About Our Trip

During the week of August 6-12, a work team organized by Old Union Presbyterian Church of Mars PA will travel to Greenbrier County, West Virginia to assist with the rebuilding work following the devastating floods of June 2016.  The team will include fourteen people of all skill levels, ranging in age from 14 to 78, from nine different churches.

This is the eighth such trip organized by Old Union Church.  Previous trips have gone to Joplin MO after the tornado, flooding in northeastern Pennsylvania, an Indian reservation in Montana, and rebuilding work in New York and New Jersey after Superstorm Sandy.  Ten of the fourteen team members participated in at least one of the previous trips.

Partner organizations for this trip include Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, a national agency that coordinates disaster response, and West Virginia Presbytery's Ministry of Advocacy and Workcamps, which has experience organizing volunteer work teams in West Virginia.  The team will be hosted by Edgewood Presbyterian Church of  Lewisburg, and our project manager will be a local contractor whose own home was damaged by the flooding.


The purpose for this trip is not only to provide physical assistance in home rebuilding, but also to be a compassionate and caring presence for people suffering from the trauma of the disaster.  Team members will give practical expression to their faith through their interaction with hosts, partners, and especially the home owners.  While we strive for excellence and hard work on the rebuilding task, we continually remember that "it's not about the house," but about the people.  Daily debriefing and devotional time allows team member to address and reflect upon new and unexpected experiences.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sunday Evening

Church Mission Trip 2017 Greenbrier County, WV We left Old Union Presbyterian Church this afternoon at 1PM, the 6 th of July.  We also picked up a few people in Bridgeville, where some of us bought lunch at the local McDonald’s,  bringing the total in the group to 14, before continuing South on I-79.  The weather was cloudy; the main interstates were pleasant to drive on, whereas the lesser roads were very hilly with many twists and turns.  But the scenery was great, with the mountains seemingly extending forever to the horizon.  In the more rural parts we noted many houses that were real fixer-uppers, showing the extreme poverty of some regions.  Elvis drove the van, with Rev. Peter helping with navigation and coordination with the other vehicles.  Kyle sang songs to help pass the time, and Pastor Bob got in his afternoon  nap.  Jean talked about anything and everything.  Autumn and Peter kept each other company.  Greg says the best is yet to come, so just wait to hear what he
Read more

West Virginia Mission Trip, Day 6, August 11

Today was our last day to help the people we had been led to by God, and of course we awoke with the break of dawn anxiously to finish our mission.  After a quick breakfast and a group prayer we headed off to our two work sites. We had originally thought in the planning stages in June that we would be helping victims of last year’s bad flooding in this area.  But it turned out that the need is so great in this area that there are many people not directly affected by the flooding that desperately need help.  On our way through the town of Rupert to get to Joni’s house we passed many run-down houses and businesses, with apparently nobody able or willing to fix them up.  Some may have been abandoned by their owners after the flooding, who did not have the resources to fix what had been damaged.  But one gas station at a street corner had a big hole in the roof, and trees growing inside the store.  I compare this to my community of southwest Butler County in Pennsylvania, where real e
Read more