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“With brush in hand”
Message preached by
Meghan Knight on
August 13, 2017
Long Green Valley Church of the Brethren
Glen Arm, Maryland USA
based upon
Matthew 14:22-33 and
Galatians 5:13
Surprise! I am giving the sermon this morning. This was my birthday gift
to Pastor Pete. You’re welcome Pete!
Two weeks ago, I had the privilege of participating in my second Brethren
Disaster Ministries work camp with the Mid-Atlantic district young adults.
I am going to take the next few minutes or so to tell you about what we
did this year.
The work camp site is in Columbia, South Carolina. Our young adult group
was combined with an older adult group from Westminster Church of the
Brethren. When we all had arrived at the BDM work camp site, we were
greeted by our project leaders Steve Keim, Kim Gingerich, and Sammy
Deacon. The whole group gathered together and were given an overview of
what we were working on throughout the week. Steve shared with us that
there was massive flooding in early October 2015, caused by hurricane
Joaquin. There was a record seventeen inches of rainfall just in Columbia.
After the storm, the Federal Emergency Management Agency in South Carolina
received over 100,000 registrations for aid from those affected by the
storm. All homes in a flood zone needed to be rebuilt from the ground up
so that their home was several feet off the ground. Somewhere around 5,000
homes still need to be worked on.
Our big group was separated into smaller groups and assigned different
work sites. The work sites my group went to were in Eastover, South
Carolina. Monday morning, we worked at the first of two houses. The young
adults went into a four-foot crawl space under the house to cut and hang
insulation. A fun fact is that if the crawl space was a few inches higher,
I could have stood up all the way. Shows you just how height challenged I
am. My height comes in handy sometimes! Also, the insulation looks like
pink cotton candy, which made my fellow work camper Miriah and I want to
go eat some. Just wanted to add a little bit of fun to this sermon. After
a few hours, we completed our insulation task and moved onto the next home
about five minutes away. The second house is the home we worked in for the
rest of the week. I spent the week sanding walls throughout the home to
prepare for primer and paint, which I did a lot of too. Luckily, our week
at camp was not all work. After a full day of work, we travelled back to
the BDM site, ate dinner, listened to a devotional, and had time to play
card or board games. Game time was awesome, especially when the entire
group, young adults and older adults, were sitting around the table
laughing and having a good time. We all go to know and connected with each
other so well through work and play.
While I want to give insight on what the week was like, there is an
important message I want to give. One of the homes we worked on for the
week is owned by a woman named Elease Jones. We were blessed to meet her
and hear a little of her story. Miss. Jones has not lived in her home for
two years since the flood happened. It was originally owned by her mother,
so she was devastated when her house had to be rebuilt from the ground up.
It was a blessing to meet this woman and make a connection with her. Miss
Jones was very kind and appreciative of us coming to work in her home. She
even provided us lunch two days in a row, which is a common thing that
citizens do in the Eastover area. To be able to meet Miss Jones completed
our time of work. Sure, it is nice to help rebuild a home. However, for us
to offer our prayers to her and for her to say how much she appreciated
our work is a sign that God’s love is in us.
On the back of all the Brethren Disaster Ministries t-shirts, including
the one I am wearing today, is a bible verse from Galatians. Part of
chapter five, verse thirteen, says, “serve one another in love.” Serve one
another in love. Serve each other and our communities not just with a
paint brush stroke or a hammer to a wall. Serve with love to each other.
Work camp is not just about providing service, it’s about the connections
we make with and the love we give to God’s people. Express how much you
appreciate each other and spread love. Not just love, but God’s love.
Following Galatians chapter five, verse thirteen, the passage goes on to
say, “love your neighbor as yourself.” Love your neighbor as yourself.
Reach out to others in need thinking about how you would feel if you were
in the same situation. And you do not need to attend a work camp to do
this. Work camps are a great thing, but we can do this our own
neighborhoods and local communities. We all have the capability to make a
difference in someone’s life, just like our work camp group did in Miss
Jones’ life. Serve one another and make connections while doing so. Amen?
©2017 Meghan Knight
(you are welcome to borrow and, where / as appropriate, note
the source - myself or those from whom I have knowingly borrowed.)