Young adults discover value of relationship while serving
By Deborah Carey
“You should go!” exclaimed Gordon as he placed the sign-up sheet in front of me. That was all I needed. As a Presbyterian freshman desperate for a Christian community, I was immediately working my homework assignments around our weekend away. I am so glad that I went — it was a weekend of valuable service, community and time with God.
We first arrived at Bethany St. John’s UMC in Pleasantville, N.J., and went to work. We were assigned to a house right on the water that had been gutted after holding four feet of water during Hurricane Sandy. Its owner was rebuilding the entire thing by hand — we were there to do whatever he needed.
By the end of the day we had painted his future guest room, assisted him in putting up drywall, and eaten a lot of his homemade meatballs. The most poignant memory, I think, we all share of that day, though, is lunch. We walked down to the beach, and he met us there. On the walk back, he shook hands with neighbors, told us the story of his town and gave life-advice to us students in need of a perspective as finals emerge. When a passer-by asked who we were, he answered, “friends of the family.”
While many of us in the afternoon wanted to go to a different site, (since only a few of us were needed) God used our resident’s interactions with his neighbors to remind us to be less like Martha and more like Mary.
Instead of being focused on doing for our resident, he reminded us of the importance of simply being with him during this tiring process of rebuilding.
I knew Pleasantville would leave an impact on me greater than I could possibly return, just as every service project does. But I could not have imagined the extent to which it did so. That is a funny paradox — we always go in wanting to be God’s hands and feet, and end up realizing that God completely blessed every aspect of the project.
Thank you, Metropolitan United Methodist Church, for supporting this trip in prayer, partnership and finances. I can say with confidence that everyone involved was truly blessed.
The BWC Young Adult Council is sponsoring a mission trip to N.J. in April. Want to go? Details at http://www.bwcumc.org/ministries/youngadult.
Login/Register to leave comment