My Summer as a Missionary Part 2- Impact Richmond

My next mission trip wasn't too far from where I live. In fact, I didn't even have to leave Richmond. Impact Richmond was started several years ago with the mission to help under-privileged area residents.

The first day of the trip, our youth group and youth from several area churches met and were divided up into work groups for the week. We slept on the floor of one of the churches and had breakfast at the church each morning. After worship, we went to our work sites. This was our daily routine throughout the week.

Teams of seven or eight youth were assigned to work sites throughout the area. This was a great opportunity to meet teenagers from other churches because the work groups included teenagers from different churches. This year, there were around one hundred and thirty teenagers serving their community during the week I attended. This year, Impact Richmond included a second overnight week and a week of short-term tasks that didn't involve staying overnight in addition to the week I was there.

The site I worked at was the home of a 91-year-old woman named Mrs. Johnson. Her house started out being nothing but a storehouse for junk but once we were done with it, it looked like a completely different house. It needed a new paint job and the roof needed to be replaced, both of which were completed as the week progressed.

Mrs. Johnson's son, [Dave], told us a story about his mother from a few years ago. A man broke into her house and attempted to steal some things. When [Dave] found out, he went over to call the police but his mother said "Wait a minute. Before you do that, I want to give him something to eat because he might be hungry." I'm guessing that since she used to be a pastor, Mrs. Johnson was more concerned for the man's well-being than she was about any harm being done to the house, which most people would think was crazy.

After seeing Mrs. Johnson walk out onto her porch during our last day, I could tell that we had made a difference in her life just by putting on a fresh coat of paint and patching up the roof. She told us how much she appreciated what we did and how blessed she was to have us working on her house.

I'm glad that I was able to make a difference as an individual. This week made me feel that what I learned at Lake Junaluska is true: one person can make a difference.

A description of the program from the Impact Richmond website: a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization striving to be the hands of Christ in our community by preserving and revitalizing houses and communities, providing adequate shelter to homeowners via home remodeling, and providing hope by sharing our faith. Our program enriches the lives of the youth participants, adult counselors, and neighborhood residents it serves.