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Volunteers help build Louisiana church
The church had caught fire in March 2006 and had to be torn down due to water damage. "The Builders" worked four 12-hour days helping with walls, wiring, insulation, and sheet rock, transforming a 15,000-plus square foot metal shell into a sanctuary, fellowship hall and classroom. The past year was the 24th in the history of the Builders, Downey said. The builders team includes members of the Clarke Baptist Association, local Methodist church members, and residents of Calera and Mobile as well as Georgia, Missouri, and North and South Carolina. "We're really a diverse group," he said. Downey is the contact person that organizes the mission trips. They will meet June 26 to "go over what we did and any improvements that need to be made" and start planning for the 2008 trip.
Downey was particularly happy about the contribution of 10 young people on the last mission trip. Their effort gave you faith into the future, he said. "They had a ball doing it, but they really worked," working with big piles of sheet rock. It normally takes the builders team approximately nine months to select a site for their next trip. They work through the North America Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. Churches who have construction projects will log onto the mission board web site, he said. Also, "over the years we've established a pretty good network of people that do this type thing." The size of the mission team can fluctuate each year from 54 (in 2006) to over 60 (2005) to 73 (2004). There is no minimum number of people required. "We just find a job, and we go as far as the manpower allows.
Downey, at age 76, plans to continue to work with the builders team. "There's certain things I can't do anymore; I can't work up in trusses anymore, (however) most things I can do." Most of the core team members are over 50. "You really get a blessing out of going," he said. "Wherever we go, they get a building for their church, but we get a blessing. Until you've been, you don't really understand it." He is a member of Grove Hill Baptist Church, but he also works with Grove Hill Methodist Church and New Faith Baptist Church in Coffeeville. "When we first started there were about 250 groups doing this type of thing," Downey said. Now, he figures there are over 2,500 groups involved in construction mission trips.
Downey has made lasting friends through the mission work. "We've made friends all throughout the U.S. When we visit and we're on vacation, we usually call people who are all scattered throughout the country." Friends from past mission trips will also visit Downey in Grove Hill.
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