The church has left the building

The words on the back of Rod Connor’s shirt are more than just a slogan to the members of his World Changers crew. The yellow T-shirt, from First Congregational Christian Church in Reidsville, bears the words, “The church has left the building.”

“That really tells the whole story about what we’re doing this week,” said Connor, a World Changers crew chief at a work site outside Stoneville. “It’s about hundreds of young people and adults leaving the comfort of their church buildings to become the hands and feet of Christ by helping people around our community.”

A total of 267 middle and high school students arrived in Rockingham County on Saturday to spend a week providing free labor on dozens of repair projects at low-income homes throughout the county. Those young people are part of more than 23,000 students that made the decision to pay money out of their own pockets this summer to help improve living conditions for people across the United States and Canada.

The Experience
Connor is one of 11 adult and youth volunteers from First Congregational in Reidsville participating in this week’s local World Changers project. This is the second consecutive year for the organization to stop in Rockingham County, and Connor signed up both years.

“I’ve been on several short-term missions projects working on clean-up and repairs in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina,” Connor said. “But being able to provide help to folks who need it right here in our own county was too good an opportunity to pass up.”

Connor said World Changers makes the process simple for everyone desiring to help.

“Volunteers simply sign up and provide information on their qualifications, then World Changers does the rest,” he said. “They organize all of the projects, crews and materials.”

Amy Cate, a communications specialist with the local World Changers project, said crew chiefs like Connor are assigned according to their experience in certain construction areas. Each crew has between 8 and 12 youth volunteers and 2 to 4 adult crew leaders. Each crew also has a project supervisor experienced in construction.

“There are plenty of experienced people helping out on every project,” Cate said. “They teach the young people what to do and make sure everything is done properly.”

Cate said it takes dozens of volunteers working every day to transport all of the materials needed for dozens of deck and ramp constructions, roofing repairs and painting projects.

“It keeps a lot of people on the run just to make sure every project has everything they need on time,” she said. “Especially when you never know what you’ll run into once things get started.”

Connor said that was certainly the case with his team’s project. They were scheduled to build a deck on the front of a home outside Stoneville. They ran into their first problem when they started digging holes to place the posts.

“We struck solid rock about four inches down and kept having to shift where we would place the posts,” he said. “Then the project supervisor came by and told us the home was approved for a ramp as well.”

That meant another truck piled high with lumber and Quickcrete to unload and stack at the work site.

“And another 10 holes to find a place to dig without running into more rock,” said Connor. “But this group can handle the work. They’ve already proved they’re ready to do what’s necessary.”

The Discipline
Janet Rakestraw, associational coordinator for World Changers of Rockingham County, knows the young people investing a week of their summer in the program understand the meaning of missions.

“These young people not only give of their time, but they have to pay $260 each to take part in the program,” Rakestraw said. “That represents a sizable investment for a lot of them.”

Two of the youth volunteers on Connor’s team drove 19 hours to take part in this week’s Rockingham County project. Rachel Glennie, 13, and Courtney Brown, 14, are from Ottawa, Ontario. They are part of a group of 19 Canadians, 15 youths and 4 adults, from Sequoia Community Church in Ottawa.

“We both worked with World Changers last year at home,” said Glennie. “This year, our church decided to work outside our own area and we came here.”

Brown said she had been on mission trips to the Dominican Republic, but this was the first time she had ridden 19 hours in a car for a missions project.

“This is certainly a lot different, but the purpose is still the same,” Brown said. “We’re just here to reach out and help people.”

Both Glennie and Brown are enjoying getting to make new friends. The youths attending this year’s Rockingham County project represent five different states: North Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Maryland. The Canadian representatives find a lot of things that are similar, but also a number of things that are very different in America.

“Of course there’s the different food, but the first thing we noticed is that everyone around here says ‘y’all,’” said Brown. “That, and the heat will take some getting used too.”

But the program also requires more than a little discipline on behalf of the youths involved. They are housed in the hallways of Rockingham County High School – boys on the math hall and girls on the English hall, lights out comes at 11 p.m. each evening. Those wanting a morning shower are up before the sun, because breakfast is served at 6:15 a.m.

But that’s fine with Trever Edwards, a 15-year-old volunteer from Knoxville, Tenn., working on a roofing crew outside Madison.

“Actually, that means I get to sleep in a little this week,” said Edwards. “My mom gets me up at home about 4:00.”

Edwards and the other volunteers on work crews roll out to their respective job sites at 7 a.m. and work through the day until about 4 p.m. Then it’s back to RCHS for dinner, followed by a 7:30 p.m. worship service, group devotions at 8:45 p.m. and back to lights out at 11 p.m.

The World Changers do get one afternoon of free time on Wednesday. Some spend it just relaxing and others head to nearby recreation spots like Celebration Station in Greensboro.

