Becca Adams
Good morning, I’m Becca Adams, a member of the youth group here, and I just got back from changing the world so I would love to share a little bit about that. I was placed on a crew with Ben Spencer, Kimmy McIntire and eight others, and we were given the task of painting an 80year old house owned by an 84year old devout Christian woman, Ms. Pearly May. The Murray family had seen Ms. Pearly featured in an article detailing the work to be done on her house and so all of us were hoping to be on the crew that worked her house, you know, mainly so we could be featured in the after story. A quick and quality job was completed by early Thursday and so we moved on to help other crews with greater tasks.
A meaningful experience, definitely my favorite of the week occurred Friday afternoon when my crew had the privilege of meeting Ms. Pearly May for the first time. (She had been out of town for the week, so we had missed out on desired opportunities to bond with her). She was filled with joy and gratitude for this rather simple act of service. She told of her shame at living in a dilapidated home (her home since childhood) amongst newer, more well-kept housing developments. It was deeply moving to listen to her express her embarrassment at her inability to improve its appearance, her very real fear that she would ultimately die alone in what she thought of as an ugly home. I am so glad that God purposefully placed me where he did this week. What a blessing it was to be able to bless her in some small way.
The theme for the week was Obedience, Choosing to Serve. This week was a strong reminder of my call to serve God and not myself, to follow God’s will and not my own. Romans 12:2 through 3 says “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is-his good, pleasing, and perfect will.” A week of the summer spent in long days of hard work and sleepless nights is not typical, it is not part of the pattern of this world, yet I now realize that this should only be one aspect of a whole life set apart from the world’s ways. I believe that God is calling me to be separate, to be different, especially in this upcoming senior year because it is a critical time before a big life change. I have again been reminded that it is only when I step out from conformity that God will reveal his will and lead me in ways that I can experience the abundant life he has promised. It was fun to change Ms. Pearly’s world this week by serving her in Jesus’ name.
Melita Pena
My name is Melita Pena. I’m 16 years old and this was my first World Changers trip. I can finally say I know why over 400 people pay a lot of money to sleep on the floor, take cold showers in a trailer, and eat fake eggs every morning for a week. My trip was amazing! I was in a crew of 12 people working on an 87-year-old man’s house. He was a missionary who had worked in Belize for many years. We redid facial boards, fixed his plumbing, and repainted the entire outside of his house.
One of the things that really took me by surprise was how thankful everyone was. On the first day our homeowner prayed over us. We hadn’t started working at all, but he started crying while he prayed. He was just so grateful that we were there and for what we were about to do.
Another thing that I saw shown throughout the week was generosity. Whether it was someone on the crew holding a ladder for somebody else, the Murray’s letting us use their lake house during the week, or our sponsor church bringing us homemade fried chicken for lunch, everybody was so willing to help other people. It was incredible seeing all of these Christian people working together to serve others. That was the motto for this week: Obedience. Choose to serve. And serving isn’t always easy.
On Thursday morning, we had 95% of the painting of the house done. We were so excited because we thought the house would be finished a day early. Our supervisor showed up and told us the last thing we wanted to hear. We had painted the house the wrong color. It wasn’t supposed to be white, it was supposed to be green. However, we pulled through and were able to work together to accomplish 3 days worth of painting in 8 hours. Also, the pastor of our sponsor church had 3 children. The youngest, Kyle, was 11 and he had been diagnosed with leukemia about a month ago. He was starting chemo the week of World Changers, and he had many doctor appointments. The pastor came to our worksite every single day around lunchtime, and most days Kyle came right along with him and visited with us. It was amazing seeing this young boy coming to encourage us, even while he was facing a situation where he needed encouragement himself.
My favorite part of the week was definitely meeting new people. I was put in a crew with 11 strangers, but by the end of the week we were like family.
World Changers has helped me grow as a Christian. I learned that I can serve God anytime, any place, and anywhere. We serve God by obeying him. First Samuel 15:22 says, "Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams."
