Jeremiah Project Reflection - Part 2
As I previously shared, last week I had the pleasure of leading a group of middle school youth to Romney, WV for a week of service and faith development with the Jeremiah Project. The Jeremiah Project has existed for over 15 years and it's sole purpose is the faith development for middle school youth through service. We worked Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday (on Wednesday each church had a free day to spend together outside of camp). On each work day our youth were divided among work teams made of three or four churches. The youth each had their own tasks to prepare the team to depart for our work-site: tool organizers, lunch, and water. We traveled to a different work site each morning to pick up where the previous group had stopped and each site had a dedicated staff member assigned to it. Because the work teams rotated daily, the assigned staff member was critical to ensure that the project stayed on track and schedule.
The projects assigned to each team had the perfect balance of appropriate work for the skill level of middle school youth. During the week the teams constructed wheelchair ramps, decks to allow people to he ability to safely exit their homes, cleaned trails for the Potomac Center, painted homes, and sealed roofs.
Had our youth not responded to Christ's call to service and care of others, the majority of these projects would have gone undone and the effected families' homes would not be safer or dryer.
I am proud to have been able to serve along side such a great group of youth. The service they provided to the citizens of Romney, WV (and surrounding areas) has inspired the community to participate with the Jeremiah Project next summer which means even more work can be done.