“They put in a lot of hard work during this week and certainly deserve a little time off to renew their strength and have some fun,” Rakestraw said.

The Volunteers
Kevin Stowe knew months ago he was coming back to Rockingham County this summer. Stowe, 15, from Cape Hatteras Baptist Church, volunteered with World Changers last year and decided to do it again this year.

“I thought it would be a good experience and it was,” Stowe said. “I like helping people, especially seeing their faces when we all arrive to work on their house.”

Stowe worked on a ramp building project last summer and was helping replace a roof on a house outside Madison on Monday.

“It’s really great to know you’re helping make a big difference in someone’s life just by volunteering a little time,” he said. “I know I’ll want to do this again, even if it’s not in Rockingham County.”

About a mile away from Stowe’s work site, Alex Smith was enjoying his first World Changers experience. Smith, 15, from Westfield Baptist Church in Pilot Mountain, said a new youth pastor at the church came up with the idea and 15 people volunteered to come.

“It’s really been great so far,” Smith said. “I’ve had a lot of fun and made some great new friends from all over. I’d definitely do this again.”

Edwards was also part of Smith’s roof repair team. While it was the Knoxville youth’s first World Changers experience, he said he actually wanted to volunteer last year but was not able.

“My mom and brother volunteered last year, so that meant I couldn’t,” Edwards said. “My brother and I tend to fight a lot, and that meant only one of us could go. He didn’t go this year, so I got to come.”

Edwards said he was enjoying almost every minute of his experience, but there was something he learned the hard way.

“I knelt down on the roof once with my knees on the black part,” he said. “Big mistake, but it won’t happen again.”

Debbie Childress was one of the adult volunteers on the same team with Edwards and Smith. Childress, part of a group of 15 volunteers from Three Forks Baptist Church in Taylorsville, said she was the “crew encourager” for her team.

“I just try to keep everyone moving and enjoying their experience, but I still have to work just as hard as the rest of the crew,” she said.

Although Childress has made several mission trips to New Orleans to help with rebuilding from Hurricane Katrina, this was her first World Changers project. She said her son was also volunteering in Rockingham County.

“He’s working on another crew, but I get the impression we’ll both be doing this again,” Childress said.

The Churches
More than 50 local churches provide support for the 267 students spending a week of their summer vacation serving in Rockingham County.

Although World Changers is a ministry of the Southern Baptist Convention’s North American Mission Board, local projects are definitely interdenominational operations.

“We have 26 churches feeding and hosting the work crews this week,” said Janet Rakestraw, World Changers coordinator for the Dan Valley Baptist Association. “Another 25 to 30 are helping by providing refreshments for the young people at the school. It takes a lot of cooperation between local congregations to make something the size of World Changers successful.”

Churches providing lunches for the crews at work sites across the county are provided with menu guides for the week. This helps the churches with planning and ensures the teams will get similar meals each day.

Wendy Crow, minister of education at First Baptist Church of Mayodan, headed up her church’s sponsorship of a team building a new deck and handicapped ramp for a homeowner near Stoneville. Crow and two members of the First Baptist youth group brought hot dogs with all the fixings to the work site Monday.

“We just have to prepare the food, bring it, set up and clean up,” Crow said. “These young people are doing all the work and our job is just to make it as easy as possible so they don’t have to take too much time off work.”

For the young people at the work sites, lunchtime means a time to relax, refresh and fellowship. But Monday’s meal of traditional Southern hot dogs was certainly special for a couple visiting Canadians working on the Stoneville crew.

“Why are they red?” asked Rachel Glennie, 13, from Ottawa, Ontario.

Fellow crew members from Taylorsville and Pilot Mountain assured Glennie the color was normal, although different from the hot dogs in Canada.

“I mean, they taste great, it’s just not what I’m used too,” Glennie said, as she went back for seconds. She even added chili, something else she was unfamiliar with on hot dogs.

“This is a great group of young people and we look forward to getting to know them better the rest of this week,” said Crow. “It’s even an extra treat to get to introduce the girls from Canada to some real Southern foods.”

The Future
Bringing World Changers to Rockingham County was originally envisioned as a three-year project. Rakestraw said everyone involved has already rated the first two years as a great success and look forward to continuing the association.

“We’ve already been approved for next year and found out the dates will be July 5 through July 10,” she said. “Knowing this far ahead will help us get things rolling already to make next year even more successful.”

World Changers is a partnership between the local Baptist Association, local churches, community agencies and businesses. Rakestraw views the connection as a win-win situation for every group involved. The volunteers help stretch donations for housing repairs by providing free labor and the projects provide an opportunity for service for the youths and adults volunteering.

“Everyone participating in World Changers comes away changed a little themselves,” Rakestraw said. “It’s about being the hands and feet of Christ to change the lives of others, but it can’t help but change yours at the same time.”