New Philadelphia takes its mission spirit to their city

On the last Sunday in June, the people gathered for worship at New Philadelphia Moravian Church in Winston-Salem, N.C. prayed together these words from the Liturgy of Adoration:

“Almighty God, for the opportunity to be used by you in the life of your church,
For our use of your splendid gifts,
For the joy of obedient service,
We dedicate ourselves to you.” (MBW p. 24)

We had spoken and prayed these words many times. Yet, on that Sunday, they seemed to take on a special meaning. About 18 of our youth and adults had spent the previous three days experiencing the “joy of obedient service”—using God’s “splendid gifts” and discovering a myriad of ways to be used by the Almighty God in the life of our church. We call it “Mission in the City.”

Every summer our youth ministry takes two wonderful mission trips, one to the Blue Ridge mountains, and the other to an urban city in another state. The beauty of stepping away from home is the intentionality behind every action and thought. The purpose of the trip is to serve—every single day—and come one step closer to getting to know God’s own heart that much better.

Even on the fun adventure days, our youth and adults are still expected to care for one another, pray for one another, and lift each other up. It is truly a holy experience in the mountains.

But, Jesus never stayed away on that mountain for very long. Just as it is important to go up to experience holy service, it is important to take that holy fire we’re given on the mountaintop back down into the valley where home awaits your return.

Winston-Salem, North Carolina, knows the cupped hands of need as well as most of the cities we’ve travelled to serve in. So, why not go up to reignite our flaming hearts and then with each step we take back down into our home city, take extra care to keep that flame burning bright?

This being our very first year at home in Winston-Salem, we decided to start out slow with three days full of service. Each day began with a breakfast provided by one of the congregants and a devotion; we then headed out to serve. At the end of the day, we would end with something fun like a movie, ice cream or a baseball game.

Day 1, Thursday

Winston-Salem Rescue Mission

Bright and early in the morning, we headed to Winston-Salem Rescue Mission. This ministry assists men who may be struggling with poverty, addiction, or something else that’s simply keeping them from being all that they can be. W-S Rescue Mission has an incredible program to help which includes community outreach (food pantry, clothing closet, medical clinic), addiction recovery, work therapy and spiritual development.

As a source of income and an introduction into the career world for the men in their program, the Mission has a thrift store which is where we met their volunteer coordinator, Jean-Luc Clark. It can often be daunting to do something you haven’t really done before, and serving at a non-profit is no exception. However, at W-S Rescue Mission, Jean-Luc’s excitement and energy vibrated through every word he spoke; it was clear we had already made a good friend here. He gave us a quick tour, and we split up into two groups to do a good deal of sorting and organization. One group worked in the thrift store, while the other sorted clothing items that could be given to residents currently in the program. After about two hours of sorting to fun music and getting to know a couple staff members a little better, our hearts were incredibly full and beautifully prepared for the next adventure!

Grocery store challenge

After eating lunch, we had a challenge in mind for the youth. We drove to a nearby grocery store, Harris Teeter, and split the youth into two teams. Each team was given $20 and told they had to buy nonperishable items which could be used to make dinners for a family of four. This is simply a creative way to purchase items for our church’s blessing box. By purchasing the items with this challenge, our youth were invited to step into another person’s shoes. Perhaps they’re the shoes of a mom whose hands are tired and sore from non-stop work to afford this grocery budget. Perhaps they’re the shoes of a dad who fears his kids may not be getting all the nutrition they really need. In the end, both teams were able to buy enough ingredients for two family meals with a few dimes and quarters leftover—they were so proud of themselves!

Second Harvest Food Bank

From the grocery store we appropriately drove to Second Harvest Food Bank. There we were checked in and taken to the kitchen where

we prepared over 200 meals for the community. This was especially fun as it became rhythmic after a while and we were able to fall into the smooth groove of an assembly line.

Day 2, Friday

Baking Healthy Treats for H.O.P.E.

This morning we stayed at the church and used recipes on https://hopews.org/bakers/ to properly bake healthy treats for H.O.P.E. of Winston-Salem. H.O.P.E is another incredible organization working tirelessly to prevent health and food insecurity in children. It’s their firm belief that everyone deserves to eat well and their mission is to fill starving bellies. Using the recipes on the website is an incredibly easy way to serve from your own kitchen—not to mention the ingredients to their fabulously delicious brownies might surprise you! After we baked a batch of their brownies and muffins we froze them to be delivered later to H.O.P.E. This was especially lovely as several of our youth love to bake!

Second Harvest Food Bank

After lunch we returned to Second Harvest Food Bank. This time we served in their warehouse, packing boxes for neighbors in the community to receive the next week.

Day 3, Saturday

Community Meals for H.O.P.E.

This morning, we made our way over to H.O.P.E.’s facility to help package meals for the community. Here we were placed into an assembly line where sandwiches were made, bagged, then placed in a brown paper bag with a napkin and an apple. It was easy and fun, not to mention we were able to make new friends with our fellow volunteers.

Solus Christus

After lunch, we drove to Solus Christus, an in-between housing site for women who are waiting to enter a rehabilitation program. Here, we spread mulch around the flower bed and did some weeding.

Following our time together, some of our missioners shared their reflections of this Mission in the City:

Gemma:

“The Mission in the City project that New Philadelphia Youth Ministry did was an amazing experience. All the people we worked with were absolutely amazing and kind people. Also, helping the community was just so much fun, especially doing it with my church family!”

Andy:

“I thoroughly enjoyed my time during Mission in the City, whether I was doing yardwork or working at H.O.P.E. to make sandwiches and other bags of food. Although I only got to do one day of Mission In The City, I felt like we helped more people than we could imagine.”

Charlotte:

‘Mission in the City showed me how important it is to step up and serve others, even in simple ways. It made me more aware of the needs in my own community and how I can be a part of meeting them. I left feeling more connected to the people around me and motivated to keep making a difference.

‘This world can be so loud: everything seems to demand our attention. Everyone sees the need, but few stop to consider that God might be calling them to help fill it. Volunteering typically only takes two hours…who can’t give two hours of their month to make a sandwich that fills the hollow belly of a child? To volunteer, simply go to the website of each organization, most will have a sign-up link. If you can’t find a volunteer sign up link, find the contact page to email or call one of their staff and they will happily help you.

‘God gifted us with full bellies, able hands, soft pillows, and warm homes, why not us?’

Abby Dwiggins is director of youth ministries at New Philadelphia Moravian Church in Winston-Salem, N.C.