They come from all over South Carolina, these bright and beautiful young people. A lot of them come every year during their junior high and high school year and, even as adults, quite a few come back to serve as leaders and counselors.

They know they will spend a week and that the weather will be hot and the work hard, and that their physical strength will be tested as never before and that they will be doing things they had never done before yet, still they come.

They will work in teams, re-roofing, tearing out and putting back together bathrooms and kitchens. They will be crawling under houses to help repair drain lines. They will be repairing and building porches and installing floors yet still they come and every year we ask why?

And every year they reply WHY NOT!!

These young people and their leaders forge lasting relationships with the people they “live” with for a week, some which will last even after they return to their homes.

These workers give far more then their building and repairing skills and they receive far more then they give.

If you could see the grateful looks from their “parents for the week” and if you could see the tears of joy from these “parents” as their “builders” prepare to leave, having made a big difference in the lives of those they served, then you do not ever need to ask them why do you do it. You will know why.

These young people and their leaders gift their “patents for the week” with more then nails or paint or roofs or plumbing. They gift them with laughter and kindness and hope and most of all, love.

I know Lewis Church has been so privileged to serve these young people and their leaders breakfast over the years. Sure, it is hard to rise at four o’clock in the morning to be at Central by five o’clock, but we too receive far more then we give and, are so blessed that God has given us His love for us to pass on. Our world is a better place because of these young people and their leaders, and I, for one, am grateful and thankful to be a part of the Lewis church family.

Now, we would like to say thank you to several people and churches. First, thank you Joyce and Steve Barrow, who year after year spearhead the Newberry Salkehatchie program. What a tremendous job they do. And, we would like to thank the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer for housing the young men. They every year lend their Fellowship Hall as a resting place for them. And thank you Central Methodist Church for lending their facilities for the young women as a resting place—and for providing their kitchen and dining facilities so that all of them may break bread together to start their work days. And a big thanks to all of the local Methodist churches in Whitmire, Prosperity and Newberry for feeding these young people their lunches and dinners.

In closing, we, the Lewis church family, would like to thank our own Ann Thomas for year after year, planning, buying and executing “our” breakfast part, and for all of the men and women who came at 5 a.m. to prepare and serve these exceptional young people and their leaders...

May God bless each and every one of these young people and their leaders from all over the state. I believe HE already has.

Sincerely,

Joan S. Barfield

Newberry