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Youth Mission Trip | North Carolina
After two days of travel we arrived at Kure Beach Bible Camp and were greeted by Andy Kure, the great-grandson of the man who founded the island community! Our new “home” for the week was an aging beach house directly across the street from the Atlantic Ocean. Each day we enjoyed “beach time” but not before we spent the day working on a variety of projects. On Monday we worked at the Salvation Army in Wilmington: trimming hedges and trees, raking, cleaning and even dusting the rafters in the sanctuary. Five hours of work in the heat and humidity wore us all out. Little did we know that this was one of the easy days! It was the beginning of learning team work and “we don't go home till the job is done” attitude.
On Tuesday we split into two groups, one working at Maggie’s house the other leading a Bible Day Camp at the church. Maggie’s home had been neglected for some time, especially the three porches, the two in the backyard needed power washing and staining while the front entrance deck needed to be replaced. The front porch repair took all week as the last nails were hammered in place on our way out of town on Friday. The back porches took a couple of days to power wash and stain but they all looked great by the end of the week! Maggie was so grateful. It was a good feeling to see the happiness on her face as she stood in her doorway waving as we drove off.
We lead a Bible Day Camp on Tuesday and Thursday. Our youth did a great job of designing and running the program. The theme of the week was “You are wanted by Jesus” and the days were filled with fun craft projects, tons of games, clowning, making personal t-shirts and Bible Time.
 We also worked a number of days at the Habitat for Humanity home store: cleaning out a back storage room, unloading a truck of cabinets, and working in the “back lot. ” The question "why do we need to clean up a junkyard?” was asked a few times! We also power washed the building and cleaned the 50 foot mural that was put up by the last mission trip we made to Wilmington. We also went to a couple's house to power wash the house and do yard work.
On Wednesday one group worked at a homeless shelter doing yard, organizing the donation area and sorting clothes. We ate lunch at the shelter and were able to talk to a few people about what it was like to be homeless. Leroy spent the most time with us sharing his story which including being homeless and dealing with drugs and alcohol. It was amazing to here him tell us that he is so grateful for the life he has now. His advice was "Never ever touch drugs or alcohol it will destroy your life and the others you love" and he told his story. We went to another shelter that evening to serve supper. The meal made school lunches look good!
 As for fun we wave surfed, played beach football, took walks along the shoreline or just relaxed. Most of the group slept on the beach one night, another night we went to Wilmington for a ghost tour, on Thursday we enjoyed fireworks on the beach and on Friday night we walked along the boardwalk and did a little shopping. Every night we shared “Highs and Lows" for the day, talked about life issues, and “God Stuff” as the kids called it. Everyone experienced personal and spiritual growth during this trip. Of course we ate well thanks to Joanne and her homemade cooking. She brought baked lasagna, Italian beef, baked cookies and more.
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