United Presbyterian Church of Peoria, IL

Each Summer the Quest youth group goes on a week long trip. We alternate between a retreat style trip focused on worship and community building and a mission trip focused on service to others. On retreats we try to go someplace where youth can have new experiences with each other to create lasting memories. We have devotionals every morning and worship every night. We also do a small mission project while we are there. On Mission Trips we spend the majority of the day doing mission projects or getting educated about the problems of poverty, disaster assistance, etc. We don’t just want to do a project and leave though. We want the youth to experience and understand the extent of some of the problems facing our world and go home with a changed perspective. We do a lot of work on Mission Trips but we also have a lot of fun. We do fun activities each afternoon/evening and we also have worship each night.
We have several fundraisers throughout the year so we can keep the cost of the trip down for each youth. For example, the total cost per youth of our Summer 2010 trip was about $400 but youth only had to pay $150. It is important for each youth to participate in all fundraisers so they can receive credit towards their trip.

SUMMER TRIP 2011

This summer we’ll be going on a mission trip to St. Louis on June 12-17th. We’ll be staying at First Presbyterian Church of Ferguson and participating in their Urban Mission Camp. To find out more about the program and facilities you can visit their website by clicking HERE.

SKI TRIP

Each year on Martin Luther King Jr. Day we take a group of youth to Snowstar Mountain by the Quad Cities. We spend the day skiing and snow tubing. We leave at 8:00 A.M. and return at 8:00 pm. The cost for the trip is $40 plus money for food.

SUMMER TRIP 2010

In June of 2010 we took 21 youth and 6 leaders to Gatlinburg, TN. We stayed in a large manor house just a few minutes from downtown. Each morning we had a devotional time and each night we had worship and then split into small groups for discussion. The theme of the trip was WWYD? (What Would You Do). We talked about the importance of choices and how we have to make decisions that not only impact our lives but others’ lives as well. In small groups we discussed real life tough scenarios and what we would do in that situation. The small groups were also responsible for chores around the house and meals throughout the week as well.

SIX FLAGS

Every July we take several youth to Six Flags in St. Louis. We leave the church early in the morning on a Tuesday and spend the day at the park. Youth are encouraged to bring a swimsuit and change of clothes so they can enjoy the water park too. We purchase discounted tickets in the spring so you need to sign up early to purchase the discounted tickets. If you decide later you would like to go you can still purchase a ticket through the church if we have any left or we'll purchase you an extra one. We always have lots of fun riding coasters, water slides, and eating unhealthy food, so join us next year at six flags.