| | (Pennsylvania)
The youth
group went Schuylkill
County, Pennsylvania, June 20-25, 2010. Nine youth and two leaders made the trip in two
cars, sleeping bags, T shirts and pants,
airbeds and pillows, sunscreen and bug
spray – to spend a week at Youthworks
worksites. They had a wonderful experience
being the hands and feet of Christ in
action and spending time with youth
from three other church communities and
their leaders. Look forward
to a deposit raiser spaghetti dinner in
September when they will show you the
pictures of what they did.
(Kenya)
From July 25 to August 1, 2009, parishioner Noel Ilogu,
MD was part of a mission team to Kenya to train health care providers on the dangers of
substance abuse and its impact on the spread of HIV and Aids in Kenya. Since 2004 the Annual
Kenya Healing Mission has been one of the outreach missions of St. Barnabas Episcopal Church.
The mission was organized under the auspices of GOAL Project (Global
Outreach for Addiction Leadership and Learning) and included eight
missioners from other churches. Goal is headed by Terry Webb, Ph.D.
former parishioner of St. Barnabas Church. This year the mission trained
about 70 physicians, nurses and counselors and visited with programs which
had been started during previous mission trips under the Kenyan led
SARAH (Substance Abuse Recovery and HIV/Aids) Network. To learn
more about this mission opportunity, contact Noel Ilogu.
(Mississippi)
Ascia Johnson and Keith Tagoe returned from a one-week mission trip to the Gulf Coast, where they helped to build and rebuild homes destroyed and damaged by Hurricane Katrina. You can see videos of the work they and many other teenagers from the Diocese of New Jersey did here:
Keith also writes about his experience below:
From July 25, to August 1,
2009, I joined a group of 32 youth from the Diocese of New Jersey on a mission trip to
Mississippi. From the day we arrived at Camp Coast Care on July 26, the phrase, “A time to
build” was instilled in our head by our counselor, Kep Short. Our goals were to keep the camp
clean and assist people who were affected by Hurricane Katrina. A typical day in Camp Coast Care would start in the dining hall. Every day we ate breakfast
there and by 6:15, Michael, the administrator of Camp Coast Care, would join us during
breakfast and deliver a prayer and our objectives of the day. Next we would split into groups and
head out towards our sites. Around 12 noon we took our lunch break and headed out to the
beautiful beach along the Bay St. Louis coast. After an hour, we continued work until 3:30 in the
afternoon. Later we had some hours of free time to take showers, chat with friends, play
basketball/volleyball, and eat dinner. Roughly around 7:00 in the evening, our counselors would
once again split us into groups to clean the bathroom, kitchen, and dining hall. By 9:00 at night
we would return to Camp Coast Care, discuss our day, recite a short prayer, and have a curfew at
9:45.
During our time at Bay St. Louis, assisting those who were affected by Hurricane Katrina
became our main objective. My group helped a cheerful man named Mr. Jackson. In his case, the
exterior of his house was completed but his contractor abandoned him before the
interior of his home was done. Mr. Brooks, our project leader, set our goals. On day
one a handful us scraped and swept the floors in which the tile work was to be
done. Afterwards we measured hardwood, cut it with the grinder, and placed it on
the floor. Then we kept the hardwood in place with screws. The next day we degrouted
floors so new grout could be applied. After that we sanded the walls
smooth in reparation to paint. On the third day we measured and cut tiles with the
tile saw and laid them on the floor with cement. Following that, we painted the
walls with two coats and successfully completed our task.
On the last day at our site, Mr. Jackson played music for us on his acoustic guitar,
patted me on my back and gave me these words of encouragement, “Thank you for not only
giving me hope, but inspiring me to give it to others.”
Sincerely,
Keith Tagoe
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