Saturday evening, Feb. 11, was filled with friendship, food and fundraising at the 14th Annual Friendship Dinner presented by LinC Student Ministry at Poinciana United Methodist Church in Miami Springs. 

    The annual fundraiser dinner is one of many fundraisers that LinC Student Ministry does throughout the year which enables students to attend a week-long mission trip in the summer.

    The “LinC” in LinC Student Ministry is an acronym for Living in Christ. LinC is composed of local middle school, high school and college students and is led by Louise and Terry Jagessar of Miami Springs.

    Poinciana’s Fellowship Hall was transformed into an elegant bistro complete with candles, white linen tablecloths, and the aroma of a gourmet meal that included chicken marsala, baked potatoes, veggies, and a buffet of homemade desserts. As guests arrived, they were greeted and seated as if they were at a fancy restaurant. Children were escorted to the opposite end of the church for special activities catered just for them.

    The waiters were dressed in traditional black pants and white shirts; however, these weren’t your average waiters. These waiters were college and teenage volunteers who were earning their way to a not-so-typical summer vacation.

    Every summer for the past 14 years, LinC takes students and chaperones out of their comfort zone, literally. Past trips have taken them north to Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee. They spend the week helping the less fortunate. They paint, and they build, and they work really hard. After a day of blood, sweat and tears, they arrive back to the campsite with very modest accommodations, limited showers and, on occasion, no air conditioning. 

    “I started working in youth ministry because I wanted to make a difference that would last beyond my own lifetime,” said Louise Jagessar, who has been leading the group for close to 16 years. “My husband and I give our time, energy and love to the student ministry because we know they are learning lessons that will shape their behaviors and guide their decisions. We want to leave a godly legacy that goes beyond the scope of our immediate family.

    “Society tends to have low standards and expectations of teenagers, but they have so much more potential than those expectations allow. They need to know they are loved by the very God who created them. We feel privileged to be a part of God’s plan to show them His love.”

    Louise Jagessar comes from a family that knows very well about service and mission work. She follows in the footsteps of her parents, Stewart and Margaret Erskine, who were in charge of the youth ministry back in the late ’70s and early ’80s.

    Miami Springs resident Mike Saladrigas was in attendance as well. Saladrigas is better known in the Miami Springs community for his coaching on the soccer fields rather than for volunteering in the mission fields. However, this will be Saladrigas’ third year as a mission trip chaperone.

    “Working with the youth has always been in my heart,” said Saladrigas. “I want to teach my daughters what is really important in life and that’s learning about God and serving others.”

    This year’s Friendship Dinner brought out old friends and new friends from Miami Springs and the surrounding areas for a fabulous evening to support a dedicated bunch. As they do every year, after the last guest went home, and the last dish was cleaned, all of the volunteers gathered around the table for their turn to eat dinner. They reminisced about past mission trips. The laughter and contagious joy disguised the exhaustion of all of the volunteers.

    The funds that were raised go to support a group that loves a little hard work, knowing that through hard work they are actually building character in a generation that will far outlast any summer mission trip.

    If you missed The Friendship Dinner but would like to support LinC’s Summer Mission Trip, you can call the church office at (305) 888-0641.