About 30 high school aged volunteers from the youth group at the New Life Community Church in Martinsburg spent the week helping out in Tucker County including staining and painting the Canaan Valley Baptist Church and sprucing up Hendricks Park.
By Beth Christian Broschart
The Parsons Advocate
HENDRICKS – A youth group from the New Life Community Church in Martinsburg visited the area and helped to complete projects to help out in Tucker County including painting a staining a church and helping spruce up a park. Youth Pastor Ryan Parsons said the group included about 30 high schoolers and said he was excited to be back in the area lending a hand.
“We were staying down in the valley at Canaan Valley Baptist Church, who housed us for the week and a lot of the work completed included painting and staining their entire church,” Parsons said. “We are friends with Roxanne Tuesing and we also spruced up the Hendricks Park.”
Parsons said the group stained all of the equipment in Hendricks Park including the pavilion.
“We all removed all of the staples and nails and made the equipment a little safer,” Parsons said. “We redid the volleyball court and now it can be used.”
Parsons said the group has not been here for about four years and said the group really enjoyed traveling back to lend a hand in Tucker County.
“It good to be back and reconnect with everybody,” Parsons said.
Parsons said the group meets each Sunday evening and said the trip to Tucker County is a great growing experience for the group members.
“We are teaching them how to become more like Jesus – our youth ministry is called life like and we want them to learn how he lived because we believe he is the best example of life there was,” Parsons said. “One of the things we are trying to instill in the members is the idea of service and how to be mindful of others, sacrifice for others and love others. That’s what this week is about – learning the value of getting nothing out of it for yourself except the sheer enjoyment of helping others.”
Parsons said it was the first time any of the youth members have been to Tucker County and said the experience has been powerful. He said while in Tucker County, the students also had the benefit of visiting the beautiful sites around and surrounding the county.
“Today we went caving in the Sinks of Gandy and on Sunday, we hiked to the top of Seneca Rocks,” he said. “We went to Blackwater Falls and we have been swimming at Roxanne’s. They have experienced many of the great gems around. Certainly we love to utilize that and let them see God’s creation. It’s been great.”
“We are so glad to be able to partner with this area again. It feels like home. For us to come, it is a great exposure. The mountains here are more majestic and the people are so hospitable. It’s a great thing. We are blessed by the things we were able to do.”
Additional information about the New Life Community Church is available online at www.nlccwv.org.