At-home mission trip brings unique opportunities and blessings

June 25, 2020
Landscaping site in St. Paul.
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Missions is one of the things that Wise Baptist Church does best. Each summer, approximately 40-50 people (ages 4 – 85) set aside one week of their summer to help with disaster relief.
Over the past 15 years, they have traveled to Mississippi (after Hurricane Katrina), New Jersey (after Hurricane Sandy), North Carolina (following Hurricane Matthew) as well as the Eastern Shore and Florida. Smaller groups have also made weekend trips to West Virginia to do disaster relief in the Greenbrier County area.

This year, their plan was to lend a helping hand in Swansboro, NC where residents are still recovering from the effects of Hurricane Florence. Covid-19, however, caused those plans to be adjusted.
“Flexibility”, being one of the key components of a mission trip, has resulted in a different, but no less exciting, mission trip this year. Joining with the Southwest Virginia Partnership (located in Nickelsville, VA), Wise Baptist Church is doing an at-home mission trip this summer. Approximately 70 volunteers are working at 17 different job sites this week, from St. Paul to Appalachia. The 39 jobs they have undertaken include roofing, exterior painting, power washing, landscaping, flooring, parking lot striping, building handicap ramps, repairing decks, building new steps, cleaning gutters and replacing windows.

Other volunteers, who make up their cook team, prepare a hearty breakfast each morning at 7:00 am in the church fellowship hall. Afterwards, this team prepares lunches for all work crews. Another group of volunteers then deliver these lunches to each job site.

Wise Baptist’s 2020 Summer Mission Trip has already brought unique opportunities and many blessings. Many more folks have been able to be involved since the work is local this year. Pastor Mike Winters says, “The Church has left the building! This year, we have the privilege and blessing of being the Church in Wise, Coeburn, St. Paul, Nickelsville, Norton, Big Stone Gap and Appalachia!”