By Tina Jahnke
For the Salisbury Post
Nine people from Woodleaf and Mt. Tabor Methodist churches went on a mission trip with Carolina Cross Connection the first week of August.
Our team was made up of our leader, the Rev. Curtis Goforth and his wife, Jennifer. Katie Evans, Julianna Evans and Taylor Love attended from Woodleaf United Methodist Church and Bill Wiseman, Joe Hager, Corey Fries and Zak Bates attended from Mt. Tabor United Methodist Church.
Carolina Cross Connection has been in operation since 1988. They use different camps in the North Carolina piedmont and mountains. Our group was assigned to West Wilkes Middle School in Wilkesboro – just in the foothills of the mountains.
The accommodations were great and the scenery was breathtaking. We were based in Wilkesboro, but the job assignments were an hour’s drive or longer near Sparta and West Jefferson. One day we were only two miles from Mountain City, Tenn. There were campers from as close as Elkin, North Carolina and as far away as Newark, Delaware. There were about 80 campers in attendance during the week we were there.
Each day we were awakened by college-age counselors at 7 a.m. with breakfast at 7:30 a.m. Meditation and Bible reading lasted until 8 a.m. and then job assignments were given out. Campers were on the road by 9 a.m. each day.
We each had our own Christian Mission Group (CMG) that we worked with every day. The job assignments differed from day to day. Some of us built steps while some built ramps for the handicapped and rails for them to hold onto. Other groups cleaned yards and mowed. We also repaired vinyl siding and washed houses. One group painted cabinets and another group painted the whole exterior of a house.
After finishing our jobs for the day, we returned to camp by 5 or 6 p.m., at which time we showered and ate dinner. After dinner the campers enjoyed camp activities as well as spiritual lessons and meetings until 10 p.m. On campfire night the youth were given the opportunity to show just how creative and talented they were. Each day wrapped up at 10:30 p.m. with everyone in their beds and lights out. After putting in such long days, no one seemed to mind lights out by 10:30 p.m.!
Carolina Cross Connection has several goals. The first is to bring youth and adults together to form a Christian community for the purpose of serving God and better knowing our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Secondly, to spread the love of Christ in the larger community through service to people in need. Thirdly, to provide opportunities for youth to practice their leadership skills, witness to their faith and grow in their spiritual maturity.
This summer more than 1,300 people attended one of five camps, each operating four camp weeks. The 1,300 campers reached out to and made a difference in the lives of nearly 800 families. The recipients of the hard work we performed on our mission trip were more of a blessing to us than we were to them. Each one of the people we served was gracious and extremely grateful for the work carried out by the campers, and they gave God the glory for everything that they had.