The greatest thing that you can do for your teen in preparation for their week of service is to pray. We believe that through prayer, the work of the Holy Spirit, and obedient response by followers of Christ, God changes things in our world. We encourage you to join us in praying for your teens. Long before we ever meet your son/daughter we will be praying for them, asking that God will use their week at the Philadelphia Project to stretch them, grow them, and expose them to His radiant love for them and others.

The second greatest thing that you can do is follow up. Once your teen returns from their week, check in with them to see how God spoke to them in that week. Create new opportunities at home for the continued work that they were exposed to while at the Project. If there are ways that we at the Project can assist you in following up, please let us know. We can make our curriculum available as well suggesting other ministry areas within your geographic context that you might be able to connect with as a family.

All of our projects last approximately a week. High School Projects run from Sunday early afternoon through Friday evening, and Middle School Projects start on Monday afternoon and run through Friday early afternoon. Our Projects are designed to maximize on every moment that your teen is away from home. We will build in a sufficient amount of time for rest and play while remaining consistent with our commitment to emphasize on growth opportunities.

The Philadelphia Project is intense! We pack every day full because we believe God will do great things in the lives of your youth and those they serve — every moment counts! Here’s what a “normal” day of the Summer Missions Program looks like:

6:30 am — Staff Prayer — we’re praying for your youth before they even wake up!
6:45 am — Up & At’em — Wash up, clean up the church and pack lunches.
7:30 am — Breakfast
8:15 am — Quiet Time — Each morning we spend time together in prayer and singing, then time alone with God and in His Word.
9:00 am — Off to Serve! From here we split up into several smaller groups and leave for service sites.
12:30 pm — Lunch is at the service sites
1:00 pm — Continue Service & Outreach Projects
4:00 pm — Snack Stop — Wrap up service sites and grab an afternoon snack/drink at a convenience store, WaWa, Dunkin Donuts, etc.
4:30 pm — Huddle — We head to a park for a time to debrief the day (lead by your youth leaders) and enjoy a little free time.
6:00 pm — Dinner
6:45 pm — Free Time & Dinner clean up
7:30 pm — Club — Worship, lesson or Bible study (lead by The Philadelphia Project staff), and small groups
9:30 pm — Free Time & The Philadelphia Project Staff meeting
10:30 pm — Lights out