Summer 2022 Mission Trips Open
Rodney was one of the first kids Extreme Faith volunteers met while serving at St. Trinity. He quickly bonded with our staff and volunteers and shared his difficult life situation. Staff and volunteers adopted Rodney as part of their community. They were honored to attended his 8th grade graduation but saddened to discover they were his only family present. Even with Rodney's difficult life, Extreme Faith and Rodney have began a journey together supporting and encouraging each other through the ups and downs of life . Rodney now attends church regularly at St. Trinity and is working on graduating high school next year and getting a job.
Don and his wife Debbie have been members of St. Trinity many years. In 2009, they were saddened to think their church may close and worried about the community around them not knowing Jesus. Don became excited Extreme Faith was working with St. Trinity and joined on their homeless ministry to see their community in action. He was both surprised and encouraged to see such a young group passionate about building relationships and ministering to others in a safe and responsible manner. After experiencing the homeless ministry he returned to the congregation as an advocate to become more ministry oriented and serve with Extreme Faith. Don's wife Debbie is now the food pantry coordinator and they are both very active in church and other service opportunities.
As Extreme Faith began serving at St. Trinity, neighborhood kids became interested in walking with us and impacting the community together. Youth ages 10 and older began serving in our food pantry, homeless ministry and teaching parts of our day camp. Many of our student leaders are now regular attenders of St. Trinity or other churches. Troy is a neighborhood youth who started out as a student in our day camp four years ago and started volunteering as a student leader over the past two years. He takes prode in his position as a student leader and works hard to help our staff lead mission teams and serve the community. His favorite part of serving is watching the teams worship event on their last night.
Jean has been serving with Extreme Faith for many years. She started as a "Food Lady" preparing food for our homeless ministry. Eventually she was encouraged to join us serving food to the homeless. Over time she began building relationships with other volunteers and the homeless which has lead to her mentoring and ministering to many people! She is currently active in our homeless ministry and serves at our food pantry regularly where she enjoys praying with and encouraging our food pantry members.
Bill and Karli began serving with homeless ministry while they were in middle school. They quickly became excited about ministry and ended up taking on leadership roles. By the time they were in high school both were helping plan events and host other volunteers. As Extreme Faith became more active at St. Trinity, they took on other leadership roles including director of outreach and coordinating summer day camp. Service with Extreme Faith played a role in Bill's decision to join the Seminary and Karli becoming a teacher. They are happily married while Karli teaches at a grade school and Bill finishes Seminary to become a pastor.
The congregation of St. Trinity has been serving South St. Louis for over 160 years. Sadly in 2009 the congregation had grown older and lacked the energy or passion to keep doing ministry. After making plans to close their doors and board the church up, Extreme Faith volunteers and other members of Faith Lutheran decided to walk alongside the church to encourage and equip them for ministry. As a result of partnering and working together, the congregation became re-energized for ministry. Their closing date of October 2010 came and went with the congregation voting to not only stay open but refocus their mission on being and bringing the Light Life and Love of Jesus to South City.