Why Idaho?

There are many people who are skeptical of a trip like the one the youth group takes to Idaho. They say that youth groups should be going on international service trips to third world countries where they can get up close and personal with poverty, some place where they can "make a difference". However, something that I think is often misunderstood about “the Idaho trip”, as I call it, is its purpose. We don’t necessarily go to Idaho to build houses, or improve the international standard of living. We go to merely mingle in a Godly way… if that makes sense. Our mission is one of smaller scope but equal if not greater importance.

There is nothing wrong with international service trips to third world countries, by all means they have their place in the missions field and they are greatly needed. But something that is lost on those types of trips- that is gained in the Idaho trip- is a connection with the people there. I made some friends in Idaho that I never could have on an international trip, due to both the language barrier and the fact that I didn’t have to worry about building a house in a specific amount of time. Charles, Trent, Jill, Clyde, Cleve, Ethan, James, Megan, Arnie, Corey, Pastor Jim and Mrs Judy, all of these people I got to know on a personal level, something that rarely happens on an international trip.

The other great thing about the Idaho trip is that it is much more mutually beneficial than most international trips. For most house building or bible distributing trips, the people of the country you just left walk away with some material goods, and you walk away with a spiritual high that lasts a few weeks and another mission trip to put on your resume. On the Idaho trip, not only do the people (hopefully) walk away with new knowledge and a faith they didn’t have before, but you walk away with practice sharing your belief. It helps prepare you for life as a Christian. We are commanded to go and spread the word, and to love our neighbor as ourselves, which is exactly what we do in Idaho.

What's this all about?

This Blog is to keep people up to date on how the mission trip is going. Below is my support letter rough draft. It will give you a basic Idea of what is happening for me this summer, why it's happening, and how you can help. I'll later post copies of the support slip so you can download it and fill it out if you wish. More to come!

Stephen.

Hello,

You may or may not remember that last summer I went with my youth group on a mission trip to Riggins, Idaho. We spent a week in Riggins doing two main things. The first was running a Vacation Bible School program for the kids of Riggins. This was incredible, and I loved getting to know the kids. The second was hanging out with the teens of the town. We would play sports with them every evening on the football field and sit around and talk afterward. It was a great experience and there was a lot of growth on both sides. We saw the kids in Riggins change as well as ourselves. However, after the week was over, and we were on the plane ride back to Houston, there was a definite sense among us that what we had done there had very little chance of continuing without our presence. Even though there was an undeniable impact, we felt like it wasn’t quite helping the people of Riggins enough. Recently, my old youth pastor Rob Holster, and “Youth Mark” manager Brian Aaby discussed a possible solution to this problem. This solution is the reason I’m writing to you now.

This summer I will be going back to Riggins Idaho, but this time I will be staying there for eleven weeks. . While I’m there I will be reaching out to the youth of Idaho and creating lasting relationships. I will be trying to form a core group of believers in Riggins who will stay strong in their faith after I leave. You could call this is a guinea pig project. It’s never been done before, but we really think that this kind of long-term close relationship ministry is exactly the kind of thing that can make a huge difference in a town like Riggins. We are hoping that if this works, we can do this with more students in more towns all around the country, and it all starts here.

A journey like this does not come cheap. Not only do I need to pay for transportation to Riggins, but also for the cost of living and ministering there. Some of this cost will be alleviated by the fact that I will be staying with Pastor Jim and his wife Judy, who belong to Salmon River Community Church, but financial help is still greatly needed and appreciated for this excursion and will help more than you can know.

As I did last year, I am enclosing a self-addressed, stamped envelope and a returnable “support slip”. If you cannot give financially at this time I would still love to get the filled out support slip back so that I can know you’re praying for me. All checks can be made out to North West Bible Church.

Just like last year, if you would like to know more about the trip or want to stay updated on how the trip is going you can call me at 713-540-4673 or email me at stephen.curto@gmail.com . Also, since this is on a bit larger scale than last year, I have set up a personal blog for this trip (http://stephentoidaho.blogspot.com). I will be updating this blog with stories of the town, prayer requests, and general information on how the trip is going.

Thank you so much!

God bless.

Stephen Curto