Bartlett United Methodist Church will send forth 65 volunteers of youth and adults for this year's Appalachia Service Project Mission in Harlan County, KY. For over 25 years, we have been given this opportunity to make ASP a part of the outreach of our church. In these years, an incredible number of youth and adults have been able to experience the awesome power of God through their work with the families and staff that make up the Appalachia Service Project.
This year, our volunteers joined over 9,000 other youth and adults who took a "vacation" in the breathtaking mountains of Central Appalachia. These volunteers spend one very rewarding week in twenty two different locations in Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia! Of course, you know that their "vacation" is filled with sweat, dirt, and hard physical labor. These volunteers roof, reroof, build, dig, sheetrock, paint, insulate, and any other verb you can imagine. All of this makes substandard housing warmer, safer, and drier.
The people who give a week working with A.S.P. migrate from over thirty one states, representing 14 Christian denominations. Over 9000 scheduled volunteers in 1,139 work crews will make an overwhelming impact on the lives of many people in desperate need. The homes these volunteers will repair will warrant not only their best physical skills, but also their most sincere prayers.
These great youth and adults represented our congregation as a whole this year. It has been incredible watching the support and prayers our congregation has given us in order to make this trip possible. We started from scratch - now we have the volunteers, funds and support to make this trip a success. Without our congregation it simply would have been IMPOSSIBLE!
Here is a favorite saying heard in the past years concerning what A.S.P. really is: "A.S.P. is a relational ministry that does home-repair on the side!"
It was very important that each member of our congregation share in what our work crews did this year- because they make it happen. Deuteronomy 16:17 says: "Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord thy God which he hath given thee." The deepest thank you especially from our hearts to ALL who have helped for allowing the dream of this mission to once again bring back people looking at life a little less critically, understanding that Christianity is not what you have in your hand but what is in your heart, and seeing the need to constantly help our brothers and sisters in Christ.