Our youth pastor for the week said two things that really stuck with me. The first thing he said was, "God doesn’t want one week of your life. He wants everything." The second thing he said was, "Youth are not the future of the church. Youth are the church today." You don’t have to wait to serve God. All people of all ages can start today. Right now. In my crew there were older men working on the roof right alongside us teenagers. World Changers taught me that you are never too young, too old, too small, or too weak to make a difference in the community and to serve God. My experience was so much fun and I can’t wait for next summer!
Rachel Word
Hi, my name is Rachel. I’m just going to start out by saying that World Changers was a lot of fun. It was very different from the last time I went to World Changers, because last time I worked in the community, at a small children’s daycare and at the Salvation Army. Doing construction work this year was a whole new experience.
I was on a crew called the Goofus Roofers, and of course, we worked on the roof of a small church. But the week started out pretty bad for me. Everyone on my crew was older than me, college age, so while they were talking about their cars and jobs, I was off to the side by myself thinking: I don’t have a car, I don’t drive, I don’t have a job. So I thought that the week was going to be horrible and that I’d make absolutely no friends while I was there. (It all worked out for the good, though, and I made friends who I love dearly now)
But then, one day we went to a small church next door that used to be a slave church. As some of you may know, there’s a large Wicca community in Ashville, and on the floor was a huge Pentagram in black spray paint, and, up near the pulpit, it said “You Suck” with another smaller Pentagram between the two words. It was then that I realized that it didn’t matter if I had fun this week, or if I made any friends. What really mattered was that we changed these people’s lives.
There was a song that we sang almost everyday last week and the words went like this:
"Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades, Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame…"
Being able to sing those words, and know the person, the amazing God and Father to whom we are singing, is an amazing feeling that everyone should experience. So having the opportunity to go out and be able to possibly share about that feeling, is one that everyone should take advantage of. And I for one, know that whenever there is a World Changers, I’m going to grab hold of that chance and share this amazing feeling inside of me.
Tommy Craig
Hi I’m Tommy Craig and I had a really good time at world changers last week. I know that many years from now when I look back on the trip, there will be a lot of experiences I will never forget. For example, as hard as I try I will never forget waking up next to Zac Murray half clothed every morning. Also, I will never forget waiting almost an hour in line to take a quick shower in a FEMA trailer and knowing that if I took too long, an adult counselor would hit me with a pie so that I would half to go back to the end of the line, to wash off. However, I will never forget how after a week of that counselor, some of my crew and I found his car wrapped in toilet paper. Who would do that?
Anyways, my worksite had 2 houses that we worked on. One, where were most of the work took place was owned by a woman in her 90’s named Teresa and the other house was owned by her sister who lived across the street. When we first arrived we jumped up and started working immediately. We rebuilt a ceiling, painted her porch, painted ceilings and other things around the house. We also did yard work, built a door, sealed and painted some steps. Even though most of those jobs sound small they found there own ways to be difficult and tiring like how Teresa gets chills at night so despite the humid weather she has to leave the heater on making working conditions in the house very hot.
To be honest though, at first I was disappointed when I saw what our job was. Minor painting, yard work, and build a door or 2. But my crew chief Frank, taught me early that we are not here doing these jobs for the satisfaction of building some giant house but rather to change this lady’s world. Were here to not just change her house, but to change her heart and to do that may not require a new roof or something that I intended to build coming here, but instead to shape up her yard and the rooms inside. Frank taught me many things that week about construction and hard work, but most important I learned from him to never quit.
All week I saw how no matter how tough a job got he always stuck with it and everything seemed to work out. Well on the last day we took and old door out of the house and replaced it with a new one. We thought it would be the quickest and most simple job of the week. It ended up taking approximately 9 hours. When we went back to the church before we finished the crew got out of the car and Frank said he would go back and finish it, but my friend and I told him were not leaving and we went back and finished the job. The lady was very thankful and prayed for us to have a safe trip back home.
That week I prayed for a challenge and something to build, God answered slightly different than I was expecting by giving me a door with a crooked frame. However, completing these jobs and seeing the reaction on the peoples faces after finishing them, was worth every paint stain, bloody knuckle, and tiring day of work. I have never felt more like I have done something with my life then I have at world changers and I know that God had a little different plan for my project then I was expecting.
