| Group builds house, relationships at Ames UMC By Ciona Rouse UMConnection STaff In 52 days Nehemiah and his workers rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem. In 52 workdays, a group of volunteers hopes to say the same about the walls of two buildings owned by Ames UMC in Baltimore. Since February, volunteers from the non-profit group Service Over Self Network have worked side-by-side with members of Ames UMC to restore two townhouses which it owns. The church will use the  restored buildings for its food pantry ministry, shalom community center and office space. Using Nehemiahs story as gbwc_superusering Scripture, the volunteers work every Saturday and some weekdays to restore the building that would otherwise be useless for ministry. It was inhabitable in its current state, coordinator of Service Over Self Network Steve Barbour said. According to the Rev. Kay Albury, pastor at Ames, when the church received price quotations from contractors about redeveloping the building, she was told the project would cost $80,000. The church did not have sufficient funds to embark on such a project. But then God sent Barbour, Albury said. Barbours group, with funding from the Baltimore-Washington Conference and church fundraisers, is providing the labor and resources to get the building rebuilt for $30,000. After reading Alburys request for food pantry donations on e-connection, the conferences electronic newsletter, Barbour donated food and began a relationship with Greg Gross, a member of Ames UMC. When Gross mentioned the churchs vision for ministry and a need to rebuild the townhouse to have that vision realized, Barbour said he wanted to help. Barbour was inspired by Bishop Felton Edwin Mays challenge to develop strong inner city ministries when he attended last years Christmas Conference in December at Lovely Lane UMC. So he found a core group of people to offer skills and time for 52 workdays to do the work he says Christ calls all Christians to do. More than 80 volunteers have dedicated at least one Saturday to the project. Many of them return each week. The beauty of the project is that people from Ames and the Service Over Self Network are working together to build the house, said Albury. Workers include children and adults, Protestants and Catholics, blacks and whites. Albury believes it is symbolic to see such diversity in the volunteers. It models what the body of Christ is really about, she said. Four youth from Ames are going on a weekend retreat with the youth from the network. Barbour said that he now visits Ames regularly even when it is not a workday and sometimes brings youth along to worship on Sunday mornings. Were really building community, Albury said. It doesnt do us any good to just renovate a building. ... Our hope is to restore and renew hearts toward God, Barbour said. The last 10 days of the 52-workday goal, Aug. 8-18, the network group will spend every night and day living and working at the church. The building will hold its grand opening Aug. 18. | 
Login/Register to leave comment