NEWBERRY COUNTY — Thirty-six adults and youth from Newberry County loaded into three vans and a truck on July 12 and headed to Northfork, W.Va., to share God’s love and rebuild homes and lives.
Team one included Pastor Stephen Mims, Traci Dominick, Elsie Sheppard, Rachel Mims, McKayla Wise, Colby Garland, Mackenzie Stafford, Amie Wicker, Jessie Bedenbaugh and Laurie Ann Morris.
Team two included Tim Bedenbaugh, Teri Bedenbaugh, Katie Bedenbaugh, Simon Bedenbaugh, Cody Sanders, Alexis Shealy, Anna Wicker, Katlyn Duncan, Hannah Bedenbaugh, Grey Morris and Courtnie Stafford.
Team three included Meredith Achelpohl, Lori Wicker, Emily Jones, Kaitlyn Jones, Tiana Kammer, Matthew Boland, Gretchen Kinard, Jessie Morris, Caitlynn Cofer, Cozette Torrence and Voni Torrence.
Team four consisted of Kevin Wessinger, Sandra Wessinger, Robert Morris, Judy, Morris and Dana Jones.
The groups stayed in volunteer housing where they saw times without running water. The water in Northfork is under a boil water advisory due to the breakage of the city filtration system. Unfortunately, there was no alert system in place and it took many months for the citizens to know about the problems.
Not all homes in Northfork have running water. Many people catch their water supply from a spring on the side of the road. Raw sewage is piped into the creek behind the homes with no type of filtration. There is a frequent shortage of water, especially clean drinking water.
Bible study and devotions were held each morning and evening. One of the group’s morning exercises was a race. Everyone stood on the same line, but answers to various questions determined whether they moved forward or back.
Two team members gave their testimonies to the group: one talked of an abusive parent and another talked of her parents’ divorce and subsequent bullying.
Thursday morning’s devotions began with a piece of poster paper and markers. Everyone divided into groups and were asked about their lives at home: current needs in their communities, what was already being done, and what they could do in response to our current needs list.
On Friday, the group traveled to Bryson City for some well-deserved fun: zip lining and white water rafting. During the trip, 22 youth re-affirmed their baptisms and re-dedicated their lives to Christ.
During the week, the group:
• Washed an average of 10 loads per day at a cost of over $200 and spent over 16 hours of sorting and folding
• Used approximately 12 loaves of bread each day, totaling more than 56 loaves of bread
• Made approximately 92 sandwiches per day
• Spent over 10 hours in Bible Study
• Started each day around 5 a.m. and ended each day around midnight.
• Never had air conditioning in any home they stayed in.
Contact Sandra Wessinger at 803-422-7575 or Mims at Summer Memorial Lutheran Church for more information about the mission program.