By Tom Barnes

 

With great fanfare we arrived in North Carolina and were greeted by a turkey flyover. Unfortunately the turkey is not a majestic flyer, and it was a fly-into rather than flyover (prepositions are hard for turkeys to master). Fortunately, no humans were hurt and the week got underway.

If we had a mantra for the week it would have been “Have you been hydrating enough?” Temperatures reached over 100 with brutal humidity on top of it, but the 67 youths and adults were undeterred as we worked in, under, and on top of houses across eastern North Carolina.

We met the needs of five grateful homeowners on projects ranging from roofing, painting, siding, drywall replacement, flooring, plumbing, and we provided our host, Carolina Rebuilding Ministry, with 60 more Sleep in Heavenly Peace style bunks to house future groups.

   

While building in the community we were also building our community together with fun games, great worship, and quality time spent together in conversation. Abigail Shah said that “the mission trip was great for getting to know people. I got to know the members of my work crew on a much deeper level and also got to know so many people in the larger Glen Mar group. We even got to know the CRM staff, which was also great.”

 

   

Rachel Scherr was on her second trip to Windsor. When asked what her advice would be for people thinking about doing a mission trip in the future, Rachel encouraged everyone to approach their trip with openness. “You’re likely going to be doing some things out of your comfort zone, whether it’s the types of jobs you’re tasked with, the tools you learn to use, or the people with which you interact. I think it’s important to extend grace to others as often as it is extended to us.”

We look forward to more ministry in North Carolina in the future, though hopefully with fewer run-ins with the local wildlife.