Youth Unlimited Marks 20 Years with LaGrave CRC

May 27, 2009

Youth Unlimited, a youth program affiliated with the Christian Reformed Church, will mark 20 years of ministry with LaGrave CRC at a special service in June in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

LaGrave has been partnering with Youth Unlimited (YU), which is headquartered in Grand Rapids, to host SERVE mission trips for 20 consecutive summers.

Youth Unlimited is part of Dynamic Youth Ministries, an organization that provides training and materials for Christian Reformed youth ministries such as Cadets, GEMS, and high school youth groups.

SERVE was launched by the Young Calvinist Federation – the organization that became Youth Unlimited in 1992 – under the direction of Char Merz. Although SERVE got started in 1988, it actually began with three mission sites in the summer of 1989.

Over the 20-year span, LaGrave has hosted around 2,000 high school students and their youth leaders from across the US and Canada who volunteer a week of their time to serve throughout the Grand Rapids area.

The 2009 Grand Rapids LaGrave SERVE will take place June 20-27, 2009. Youth Unlimited will honor these volunteers through a congregational celebration at the church on Sunday, June 21, 2009.

“SERVE is part of the Missions Program of Youth Unlimited in which students from across the US and Canada engage in service opportunities and worship to grow in their faith and discover how they can make a difference in the world,” says a Youth Unlimited press release.

Each SERVE experience is run by a local Host Team, made of volunteers from one or more churches or organizations. These volunteers organize the SERVE mission experiences with support from the YU home office.

Together, YU and the local Host Team work to have a long-term impact on the communities and people whom they serve by coming along side non-profit and faith-based organizations and individuals who are already serving year-round in the community.

At the Grand Rapids LaGrave SERVE, high school students volunteer their time working with the homeless, building houses, sorting food at a distribution center, helping at day care centers, painting, doing community car washes and more.

“Over the past 20 years, nonprofit organizations and families in our community have saved thousands and thousands of dollars in manual labor costs and materials thanks to the dedication and commitment of the volunteer Host Team at LaGrave CRC,” says Carrie Ypma, missions program director from Youth Unlimited.

This summer, the Grand Rapids LaGrave SERVE is one of 40 different mission experiences throughout the United States, Canada and other countries that Youth Unlimited is sponsoring, involving over 1,600 teens and their adult leaders. Youth Unlimited’s mission is to help churches challenge youth to commit their lives to Jesus Christ and to transform their world for Him.

For more information contact: Bob Grussing, Grand Rapids LaGrave SERVE Host Team Coordinator, (616) 454-7204, [email protected] or Carrie Ypma, Missions Program Director, Youth Unlimited (616) 241-5616, ext. 3040 or [email protected].