RIGHT CLICK on the image above and click “Download Linked File” (Mac) or “Save Target As” (PC) to download the video.
As the week comes to a close, most find it to be a bitter sweet ending. Participants are excited to have completed their tasks for their homeowners so that they have new and improved homes to live in. However, they are also sad to have to leave all their new friends, and the community members whom they have gotten to know so well.
Tonight we had our final worship service, as well as a Closing Celebration. During closing, the action cam (a highlight video of the week) made its premier. It will be posted soon on this very site for you to download! In the mean time, enjoy the crew pictures below!
Here are a few statistics from the week:
Homes worked on – 28
Local churches involved – 18
Offering Total – $2,251.82
Salvations – 4
Churches present – 14
Crews – 21
We can’t thank everyone who attended this project enough. It has been an amazing week! We have had wonderful group leaders with a fabulous bunch of youth who were determined and worked VERY hard all week! We are sad to see them all go home…but our prayer is that each one of them will continue the work they did here in their home towns. We challenge them to take a stand for Christ, be bold, live their faith……be Set Apart.
In Him,
Team Virginia
God has truly been moving through this city. Crews have not only been living out their faith as they sweat and grunt doing hard labor out of love for people in need; but they have also had the opportunity to witness by mouth. Two crews held a block party for children in the neighborhood on Wednesday. Wednesday evening 7 kids came with the Saw Horseman and Hammer Head crews to our worship service. Obviously, God’s Word was heard, and the Spirit moved – because two of the boys that attended service were saved on the sites today! Hallelujah!
But there’s more….Tuesday evening during our Concert of Prayer service, one of our very own participants was saved! Trinity Stewart of Immanuel Baptist in Pikeville, Kentucky accepted Christ as his Savior! Being saved here in Chesapeake, Trinity wanted to be baptized in the same place where he accepted Christ. Therefore, he asked our speaker, Ryan Wilson, to baptize him in the Atlantic Ocean.
So this afternoon, during everyone’s off night, Trinity traveled to Virginia Beach with Ryan, his youth group, and over 100 other participants from the project. Members of the other youth groups gathered around on the sand as Trinity walked into the water with Ryan and George Hall, his adult leader assisting in the baptism. The World Changers crowd caught the attention of the hundreds of people crowded on the beach. Ryan spoke a blessing over Trinity before submersing him in the deep wide ocean, symbolic of the washing away of his sins. As Trinity rose up out of the water it symbolized rebirth in Christ. No words could describe the joy of that moment better than the smile on Trinity’s face. Welcome Trinity, as our new brother in Christ!
With Joy,
Team Virginia
It’s Wednesday night, and every one is asleep after a hard day’s work. Normally, at a World Changers project, Wednesday is the afternoon off for church groups. However, this week it will be tomorrow night. So the crew’s have worked 3 full days and have one and a half days left.
Each year at World Changers, an offering is taken up to support some kind of ministry. The offering was collected Monday night and the total was announced today. Participants gave $2,231.81 to support three different ministries: Kaleo, Canada, and Urban Evangelism.
1. Kaleo – A conference that helps high school, college, and seminary students who feel a call to the ministry discover the what, when, where, and how of their calling. The offering money allows these students to attend this conference for affordable low prices around $25.
2. Canada – Current Canada sends student missionaries to Canada, providing them with an opportunity to impact a post modern culture through relationships. Offering money supports Current Canada, student church planting, and student evangelism.
3. Urban Evangelism – The fastest growing segments among teens today are found within the Hispanic and African American communities. The offering money will help send 5 USC2 missionaries into 5 different U.S. cities to build and network churches, listen for needs of the area, and share Christ.
This was a HUGE amount of money for these students to willingly give. We encourage participants to pray about how much God is asking them to give and they most certainly did. We are so thankful for their obedience!
Please pray for our students and adults here this week. There is still a lot of work to be completed at some work sites and we pray that the Lord will provide good weather (which we have had nice, cool weather all week so far), energy for the participants to keep working hard, and God’s guidance in completing the tasks he has set before us.
In Him,
The Virginia Team
3…2….1…ACTION! World Changers participants made an appearance on TWO local television stations today: WAVY 10 and WVEC 13. Combined, the news crews visited 4 of the 21 crews, interviewing several participants, and the homeowners. Participants did an amazing job of communicating the work they are doing and why they are doing it – because they are serving a loving God.
Each homeowner has their own unique story, but they all have one thing in common – they are grateful beyond words for the free labor students and adults are providing them through World Changers. Buddy and Leona Umphlett got to share with WVEC their gratitude for the members of the Hard Hats crew who are making roof repairs, painting, and doing yardwork around their house. They said they could not afford to pay someone to do it, nor are they physically capable of doing it themselves. They are thankful for how God has blessed them. At a different site, Gladys White, wheelcheer-bound, watches the Saw Horseman crew build her a wheelchair ramp to assist with her mobility.
World Changers stories were aired on the news throughout the day on different broadcasts, some of them even live. Below are links to the WAVY-10 and WVEC-13 news clips.
WAVY-10 World Changers News Clip
WVEC-13 World Changers News Clip
Even in the midst of visiting news crews, participants didn’t slow their pace. Crews are working hard; making serious headway on their projects. Check out some pictures of them in action!
It’s Day 1 of the work week! Students woke up bright and early to have breakfast at 6:15 am. The Breakmasters for the crews filled up the water coolers with fresh, cold water; the crew medics picked up their first-aid kits so crews will be prepared; evangelism recorders picked up their envelopes so they can record any salvations or presentations of the gospel to homeowners and community members; and devotion leaders left prepared to lead their crew in time with the Lord on the worksite. All of these crew positions are held by students.
