InterServ hosts mission groups and work camps each summer, but when the tour bus from the United Methodist Women of the Kansas West Conference, Mission and Education Tour (METour) began unloading the 34 young women and 6 counselors traveling through Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Iowa, and Nebraska, we knew this group would be a little different than most. The girls, ages 15 to 18, were making a 2-hour stop at InterServ on day one of their 10-day mission tour. The METour is a 56 year tradition of the United Methodist Church designed to allow young women to visit and work in various mission projects, schools, and programs that are linked to the United Methodist Church to learn about ministry opportunities, experience “hands on” mission,  and see the church as it serves others.

This younger generation may approach mission and ministry from a different perspective, yet is clear that they have learned valuable lessons from the generation of women that came before them. Given the chance, one can only wonder what this next generation of women will teach us about mission and ministry.