of Caye Caulker, where he has lived and worked for the past five years. The two-mile-long island is accessible only by boat and does not allow cars. Ferrar said the 1,600 residents there cannot pursue higher education locally. He hopes the high school will one day serve up to 300 students.
      "The economy there is lobsters and tourism, they are very enterprising people who start a lot of businesses," said Ferrar, who founded Living Waters Ministry five years ago to facilitate his work in Belize. "I came there to catch fish of a different kind - the fish of men."
      Ferrar spent his youth in Traverse City and, with family in the area, still considers it his home base. He attended the First Congregational Church while growing up and now returns annually to share about his mission work and raise funds.
      A 1993 graduate of the Gordon-Cornwell Theological Seminary in Massachusetts, Ferrar also has ties with churches in four other states.
      "Besides our adult ministry, we have a very visible street ministry for the kids on Caye Caulker," said Ferrar, who spent two years in Haiti as a missionary before his work in Belize.
      Noting that the island has the lowest primary school achievement rate in the country, Ferrar also has a reading ministry for the kids falling behind.
      Ferrar's talk Wednesday and next year's mission trip to Belize is part of the Unforgettables Student Ministry's ongoing commitment to area youth. The group has nearly 100 active members and draws between 60-80 to its weekly meetings.
      First Congregational Church's youth pastor, Jeff Goodwin, said that the myriad pressures facing youth today are prompting many to turn to God.
      "First, you look at kids today and everything they are up against: we've got kids killing each other and turning to drugs and alcohol," said Goodwin, who has led the group for six years. "They are looking for something that matters, that lasts."
      Goodwin also sees how the pressures to achieve and succeed are taking a toll on members of his youth group. He said he frequently reminds them they don't have to live all their lives in the first 18 years.
      "There's such an addiction to success where kids are pushing themselves so hard," he said. "Society is really pushing these kids to go, go, go and we're not helping them figure out where they are going. They ask why, what is it for?"
      Goodwin believes the weekly youth group meetings provide a spiritual anchor, giving the kids a path to thrive in a tumultuous world. Each week's meetings feature a meal and games, followed by praise music, a sermon and small group discussions.
      "Kids are struggling with depression and anxiety in record numbers, so many churches in this community are stepping in," he said. "We're not here pushing religion, we're pushing a relationship with Jesus Christ."
      Making mission trips is a key and he saw how the seven young people who went to Belize in 1999 benefited in many ways from the trip.
      "It absolutely transformed the kids," Goodwin noted. "They now do things they knew they could do, but never really had the courage to try.