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'How did you spend your summer vacation?'

This year, nearly 300 members of more than 20 churches in the Baltimore-Washington Conference went on Volunteers in Mission trips.

As short-term missionaries, many of these people responded to the continuing need for help in repairing homes devastated and destroyed by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita along the Gulf Coast.

'After arriving in Mississippi, I knew that I was where God had led me,' said John Canterna, who made his first VIM trip with Linden-Linthicum UMC. The VIM team worked in the Gautier, Miss., area, where hundreds of homes were still covered by blue tarps to keep the rain out while they await new roofs.

'When I looked into the homeowner's eyes and experienced what our presence meant to her, I could feel the spirit of Jesus through the warmth of her smile,' Canterna said. 'That experience alone confirmed that being a part of a return trip is part of God's plan for my life.' He will be going again this October.

Members of Metropolitan Memorial UMC in Washington returned for a week in July on their continued commitment to help rebuild the town of Pass Christian, Miss.

This was also the site for a small team from Colesville UMC. Whereas all Katrina recovery teams welcome skilled electricians, plumbers and roofers, there is plenty of work for the lesser skilled in removing moldy walls, hauling debris, prepping and painting, said Colesville's pastor, the Rev. Victor Sawyer. 

This summer, 22 youth and 14 adults from Bel Air UMC went to Lake Charles, La., where they replaced roofs at three Katrina-damaged homes. 'I knew that there was damage that needed repair, but I didn't really think that I would be truly affecting someone's life,' said Matt Hartman, one of the youth from Bel Air UMC.

'You're not just fixing their houses,' added Austin Langenfelder, another youth from Bel Air. 'You're healing their faith.'

A month after their Katrina recovery trip, 12 volunteers from Metropolitan Memorial UMC spent a week in the southernmost district of Costa Rica, where they painted and sanded steel and concrete cabins at a Methodist campground, installed electricity and worshiped with the local population. 

'It's not for the meek, but my group really enjoyed the experience and would do it again, even though they encountered poisonous snakes and spiders and took cold showers,' said their leader, Anne Brown.

Nicaragua is one of the popular destinations for VIM teams. 

Six members of Hiss and Timonium UMCs returned from Camolappa, Nicaragua, in mid-August.

They and six others spent the week on reforestation in La Reine village, an hour's drive way, said Dianne Thompson, the church's director of evangelism and communications. They partnered with a local development group, El Porvenir, to plant 1,160 mahogany, cypress and other trees to prevent the erosion of the mountain side and aid in keeping water clean.

They also built five cement stoves with chimneys, an innovation in the village to keep smoke out of the kitchens. There is a high incidence of lung disease in the area, because of cooking over open fires.

In June, just as the universities and schools were closing their doors for the summer, 21 students and their chaperones from Howard University and the University of Maryland at College Park traveled to South Africa. The group was led by the Revs. Malcolm Frazier and Kim Capps, campus ministers at the two universities.

They partnered with Bryanston Methodist Church near Johannesburg and worked on the Akani Project, a child enrichment community center in the Diepsloot settlement, where they helped students with homework, sports and other activities.

'Eighty percent of our time was engaged in VIM work,' Frazier said. The other 20 percent, was learning of the church's struggle against apartheid from the Rev. Peter Storey, former president of the Methodist Church in South Africa, and visiting Robben Island and Capetown.

But just going on a mission trip doesn't mean it's a VIM experience. 'If you say you're a VIM trip and haven't coordinated with us, you're a mission trip, but not VIM,' said Sandy Ferguson, conference director of social justice ministries. To qualify as a Volunteer in Mission trip, the organizers must contact the Rev. Jeff Odom, the conference VIM coordinator, of their intention and fill out appropriate forms, she said.

Taking advantage of the connectionalism of the church by registering with the VIM coordinator provides a security that doesn't otherwise exist, Ferguson said.

Registration provides a record at the conference level of where groups are and who to contact in case of a problem.