Epworth UMC- Backyard Mission Camp 2016
July 6, 2016
After 15 years of summer mission trips with Carolina Cross Connection, the youth group at Epworth UMC in Concord, N.C. decided to stay home.
“Carolina Cross Connection had always challenged us to ‘take it home’,” according to Jen Hedrick, Director of Youth Ministry at Epworth, “and for a long time we would bring that enthusiasm back with us but the energy would dwindle and we'd wait it out until the next summer.”
When they got back from CCC in 2014, they designated the second Saturday of every month as an SOS day (Saturday of Service).
According to Hedrick, “SOS snowballed. The youth kept coming and we started getting a reputation for being a "go to" resource. Last Fall when it came time to start making decisions about our 2016 Summer Missions plans I started wondering, ‘What would SOS look like spread out over a few days?’”
The scripture that Backyard Mission Camp was built on was Matthew 10:5-10 from The Message Translation:
5-8 Jesus sent his twelve harvest hands out with this charge:
“Don’t begin by traveling to some far-off place to convert unbelievers. And don’t try to be dramatic by tackling some public enemy. Go to the lost, confused people right here in the neighborhood. Tell them that the kingdom is here. Bring health to the sick. Raise the dead. Touch the untouchables. Kick out the demons. You have been treated generously, so live generously.
9-10 “Don’t think you have to put on a fund-raising campaign before you start. You don’t need a lot of equipment. You are the equipment, and all you need to keep that going is three meals a day. Travel light.
While planning for the event, they wrote a grant to the Home Depot Foundation in February and received $2500 towards materials and supplies for home improvement projects for the elderly and veterans in the community. The grant covered all of the building materials for the week-long event. Meals on Wheels provided them with the names of potential families who needed home repairs and they visited each family to set up projects and visit with them. Additionally, they reached out to local agencies to offer support with anything they might need, and got overwhelming response. Epworth UMC has a big field behind the church where they pitched tents, and over 27 youth and adults showed up to work and learn the week of June 19-24.
