Members of the U.M. ARMY Courtesy Photo In a change of pace from Chandler First United Methodist Church's summer mission trips, Chandler FUMC decided to add something a bit different to its 2007 mix: a winter mission trip.

Marla Frederick, director of youth and missions at the church, said a group of seven FUMC members, including one other adult, a college student and several high school students, visited a Family Homeless Shelter in Galveston. The seven joined a camp of 13 to make a total of 20 people. The trip lasted from December 26 to January 1.

"We work with the United Methodist Action Reach-out Missions by Youth program," Frederick said.

The UM ARMY chooses the missions locations for those with it.

Frederick said the group from FUMC, a church of over 575 members, had a great amount of fun and made lasting friendships.

"Most of all," Frederick said, "we saw the Lord at work."

One of the more interesting facts about the family shelter, Frederick wrote in an e-mail message, is the Galveston shelter was a style sheltering both children and their parents, and not one group.

"Other families are separated for the holidays," Frederick wrote, "but these were able to stay together."

During the mission trip the FUMC group put shelving and closet units in 14 rooms, repaired a bathroom, built three picnic tables and four sets of locker cabinets and hosted a Vacation Bible School event for the 66 people in the packed shelter. The program included sports, games, crafts, Bible stories, talk time for the adults, singing and dinner. The families also received the paintings the groups worked on, which Frederick wrote reflected crosses and words of inspiration. The FUMC group also cleaned a home which suffered burn damage and made a kitchen usable for a single elderly woman. They also gave something more valuable; the companionship of a group of youth and adults.

The FUMC members themselves started each day with worship before getting to work at the shelter. Some days there would be swimming at a nearby fitness center; the group even had dinner at the Rainforest CafØ restaurant one night during the week. They also had a candlelight service on New Year's Eve.

"The best part was seeing the change from the first day to the last day," Frederick said.

Frederick told of how the church group had arrived at the shelter to see a family deep in argument. Later in the week the family had regained a sense of pride and even helped outside to clean the area, all without a single word of argument.

John Taylor, adult sponsor for the trip, said he couldn't point out a specific best part of the trip.

"I really enjoyed it," Taylor said. "It was different from the summer trips. It was smaller, more intimate, and we all worked on one job."

Taylor also said everyone on the trip got to know each other quickly.

Frederick said the idea of a winter mission trip entailed younger churchgoers sacrificing $200 to take the four and a half hour drive to Galveston and sleep in a church for nearly a week of their winter vacation.

"I was amazed," Frederick said. "They did it not because they wanted to be cool for going on a mission trip, but because they wanted to work."

It was a true blessing for all involved, Frederick said.