A group of youth from Brookville Road Community Church in New Palestine traveled to North Carolina over spring break. They helped two churches ministering in a county where 23.4% of people are in poverty, according to Census Bureau data. “Even the places that are trying to help also need someone to come help them,” said group member Jocelynn Flagle. “They have so much need in the community, but they don’t have enough hands to help.”
Photo provided
Mixing bags of cement for a concrete pad and pouring it out of a wheelbarrow into a wooden frame. Giving a small bathroom a fresh coat of lavender paint. Cutting pieces of drywall to fit and patch a wall.
Much of it was new to youths who made a recent trip to North Carolina. There, they offered supporting help to two congregations in North Carolina and the ministries they offer. But the students pitched in, forged postive coworking relationships with each other, and crossed jobs off the to-do lists for those they went to serve.
Breeley Bishop said she’d used most of the tools that were used on the trip before, but not for these tasks. A leader from Praying Pelican Missions, which helped connect the group with the churches, showed the students how to measure and cut the sheets of drywall.
“He was super-friendly about it all — never laughed when we got something wrong, super encouraging,” she said.
“I think one of the biggest things that I’ve seen mission trips do in our kids’ lives is it’s helped them see the world from a different perspective,” she said. “They come away with appreciation for what we have, empathy for those who have less; it cultivates their hearts to be grateful and want to give out of that gratitude.”
