Moorestonians on a Mission in West Virginia

During the last week of July, 81 New Jersey residents—the majority of them members of the —went on a mission trip to help the needy in Mullens, WV.

The members of FUMC commonly call this humanitarian expedition their annual youth mission trip. It is primarily made up of high school students, with some adult leaders. This particular trip involved 57 youth, mostly from , and 24 adults to lead them, who were engaged in at least nine different work sites. All of the participants had to raise $500 each to pay for the trip.

Projects included installing ramps, porches, exterior steps, tin roofing, tin underpinning, siding, painting rooms, installing floors, doors and trim. Everyone slept in the Mullens Elementary School building and worked on sites in and around the outskirts of Mullens.

The jobs were arranged by the Appalachian Service Project (ASP) based in Johnson City, TN. This organization provides faith-based home improvement services—for free—to the needy families of Appalachia. Church groups apply to ASP for assignment to a work region at a given time period, usually in the summer while students are off from school. However, ASP also runs a similar program for available adults throughout the year.

If you are interested in having your student attend this wonderful program of giving, contact FUMC’s youth director, Brad Kenney at 856-816-5699.

Courtesy of Dave Schill