St. Paul Lutheran Church youth group leaves for mission in Washington, D.C.

MONROE — A group of nineteen high school youth and five adult leaders from St. Paul Lutheran Church left Monroe on Sunday, July 17, for a week-long mission trip to Washington, D.C.
The nation’s capital is rich in history, containing many treasures in the forms of monuments, museums, memorials, parks and government buildings.
It is also a place of huge economic variances among its residents, with the vast majority living below poverty level.
The Orange County teens will serve the metro-area residents by working with volunteer organizations that serve children, the elderly and the homeless.
They will lend a hand serving and delivering meals, preparing shelters for their daily guests, playing games at women’s centers, singing hymns with seniors and tidying up neighborhood parks.
In the evenings, they will explore some of D.C.’s sites, as well as have a chance to pray at the Capitol building.
The young people attending from St. Paul are Anna Austin, Ashley Coon, Kyle Egan, Fiona Fischer, Grace Fischer, Robert Germann, Cassandra Hughes, Jacqueline Hughes, Lisa Jacobsen, Hannah Johnson, Kayleigh Karpowicz, Sarah Kehrli, Jacquelynn Long, Anna Lynch, Daniel Lynch, Tess Marotta, Amanda Moore, Christopher Sommer and Levi Ward.
Adult leaders are Youth Director Ali Quinn-Schama, Vicar Robert Wilson, Scott Fischer and Norma and Danielle Montagnino.
The trip was arranged through YouthWorks, a national organization that exists to connect teenagers to God, each other and communities through life-changing Christ-centered mission trips.
This is the thirteenth consecutive year that St. Paul has sent a group for this type of service opportunity.