Christian school conducts mission trip
Ian Morley decided to participate in Jacob’s Creek Christian School’s mission trip to Fairmont, W.Va., this past summer because of the adventure. “At first, I went because it was something to do. But then I saw that we were actually helping people who need it,’ said Morley, 13.
Morley was one of 10 people from Jacob’s Creek Christian School this past June who took part in the mission program operated by Impact, which principal Norma Kelley learned about through the Presbyterian Church of America.
The participants included students Morley, of Point Marion, who had just completed seventh grade; Christian Bryner, of Farmington, sixth grade; Jamie Jenkins, of Lake Lynn, seventh grade; Robbie Cannon, of Rices Landing, eighth grade; Nathan Kelley, of Carmichaels, who had completed fifth grade and is now a student at Jacob’s Creek and is the grandson of Kelley; Shawn Stoner, of Uniontown, also fifth grade; and Nathan Smith, of Point Marion, seventh grade, who did not attend the school but was a friend of Morley. The adults included Kelley, also of Carmichaels, principal and teacher; Leda Bryner, mother of Christian and a registered nurse; and Steve Corcoran, of Masontown, who served as construction supervisor for the team.
Jacob’s Creek Christian School, located in Jacob’s Lutheran Church in German Township, opened in Fall 2004 with 10 students in grades six, seven and eight. Many of the students had been to Mount Moriah Christian School, an elementary school located at Mount Moriah Baptist Church in Smithfield, where they had been exposed to mission projects. They included Operation Christian Child’s Love in a Shoebox, which brings Christmas presents to children who live in desperate situations, such as war, hurricanes and poverty, and the Heifer Project, which raises money to buy animals that can feed people, such as cows that offer milk and chickens that offer eggs, and also be bred to raise more animals.
“But the kids had no personal involvement in a mission project,’ explained Kelley. “I felt in middle school that would be old enough. They were very enthusiastic and all the kids that went last year want to go again.’
Kelley said she chose Fairmont because her students were young and the trip was not far from home. The Jacob’s Creek Christian School mission team raised money for the trip by selling pizzas and candles as well as hosting a dinner theater and sending letters asking for support. They needed $430 each to pay for room and board and materials so the people they are working for don’t have to pay.
The Jacob’s Creek team worked with Dave Hamilton of Impact, who is stationed in Fairmont and lines up projects for the mission teams that come from across the United States. When Jacob’s Creek students were there, they met other youths from New York, California, Georgia and Alabama.
Many of the teams do construction projects and work around people’s homes, like Jacob’s Creek students.
“Some teams do a Bible school or backyard Bible club or sports clinic, like basketball or soccer. They try to minister to families,’ said Kelley.
Impact works in Fairmont and the surrounding area, Kelley said, helping the elderly and people who live in poverty.
Jacob’s Creek students were in Fairmont June 18-25, staying at a 4-H camp called Camp MarMac, and spent most of the week working for an elderly woman named Nina Moore.
“She has been in a wheelchair all her life because of neuromuscular disease and she lives alone,’ said Kelley. “She has a caretaker in the morning who gets her breakfast and a caretaker in the evening who gets her supper and puts her to bed. She cannot get in or out of her wheelchair on her own.’
Moore, 73, had no one to help her with these chores. She never married and has no children. She has a brother, but he also suffered health problems.
The students, however, discovered Moore was not a woman who needed sympathy, but one to be admired.
“She’s a very remarkable woman,’ said Kelley. “She’s on the board for Muscular Dystrophy and appeared on the Jerry Lewis (Labor Day) telethon. She was a poster person last year and on the board for handicap transportation in Fairmont. And she has a plaque on her wall…’
Kelley told a story about Moore being turned away from voting several years ago because the voting booth was upstairs in a building that was not accessible to the handicapped. Upset, Moore wrote letters to the governor and state officials that resulted in West Virginia passing the Nina Moore Amendment that requires that voting be made accessible to those who are handicapped. They have to be able to vote at the building or have the materials brought to them. The plaque recalls this story.
“She was such an inspiration to the kids,’ said Kelley. “They always say, ‘I can’t do it because…’ She said, ‘You can do anything.’ My grandson went to the story with her one day. She has a power wheelchair and he had to run to keep up with her.’
The mission team helped Moore by power washing and putting sealer on a 120-foot long ramp from her back porch to the edge of her property at the road. They also painted Moore’s garage, with some students climbing a tall ladder to reach the back of the building, which measured 30 feet tall. They scrubbed her porch and painted her porch furniture. They also repaired her outside basement door, which had sustained water damage.
“We took a lunch with us and had a picnic under her tree – it was a beautiful tree,’ said Kelley. “We had lunch and a Bible study and she usually joined us for that.’
The mission team followed a team throughout the week. They rose at 6:15 a.m. for devotions and then had breakfast before arriving at Moore’s home at 8 a.m. where they worked until 3:30 p.m. Dinner was back at the camp.
In addition to helping Moore, several team members went to a new camp that is being built outside Fairmont called Dayspring to lend a hand. When completed, the camp will house Impact members who were becoming crowded in the 4-H camp because of the number of missionaries. Some of the Jacob’s Creek students went to the new camp Friday where they did caulking, staining redwood and some interior construction work.
Every evening, the missionaries enjoyed a meeting with singing and a speaker. On Thursday, a few members of the Jacob’s Creek school council and the Jacob’s Lutheran Church council and the Rev. Todd Kornahrens, pastor, came to visit and help the missionaries with their work.
Asked how the trip helped the students, Kelley said, “I think they gained a real appreciation for handicapped people and what they can do. This lady was a real example.’
She said Moore sent each of the students a thank-you letter and they have kept in touch with her.
Kelley said the students, who are not “rich kids,’ were also struck by the poverty they saw in the area.
“They learned to give of themselves,’ Kelley said. “I was impressed that they worked hard and never complained.’
This school year, the students are continuing their mission work by bringing in money for relief efforts following Hurricane Katrina and will have a missionary conference in January that features young people as speakers. Their charity efforts also include participation in the Jump Rope for Heart program that benefits the American Heart Association. And they will be raising money to make another mission trip to Fairmont.
For more information on Jacob’s Creek School, phone 724-583-9040.