Serve 2026

Ready to join us in being surprised by God??

You’re in the right spot!

This July 18 - July 25 we will be hosting Serve, creating space for students and youth groups from across North America to join us in being and bringing God’s presence in Palos Heights and the South suburbs.

Help is needed for prayer partners, kitchen crew, and worksite locations supervisors - sign up to Serve in one of those areas below:

Click HERE for prayer partner sign up.

Click HERE for other opportunities to volunteer with Serve.

Click HERE for monetary donations. Be sure to note the donation is for Serve 2026.

-What is Serve? SERVE is a one-week mission trip for teens in the United States or Canada that introduces high school students to spreading the gospel through building community, missional living, and confronting issues of justice. Through hands-on, people-centered service, students partner with local churches to support and strengthen their communities. SERVE inspires students to stay engaged in their home churches and communities, making its impact felt long after the trip ends.

-When is Serve? July 18-25. However you’re wired, and whenever you’re available, there’s an opportunity to SERVE.

-Where are we serving? While our home base will be Palos Heights CRC, we’ll be sending students across the South Suburbs to learn the stories of and lend a hand to mission partners like Roseland Christian Ministries, Unity Christian School, Chicago Christian Schools, The Bridge Teen Center, The Forest Preserves of Cook County, people’s homes, and more, to see and join in to what God is already doing around us!

-Who can help Serve? Everybody! There’s something every one of us can do to be part of this amazing week of God’s church coming together!

-How can you Serve?

Early Birds: Help us make breakfast for 60 + people before everyone else wakes up!

Night Owls: Join us for worship and then stick around to get to know/entertain students or be on our security detail until 12:30 or 1 am.

Work Horses: Share your skills, knowledge, and expertise as a worksite helper or safety coordinator during the week, and/or help us assess and prep worksites and projects long before our week starts so that we have all the supplies we’ll need and things will run safely and smoothly!

Church Mice - help us tidy up the church or prep the next meal when everyone else is out serving elsewhere during the day, or help us do loads of laundry on Wednesday or Saturday.

Family Ministry Teams: You’ll be asked to come make, serve, and enjoy dinner with our students one night of the week!

Prayer Warriors: Sign up to be a prayer partner for a student whose coming, and start praying for them now, during the week, and long afterwards! Also, pray, pray, pray, for every detail of this week the Lord brings to your mind!

Why Serve?

We currently have 54 students and leaders coming to PHCRC for a week of serving in our community and growing their relationship with Jesus Christ, and we fully expect God to surprise us through how he works through this week! You can play a major role in that by showing up and getting to know these students, lending a hand throughout the week, or simply supporting Serve from the background with donations of food, tools, miscellaneous items, or dollars for our team to get what we need.

Questions? See a member of the Serve Planning Team: Pastor Micah VanDyken, Bobby Markey, Cheryl DeJong, Vicki Duh, Becky VanTil, Ken Riemersma, Cindi Riemersma, Brittany Samp, Aaron Samp, Tim Goudzwaard, Ruth Goudzwaard, Dawn Heideman and Allison Dekker