At 7 am all participants and staff gathered outside by the cars for the Great Send-Off. After a prayer of blessing, crews piled into vans and buses and drove out of the parking lot single file while the staff cheered them on. Energy is high and everyone is ready to work….it’s going to be a GREAT week!
This week’s theme for World Changers is “Set Apart”. It is based off of Isaiah 6:1-8. The theme is designed to give a clear, biblical perspective to every student and leader concerning their place in God’s eternal plan. The purpose of God is for every believer to experience the joy of being fully engaged in a lifetime pursuit of His glory. Living our lives according to His purpose is the single greatest investment we can make and it is the primary reason we are on this planet. Our challenge is to faithfully comprehend and communicate these foundational truths of the Christian life.
Tonight’s worship service was a reflection of these very concepts. In the Bible, Isaiah saw a glimpse of God’s glory that was meant just for him. Our speaker, Ryan Wilson, explained to the students that God has chosen and called people to specific tasks. Ryan then gave his own personal testimony of how God showed mercy to him after some rough teen years. Ryan’s story touched the hearts of many and left the participants with a lot to think about.
Below you’ll find some pictures from our worship services.
There were many other activities today as well. Participants found out what crew they will be on for the week early this morning. Crew names included “Drips and Runs”, “Hammer Heads”, and “Tool Timers”. There are 21 crews. Crews had the morning and afternoon to get to know each other as they attended the local churches that will be feeding them lunches all week, and then visited their work sites for the week and met the homeowners. All participants went through evangelism training and crew position training.
Students are prepared to start a week of hard work, long days, little sleep, and rewarding and unforgettable experiences. They have been prepared…now they will be sent out into the field!
Staff anxiously awaited the arrival of 14 church groups this afternoon. Between 2 and 4 the vans rolled in. Teens piled out by the carloads, hauling luggage, air mattresses, and pillows. Many looked tired from the long drives, and others were bursting with energy. But ALL were excited to finally be here. We kicked off the week with a Welcome Celebration, followed by a fabulous dinner of spaghetti with meat sauce, and a worship service. Music for the service was led by Brad Beals and included songs like “Mighty to Save” and “Marvelous Light”. The worship speaker, Ryan Wilson, brought the Word – challenging the students to be set apart. The service closed with an invitation to all participants, and resulted in many students on their knees in prayer at the altar. What a marvelous way to start their week serving the Lord – by completely surrendering to Him!
The churches here this week are:
Altamaha Baptist Church – Jesup, GA
Burning Bush Baptist – Ringgold, GA
Camp Ground Baptist – Ozark, AL
Central Baptist – Gaffney, SC
Central Baptist Church of Bearden – Knoxville, TN
County Line Baptist Church – Lithia Springs, GA
Fairview Baptist – Lebanon, TN
FBC Dandridge – Dandridge, TN
Immanuel Baptist – Pikeville, KY
Liberty Hill Baptist – Hampton, GA
Maple Grove Baptist Church – Dongola, IL
Robbinsville First Baptist – Robbinsville, NC
Shiloh Baptist Church – Garner, NC
Southside Baptist Church – Greenville, AL
Until tomorrow,
The Virginia Team
The World Changers staff has arrived in Chesapeake, VA and has just about everything ready for participants’ arrival tomorrow afternoon! The lodging facility for the week is Oscar Smith High School. We have 257 participants arriving tomorrow from 14 different churches driving in from 7 different states. We are very excited about the project in Chesapeake! The staff has been preparing and praying for this project for months and there is no doubt God is going to do great things this week.
First, we would like to introduce ourselves.
Coordinating Staff
Project Coordinator: Olivia Laird from Walterboro, SC
Associational Coordinator: Cheryl Douglas from Chesapeake, VA
Construction Coordinator: George Garnett from Chesapeake, VA
First Aid Coordinators: Robin Barnes and Michelle Gregory
Chesapeake Coordinators: (from L to R) George Garnett, Cheryl Douglas, and Olivia Laird
Speaker - Ryan Wilson with Altamaha Baptist Church from Jesup, GA
Summer Staff
Team Leader/Missions Communications Specialist: Rebekah Feemster is from Springfield, MO. She just graduated from Missouri State University with a degree in dietetics. She will be contacting local media about the work the volunteers will be doing in Chesapeake this week. She will also be telling participants about other missions opportunities they can be a part of after their week at World Changers.
Office Manager: Meredith Kwast is from Greenville, SC. She is a senior at Clemson University, majoring in Health Administration. She will be managing the staff office, keeping everything, and everyone, in order.
Music Leader: Brad Beals is from Warrenton, VA. He will be leading our worship services this week, as well as visiting all the work sites and taking crew pictures and action shots that will be available on this site throughout the week. He is a junior at Liberty University. His major is Worship and Music Studies.
Audiovisual Technician: Jacob Hodge, from Memphis, Tennessee, will be running sound for worship services and making a video of the week for students to download and keep to remember their experience in Chesapeake. He is a senior at Union University in Tennessee, majoring in Mechanical Engineering.
World Changers Summer Staff - Virginia Team: (From L to R) Rebekah Feemster, Meredith Kwast, Jacob Hodge, and Brad Beals
Below are some pictures from our facility, Oscar Smith High School, where we will be sleeping, eating, and worshiping this week!
Check back tomorrow night to read about everyone’s arrival and to see how the first day in Chesapeake goes for participants!
In Him,
The Virginia Team
