Can you remember an experience that completely changed your perspective?

Maybe it was a youth retreat where you had an unforgettable encounter with God.

Maybe it was a grade school class that opened your eyes to a whole new way of seeing the world.

Maybe it was a mission trip, a hike to the top of a mountain, or simply a conversation with someone who challenged you to think differently.

Isn’t it true that sometimes we need to get outside of our ordinary surroundings to see things differently?

Two weeks ago – the weekend before school began – Pastor Donny and his wife Rachelle drove our ONE WAY youth group students four hours away from Chester (some of whom had never slept in a tent before!) and brought them to the towering Shenandoah Mountains in Virginia.

For three days, they traded sleeping in Chester homes for tent sleeping underneath the stars, microwaved meals for fresh food cooked over a campfire, the city’s pool for swimming in natural waterholes – plus fishing, hiking the 9-mile, 3,291-foot summit of Old Rag Mountain, and reading the Bible together each morning.

It was our prayer that our students would catch a fresh glimpse of the God who created it all, and ultimately make a decision to follow Him.

FROM THE TRAIL: PASTOR DONNY’S TAKE

“While we wanted our students to experience adventure, and God’s incredible creation, we also wanted them to gain perspective before a new school year – with its various pressures – began again.”

One morning, as we sat together for devotions, we read Psalm 8:

‘When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have ordained,
What is man that You are mindful of him,
And the son of man that You visit him?
For You have made him a little lower than the angels,
And You have crowned him with glory and honor.
You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands;
You have put all things under his feet.’

On the second day, we took on Old Rag Mountain, one of Shenandoah’s most spectacular — and challenging — hikes.

After breakfast, we loaded up with water and lunch and set off into the woods. Three hours of beautiful forests and towering rock formations later, we reached the final stretch: some serious rock scrambling.

The kids absolutely crushed it. And then we reached the top.

“After 4 and a half miles of hiking and climbing, there’s something incredible about standing at the summit, looking out over the immense green forests below.

You feel accomplished. You feel small. And you can’t help but marvel at the majesty of God.

We found some rocks, sat down for lunch, and tried our best to take it all in. Then came the hike back down which was just as challenging in places. A few hours later, we stumbled back into camp with empty water bottles, lighter backpacks, sore muscles, and some very stinky socks and shoes.

We also came back with something much more important: a fresh perspective on how big our God really is.

The world is much bigger than ME. And God is infinitely bigger than the world.

Psalm 8 doesn't stop with our smallness. It asks an even more astonishing question: What is man that You are mindful of him?

The God who made the mountains and set the stars in their places is mindful of us.

And even more amazingly, He pursues us. This changes everything.”

A GLIMPSE OF THE YOUTH

The students in ONE WAY are neighborhood kids, most of them living within just a couple blocks of Greenhouse church headquarters.

Some we’ve known for years; others are brand-new faces. Many are growing up in incredibly difficult circumstances—some with parents struggling with addiction or serving time in prison.

At home, many experience instability, heightened emotions, unmet needs, or abandonment.

It’s amazing how much these kids open up when you get them off the streets.

Away from city noise and pressures of everyday life, there’s room for conversations you might never have on the block.

They laugh more. They ask questions. They tell stories. They begin to let you see what’s really going on in their hearts.

One of the students who came with us is a high school senior who says he’s Muslim – he had never been camping before. By the end of the weekend, he was telling us how much he loved it, and, more importantly, that he is seriously considering becoming a Christian. 🙏🏼 Please pray for him!

PASTOR DONNY’S FINAL WORDS

“As these students headed back to school, my encouragement to them was simple: the most important question you can answer this year is not ‘Who am I?’ It's ‘Who is God?’

The world will constantly tell our students to make everything about themselves — their identity, their image, their success, their ‘story’.

But life gets so much bigger when you stop seeing yourself as the center of the story.

Your life is not ultimately ‘the story of you’. It is part of the great story of God's love and grace.”

WHY THIS TRIP MATTERS FROM PASTOR JOHN

So as our ONE WAY students walked back into their schools this week, my prayer is that they would be more impressed with God than they are with the ways of man.

That they would remember the mountains when the pressures of school feel overwhelming.

That they would remember the stars when they feel small.

And that they would remember the most incredible truth of all: The God who made it all is mindful of them.

He sees them. He knows them. And in Jesus, He came to find them.

This is why we do ONE WAY youth group and Homework Club.

Discipling the neighborhood kids isn’t simply a way for us to give them something fun to do on a Friday night or a weekend away, but to give young souls space to encounter the living God, to build relationships with people who love them, and to imagine a life bigger than the hard circumstances immediately surrounding them.

A weekend like this is full of “firsts” for many of our students:

Their first time seeing a starry night sky free of light pollution.
Their first time sleeping in a tent.
Their first time hiking a mountain.
Their first time sitting around a campfire with people who are genuinely interested in their lives.

And sometimes, it becomes the setting for something even more significant — a question about God, a conversation about faith, or the beginning of a journey with Jesus.

We will continue to create moments like these.

Over the next school year, we will host Homework Club every week, leading ONE WAY youth group every other Wednesday night, and spending nights and weekends with these young neighbors.

There are even more students in Chester who need to know that they are seen, loved, and created for something more. And we want to help them see it. This is why Greenhouse Project exists: to help people grow in difficult places.

FEEL LIKE JOINING THIS UNFOLDING STORY?

Please commit to praying for our young students and neighbors to continue catching visions of the God who made the mountains, hung the stars, and came to rescue them.

Consider getting involved this season by joining our Fall Programs to extend our impact as we continue discipling youth at Greenhouse Project: