In order to raise funds for its mission trip to Alaska this summer, members of the youth group at Pequea Baptist Church will present a fundraiser on Saturday, June 14, from 9 a.m. to noon, which will feature a yard sale, a sale of baked goods and a car wash. The youth group, called SCOPE (Serving Christ on Planet Earth), has dubbed the activity "A Super-Colossal Fundraising Event."

According to youth group leader Tammy Shondelmyer, the youth group held a bake sale and car wash last year to fund its previous mission trip, but this year a yard sale has been added.

"We have people who donated antiques and furniture items. We have an antique rocking horse," she stated. "Many items will be tagged. A lot of the smaller items will be by donation only." Other items for sale will be household goods and children's items, including baby playards.

All baked goods for sale will be homemade, and youths will wash cars for a donation, weather permitting.

For this year's mission trip, 14 youth group members and four adults will work with the church's missionaries, Tim and Larissa Zook and Jason and Jonie Mellinger from Helping Hands Alaska (HHA). HHA, founded by Jason and Jonie, provides services to village pastors and missionaries serving in the remote Alaskan bush.

"We are going to support our church missionaries that live and work there," Shondelmyer explained. "We will be doing work projects, painting, cleaning up a storage facility and helping build a new one."

Among the many services that HHA provides are arranging charter flights and airport pickups and transporting people and supplies throughout the state via bus, van, truck or airplane. "It is a very remote area," explained Shondelmyer. "There is a man who flies airplanes and takes food to remote places. He is a jack of all trades. When the lakes freeze, he (travels by truck over) frozen ice roads, which are roads they make upon huge lakes. He takes needed supplies like gas and oil." More information about the organization is available at http://www.helpinghandsalaska.com.

A previous mission trip took the youth group to Nashville. Working with two local churches, they ministered to the homeless, including serving sandwiches. "Every year we go some place; this is new to us. We try to find places that are (in need) in the United States," Shondelmyer said. "We went to Nashville right after COVID because the homeless population exponentially grew after (the pandemic). Many could not find their way in the music world. They had huge underground cities of homeless people."

The youths are asked to raise their own money to participate in the mission trips. "Some teens (recently) mulched to earn some money, and another group of kids helped a church family put river rock around their pool," she noted. "I see great value in kids in earning their own money because they invest in (the mission trip). They want to go and make a difference."

SCOPE comprises youths ages 12 to 18. Most reside within the Octorara Area School District, but other members are from Pequea Valley School District and other communities like Coatesville and Downingtown. "We have 42 on the roster, and at least half of those kids are not (from Pequea Baptist Church)," noted Shondelmyer. "They are kids that have been invited because their church does not have a youth group, or they don't go to church."

SCOPE meets on Wednesdays at 7 p.m. during the school year. This summer, the youth group will meet on Wednesdays at 6:30 a.m. from June 11 through July 9. "They are meeting this summer on Wednesday at 6:30 a.m. for breakfast and a Bible study before they start their jobs," she noted. The youth group will resume its regular meetings on Sept. 10.

Pequea Baptist Church is located at 6062 Old Philadelphia Pike, Gap. To learn more about church activities, visit http://www.fbcpequea.org or http://www.facebook.com/FirstBaptistChurchOfPequea or call the church office at 717-442-4403.