GO Week 2025: Orlando, Florida
By Samantha DePriest
With mission teams serving around the country each year, our students often return with stories of being changed and experiencing significant growth in their own Faith walks. TCS GO Week trips offer our students and staff opportunities to directly serve communities together and make an impact on those in need by sharing the gospel and building relationships. One of our mission teams spent time in central Florida this past school year and our leaders shared about their time serving together. .
Their days started early with a team breakfast and preparing their lunches for the day. Each day they spent time serving with different ministries in and around Orlando. Ministry work included handing out food, organizing food and supplies at food pantries, and more. They closed each day with dinner and devotion time. This time was set aside for our students to spend time in prayer, Bible study, and with God. It is our goal at TCS that our students grow in their relationships with God by continually seeking His guidance, acknowledging His love, and striving to live in a way that reflects His values.
TCS GO Week team serving at the WASH Foundation in Orlando.
Dr. Nicholas Yeakley serves as our AP US and World History Teacher as well as the Department Head for our High School Social Studies department. He and our High School Nurse Mrs. Kacey White helped lead our Orlando missions team this year. Dr. Yeakley shared, “The students worked hard and did a great job, but their resilience and flexibility is what really stood out to me. Toward the end of the week, there was confusion over the travel home due to the inclement weather coming in. The students were disappointed that they would not get home for the snow. Nevertheless, the students maintained a positive attitude throughout the delay.”
TCS student pictured serving with Mrs. Kacey White at The WASH Foundation.
Mrs. White shared, “Psalm 33:11 states ‘The plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of His heart through all generations’. The 2025 Orlando GoWeek trip was a trip in which every detail was ordained by the Lord. Our service opportunities included working at "Clean the World", designed to divert soap and plastics from the hospitality industry to be repurposed for underserved countries through "The WASH Foundation", sorting and organizing food through the "Orlando Food Bank", and serving through the "Christian Service Center" which. supports the homeless community in Orlando.”
Mrs. White went on to share about the tremendous impact made on our students, “Our time together was so special. The benefits of this trip were huge. Our students were the hands and feet of Jesus by blessing this community through their service which was not often fun, was cold and hard work. They came home with a sense of great appreciation for all the blessings they have at home and desire to continue in their service here."
Dr. Yeakley pictured far right serving with TCS students.
Dr. Yeakley went on to share about the blessings that came from their change in travel plans, “The travel delay kept us in Orlando a full day longer than expected. This meant that God gave us one unplanned extra day of service during which we got to go back to the food service ministry that we had previously been to. Most of the students ended up saying that that was the best day of the trip. It is great to see God work in unexpected ways.”
“Outside of service, the students had a great time bonding on outings and evenings at our lodging. We had some really good devotional times each evening, and many of the students opened up and sincerely shared with everyone. The students also had fun playing games and exploring different sites in Orlando.”
In summary, our students were able to experience the unexpected blessings that came from plans changing outside of their control. We are eager to see how God uses this experience in our students’ lives and how they apply what they have learned to adversity they may face in the future.
