In July, 1999, members of our youth group, along with their adult advisors, served with the Appalachia Service Project (ASP) in West Virginia. ASP is a Christian ministry that builds relationships, faith, and servanthood while building or repairing housing for low-income families in Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. Each year more than 10,000 high school students and adult volunteers from approximately 500 churches from across the country come to work in Central Appalachia with ASP. This was our youth group's first experience serving with this organization.

Members of our work crews prepared for the week by participating in study sessions about Appalachian culture and history, construction techniques, and Christian faith and servanthood so we could make the most of our time while in the mission field.

Our group's week was based at the ASP Center in Logan County, West Virginia. One of 21 centers throughout Central Appalachia participating in ASP's Summer Youth Ministry, the Logan County Center hosts groups for an eight week period this year. After arriving at the center on Sunday, the groups settle in, spend time in orientation and get acquainted activities, and learn about the families they will serve during that week. Each day, Monday through Friday, volunteers begin the day with devotions, eat breakfast, pack lunches and building supplies, and then spend the rest of the day working with their assigned home and sharing with the family at the home. Late in the day workers return to the Center to clean up, do chores, have fun, and eat dinner. After dinner, Evening Gatherings allow volunteers the opportunity to process the experiences of the day, learn more about Appalachian culture, etc. The week ends on Friday night with a sharing service prior to the groups departure early Saturday morning.

We are thankful for this opportunity to work in Christian service in order to improve the quality of life for others.

In Christ,
Jim Murphy,
Director of Youth and Young Adults

Dear Church Members,

First and foremost I would like to thank all of you who donated tools, and/or the van. They were widely used and greatly appreciated. It would have been very difficult for us to do this trip without the support and help from all of you. The ASP trip that we attended this summer had groups from Illinois, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and our group from Kentucky. The week consisted of repairing houses in poverty areas of the town. Every group worked hard, and did God's word that week. We gained new friends, and found new things within ourselves.

Our trip to Man, West Virginia, was one of shock, amazement, realization, and over all, a complete learning experience for all of us. There was the initial shock for our entire group of seeing the poverty stricken town of Man. It was a culture shock for us to see how many people lived in this town. For most of us it was hard to comprehend living in such dismal situations. But as we found time and time again, the people that we helped were never sad or depressed. They were very happy with what they had and cherished the real things in life (such as family and friends) not possessions. It was in this amazement that our group had the learning experience of a life time.

With the realization that possessions aren't the most important things in life, our group learned about hope, in what seems to be hopeless times, and respect. We found respect for each other, others in the community, and I personally found respect for many other things in my life. Each one of us was bringing these people hope, and that was the greatest accomplishment we could do. It didn't matter if we did everything correctly, or got everything done that we were supposed to. We were doing a greater service for God and ourselves, by just talking with the families and showing them that people care, and are willing to help.

As the trip was a great learning experience for us all, it was a tremendous time for me. I learned about myself and what I could do. I also learned about God and the ways we can help others in this world. Like the Bible verse says, "We can not just be sayers of God's word, but we must be doers of God's word". It is important that we all remember the lessons we learned on this mission trip. Not just the group, but members of the church as well. These are important things to remember in all of our lives, for I have surely not forgotten what I have learned.

Faith In Action,
Joe Porter