Mission/Service Trips - Arthur Mennonite Church

A Service Adventure with Mennonite Central Committee (MCC)
Serving Through SWAP in Elkhorn, West Virginia
June 13-19 2010

On June 13^th, eight youth and eleven adults from Arthur Mennonite Church left on a weeklong mission trip to Elkhorn, West Virginia to serve the people of Appalachia. A Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) ministry called Sharing With Appalachian People (SWAP) provided the mission opportunity.
SWAP provides food and lodging for groups who come to the area to serve for a week. SWAP has coordinators living in the area that are responsible for material purchases, work assignments and supervision of the jobs. This organization serves the low-income homeowners of the poorest county in West Virginia. SWAP has been in this area for many years and works with other local service and outreach organizations such as SAFE. Stop Abusive Family Environments (SAFE) owns the house that SWAP participants stay at for their week of service and many of the work projects at the Elkhorn location are received from the SAFE program.
The group from Arthur Mennonite spent the week working on four different job sites. One home was reshingled and another received a totally new roof because of the severe leaks in the old one. Some of the others in the group spent time mudding drywall and painting. There was also a small room addition put on a house that included building walls and setting the rafters. The homeowners were very appreciative of the help from Arthur Mennonite and continually expressed their gratitude. It was a week that was challenging and rewarding for everyone involved and reminded the participants how richly blessed they are.

For more information about (SWAP) Sharing With Appalachian People, visit their website at http://www.mcc.org/SWAP

A Service Trip with Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS)
New Orleans, Louisiana
June 7-14, 2008

On June 7, the youth group along with their leaders headed to New Orleans to spend a week working at MDS sites in the ninth ward and other parts of the city. The youth worked at four different houses that were all in different stages of construction at the time. Two of the homes were complete rebuilds and the other two were being remodeled. Even though the days were hot and humid much work was accomplished. On one house the roof was shingled and the siding was completed. The second home was almost complete and the youth spent time painting, caulking and finishing the trim inside. The third house was ready for drywall and several youth spent the majority of their week hanging sheetrock. The fourth house needed the old roof torn off and new sheeting put on it.

Everyone enjoyed the week of work and getting to know the homeowners. The people were very grateful for all the work that was accomplished on thier homes. Since our time there one of the families has been able to move in thier new home and sent us pictures of the house blessing. Evidence of Katrina's devastation can still be seen and there are many homes and businesses in the city that still need to be rebuilt. Mennonite Disaster Service expects to be in New Orleans for ten years helping rebuild and restore the lives of those effected by this disaster.

To see a complete list of MDS projects and find out more about the Summer Youth Program log onto
www.mds.mennonite.net