When I got home last night I stopped and was thinking for a second about the name of this event. World Changers, maybe it has a little deeper meaning then I think. Maybe it has 2 reasons for the name. Instead of just going out and changing other peoples houses, your changing there world. I’m sure anyone else can agree with me, that by after seeing the look on their faces on the last day, and after seeing what God allows you to do to these people and giving them a better home, your world is the one that’s changed. Thank you.
Angela Corbett
My crew was actually 2 crews working on one house. Our jobs consisted of painting, residing (really rebuilding) an addition, roofing (5 sections!) and firefighting. Our crew consisted of 2 chiefs: Our own Kyle Kilgore and Billy, a soft-spoken Alabama power company lineman. And an assortment of characters: Ron, a welder and quiet country boy from north of Baltimore Zac and Brian Paige – who would often burst into spontaneous song, literally praising God from the rooftop! Sarah – who will be majoring in construction management next year. Maggie – who is coming back from a long bout with depression. Jesse – who has a difficult family situation. (ask the boys about Jesse’s prank for the week) Gordon, Gary and Terrell – part of our unstoppable roofing team Just to name a few. We didn’t really get to talk to our homeowner that much but she made us all a banana pudding for lunch one day for a thank you.
God worked on me through this trip long before we left home. His hand was evident from the very beginning. The camp was full when we registered but we were able to switch due to cancellations even though we had already picked an alternate location.
Along about May I began to wonder about the wisdom of telling Carrie I would go. Obstacles loomed: the need to prepare the office for a new staff member, Sheila’s pending retirement, which meant leaving Sarah at home with no senior pastor, no administrator, and all that on a Sower week!!-just to name a few. Feeling overwhelmed I went to Hugh. His advice: don’t worry about it. Bobby will need plenty of transition time and Sarah can handle it! I was also reminded of my life verse: Matthew 6:34 , "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."
So we left. I knew it would be an interesting week when on Sunday after church we discovered that Paige could keep up with Zac’s antics – she even taught him a few! Our 2 crews melded wonderfully. Billy and Kyle kept everyone busy, which really wasn’t hard since they all WANTED to work. I discovered that sewing skills can actually be handy when you’re doing carpentry and late in the week I managed to climb on a roof and eventually an extension ladder to help with the painting. Brian and Gary shared responsibilities for the devotion time with Gary leading us in song with his guitar and Brian leading the guided time. Ron seemed to effortlessly walk around on the roof, disappeared every time a camera was brought out and always had a thought-provoking joke to tell. It was a wonderful testimony to see that these 23 or so teens and adults could come together and be the hands and feet of God on this 1 of 33 projects!
By the way, ask Brian and Zac about firefighting skills required for future World Changer trips!
Mark Adams
My crew was “The Knotheads.” There were three of us adults and six younger youth, 7th and 8th graders. Our job was to paint the exterior of a house pink, or to be more exact, a kind of a “Pepto Bismol Pink” with a white Milanta trim, colors requested by the owner, Mother Lucille Smith. Her home had not been painted since she moved in back in 1972 so our labors greatly improved the appearance of her home.
With the help of our supervisor, we installed a ramp to make it easier for Mother Smith to get in and out of her home while using her walker. We installed a handicap toilet, and we also repaired and painted her deck, including the aluminum awning that had been damaged in a storm.
On our last day we used a power washer to clean up our paint spills and since I had a few hours with nothing else to do, I used it to restore her sidewalk to its original new look. I have never used a power washer before and I must admit, it was very fulfilling to see all that dirt disappear right before my eyes.
Now I must tell you, Mother Smith is an amazing person. She is 92 years young, one of the few remaining veterans of WWII, where she served as a nurse, caring for our soldiers who were wounded in that great conflict. I remember asking her if she got homesick when she went away to war and she said that yes she did. Then I asked her how she dealt with that and she told me when it first hit her, she went to her bunk and allowed herself to cry a while and then forced herself to stop and get to work. She said from then on she was too busy to cry.
