2022 Mission Trip to Kanawha County
Bethany youth mission team returned from a week in West Virginia Kanawha County serving the homeowners of West Charleston. According to Wikipedia:
“Like much of Charleston, the West Side suffers from large tracts of urban decay with 31% of West Side buildings vacant as of 2019 as Charleston overall has lost roughly 45% of its peak population and is part of the Rust Belt. Over 40% of children on the West Side are living in poverty, more than double the national average (17.5%).”
Four youth and four adults attended the Appalachian Service Project (ASP)to help make homes warmer, safer, and drier. The homeowner we worked with had a trailer home that she had purchased a few years ago, and ASP has been helping her with the repairs for 2 years now. Last year exterior work was done to replace the siding and build a porch, and this year crews put a new metal roof on and also replaced walls and flooring inside. Our group was tasked with tearing out paneling, insulation, and repairing framework, re-insulating, and then drywalling and painting. We also had a crew working to replace a hot water heater. We also met several dogs that kept us company as we worked! A lucky dog won the heart of our chaperones and went home to a very happy new life in North Carolina.
We had a wonderful, life changing experience, and we want to thank the Bethany congregation for all your love, prayers, and support. The mission team will present a program highlighting our trip on August 28th at the worship service.