We love our youth group volunteers who come to serve Birmingham low-income homeowners.
Groups come from all over – Texas, Georgia, Michigan, Florida, of course Alabama, and more – to experience Christ in relationship with homeowners and with each other. Our volunteers offer the love of Christ in the form of dignity, compassion, and a bit of urban renewal as they paint homes for low-income homeowners.
One large group has served with us for four consecutive years. Another group is making plans to come serve with us for the sixteenth consecutive year; their adult leader served with us years ago when she was a student volunteer. A group leader in Georgia told us this past summer that this was the best mission trip that their group had ever been on; they are making their plans now to return in 2020.
When we hear remarks like these, we jot them down:
- “I would definitely put this on my list of mission sites to do again, and I can’t say that about every trip our group has taken.” (Adult volunteer, Texas)
- “This was awesome. It couldn’t have been better.” (Youth Director, Birmingham area)
- “I just feel like this project (Urban Ministry) is a hidden gem in the United Methodist Church that a lot of people don’t know about.” (Group leader, Arkansas)
- “It is a joy to have a project that is so organized, and I don’t have to worry about anything.” (Church staffer, Texas)
We get comments like these regularly.
There is the homeowner who told us, “When I got your call (that you were coming to paint the house), I got on my knees and gave thanks to God that you were coming.”
A student from the University of Massachusetts answered the question of what memories they would take home from Alabama by saying, “I remember when we got out of the van at Mrs. Johnson’s house and started painting, that I was just so happy. As happy as I’d ever been in my life. So incredibly happy.”
One homeowner told us that the idea of our group possibly painting her house meant so much to her, “I took it to the altar of my church on Sunday morning for them to pray over it with me.”
A staffer from a Huntsville church told us that their group’s experiences with us over the years “have been absolutely foundational to their faith development.”
And then there is the homeowner in north Birmingham who thanked us for painting her house, saying, “I love you like the highway. You know what that means, don’t you? It means it don’t never end.”
If you want to create lifelong memories for your youth group, college students, or adult group, reach out to us now! We would love to have you. And we know some homeowners who would love it even more.