Wilmington Churches Join Together to Serve the People in the Area

140 people from five Wilmington churches gathered Saturday  May 5 for a day of community service. Calling the event “Spring Serve,” the goal was to serve people and organizations here in the local area that simply needed help with things that they just couldn’t manage on their own. The projects included things such as yard work, house repairs, and organizing.

Tom VanAntwerp, Grace Chapel’s Wilmington campus pastor and sponser of the  event, said, “I think the thing I loved most was seeing the churches in town partnering together.  It’s this kind of collaborative spirit that makes me glad to be serving a church in this town.” Pat  Archfield  outreach  coordinator  for St Thomas and St Dorothy's said  " We at St Thomas and St Dorothy's  are both  proud and Humbled to  be part of this event, and gives us all a chance to  live the gospel".

The participating churches were St. Thomas and St. Dorothy parishes, Grace Chapel, Abundant Life, and Wilmington United Methodist Church.  For the past several weeks, these churches have been collecting names of individuals and organizations in need.  After a short breakfast and prayer, teams from five to twenty people were sent out to over 20 locations throughout Wilmington and surrounding towns to rake yards, clean basements, move furniture, clean gutters, paint walls and clean carpets.  In addition to individual homes, the groups served with House of Hope Church in Lynn, Mission of Deeds in Reading, and the Salvation Army Thrift shop in Wilmington.

One of the yard work projects was for a recently widowed mother of two. “I was overwhelmed with emotion when I looked out and saw what the group was doing. They went above and beyond a regular spring cleanup. I was absolutely delighted and humbled” she said. the  most  rewarding  comment  came from the  son of a participant, who  lost his  father  four years ago, who when  this writer  pulled up to  get pictures  looked at my lime green jersey and said " wow  are you here to help us also  thank you . All  the  work was done free to the homeowners and organizations.

Another recipient of help acknowledged that maintaining her property sometimes gets overwhelming. Having the extra hands helped her feel like she is not alone, and that God is with her. She said simply, “it was the best Mother's Day gift a single mom could imagine." As  happy,  and thankful, as the  recipient's  of the  event were the  participants  were also  at all  the  sites the uniform of the  the day were the bright  green  jerseys, and a large  smiles.