Mother Smith is also the oldest member of Hill Street Baptist Church, the church where we worshiped on Sunday. This church also brought us hot meals every day. Mother Smith is very active in ministry at Hill Street and very much loved by the membership. By the way she is very proud of her age and scoffed at their head deacon’s statement that there were other senior citizens active at Hill Street. When he said this she abandoned her gentle queenly demeanor for a moment and exclaimed, “But they’re not 92 years old like I am!”
We all fell in love with Mother Smith, sharing lunch with her and listening as she told us of all the wisdom she has gained in nearly a century of life. She promised to invite us all to her 100th Birthday party, and when that day dawns, if I can, I’m going to go.
I really enjoyed this week, meeting Mother Smith, getting to know the teens on my crew, but if asked I would have to say that my favorite aspect of the week was sharing simply this experience with Becca and the rest of our young people. It’s been over 10 years since I went on a youth trip like that and, in spite of the lack of sleep and an abundance of mediocre food, it was great to share time with teens again.
As the week flew by God used my experience to remind me of some very important truths:
(1) First, He showed me that we have truly amazing teenagers in our youth group here at Redland.
As we shared meals and ministry…as I interacted with them throughout the day, as I listened to the guys in our room at night recount the day’s experience, I must say I was very impressed. These kids are intelligent, they are funny and creative. They are incredibly talented and just plain fun to be with. I would challenge the rest of you adults to get to know them.
When Bobby arrives August 5th, give him a call and volunteer for a trip or for FUEL, offer to host a youth fellowship in your home, but do something to get to know the adolescents of Redland. Do your part as a member of this church to help our teens through what can be a very difficult stage of life. Help them understand their uniqueness. Challenge them to seek to be a part of God’s great work. I promise your life will be enriched, and they will have the benefit of the wisdom God has taught you over the years.
(2) A second thing God showed me this week was that the Christian young people of our day genuinely want to make a difference in this fallen world of ours.
All that is needed is for someone to show them what needs doing. This week I didn’t see much of the selfishness that is so prevalent in most of the adolescent population these days neither in my crew nor in our youth group. In fact, they were passionate, to help the needy people of Ashville. They were more than willing, excited even, to leave early and stay late on the job site if that’s what it took to get a roof installed or finish a painting job. More than anything they wanted to make a tangible difference in the lives of their homeowners.
Don’t get me wrong, they were very normal teens, who needed adult “guidance” from time to time. For example, when my crew had nothing to do they often got into harmless mischief. When there was no task that needed doing, they acted like teens, but when given a job they enthusiastically did it.
And I for one think we older believers should compliment our teens for this. Go up to someone wearing an orange T-shirt this morning and congratulate them for their Christ-like selflessness in working so hard this week. Remember, these teens gave 9 precious days of summer vacation, to work from 7AM to 4PM and later. They came back filthy from head to toe and exhausted, then stood in line for an hour to take a shower, and ate less than average food and then slept on the floor, all to help people who needed it.
I think that those of us who are closer to Mother Smith’s age can learn from those in our membership who are farther from it. We can learn that as the WC theme song says,
“You can change the world if you really care. You gotta follow where Jesus leads. Lonely hearts are everywhere. You gotta see the way Jesus see.”
As we come to our time of invitation, let me ask, are you willing to do your part as a Christian to change the world?
Do you really care about the hurting, lonely people all around you, people who don’t know our Lord? Are you ready to follow where Jesus leads?
Let us pray:
Father God,
Thank You for our youth, thank You for the way You used them this week.
I ask now that You would use their sharing this morning to motivate us all to open our eyes and see as Jesus sees, such that we notice people who need Your great love. Break our hearts for hurting people.
Then empower us Father to serve others selflessly and sacrificially, in ways that You can then use to draw the lost to faith in Your Son.
In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
As we stand and sing, I invite you to respond as Jesus leads. Profess your faith in Jesus, come and join our church or come to the altar and pray.
Benediction
Let the Peace of Christ rule in your hearts since as members of one body you were called to peace. Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly and whatever you do…in word or in deed Do it all in the Name of Christ giving thanks to God the Father through Him.