In June, Oxford resident Torriey Housic will be leaving the state and the country for the first time ever.
Oh, and it will be her first time on a plane, too.
Needless to say she’s a little nervous.
‘All in one day’sweet,? she said a little apprehensively.
The 16-year-old Oxford High School sophomore will be attending a mission trip to Germany and Poland through Acquire the Fire, a worldwide Christian outreach program.
She jokes she’s the ‘guinea pig? being sent from the new Grace Way Christian Fellowship Church in Leonard.
Housic became interested in going on a mission trip last April after she attended a concert put on by Acquire the Fire.
It was too late for her to go on one of their summer trips back then, so she decided to spend the year gathering money to go this summer.
Housic will meet with a group of other teens in New York in late June before flying to Munich, Germany. Their trip coincides with the World Cup for soccer.
While in Germany, the missionaries will be performing religious street plays outside of the World Cup and pass out packets for evangelical outreach purposes.
‘The whole point of this one-month trip is because the world will be in one place,? she explained.
The teens, however, do get one day to explore German culture by visiting historical castles.
After their stop in Germany, Housic and her group will spend the first two weeks of July in Krakow, Poland where they will continue their Christian outreach.
On their free day in Poland, they will be visiting a concentration camp from World War II.
Housic said it is important for her to go on the mission trip because she ‘gets to outreach to people of different faiths and experience something a little bit different.?
To help prepare for the different cultures she will encounter, Housic said she’s hoping to learn a little German, Portugese and Polish before she leaves.
‘I’m going to the library to have this, like ‘learn German in six weeks thing,?? she laughed.
Although the trip is going to be a great experience for Housic, she’s still trying to raise money to actually go.
By selling homemade friendship bracelets and getting monetary gifts from family members, Housic has raised $879 of the $3,000 she needs.
On March 18 from 5-7 p.m., Housic’s church will host a free benefit concert to help raise awareness about her mission trip.
Housic and the church’s youth group band, Soul Patrol, will be putting on a concert and will auction off a guitar shaped like a wing that was designed by the youth group.
Housic said she’s hopeful she’ll get the money she needs to go.
To say Housic is excited about going on the trip would definitely be an understatement. She’s been counting down the days until she leaves.
Only 103 more days to go.
To donate money towards Torriey’s trip, send donations to Teen Mania Ministry, ATTN: Finance, P.O. Box 2000, Garden Valley, TX 75771.
Grace Way Christian Fellowship Church is located at 2955 Rochester Rd. For more information about the benefit concert, contact Pastor Nate Perkins at (248) 628-8372.