Community Corner
Changing the World, One House at a Time
Over 300 young adults travel from seven states to help others in Chicago Southland and Northwest Indiana.
"We got the call at eight o'clock this morning," said Jenn Burner of Chicago Heights. "They were coming."
"They" are a team of ten out of 300 teens and young adults coming from Missouri, Tennessee, Mississippi, North Carolina, Kentucky, Texas and Ohio.
They call themselves the World Changers.
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Young adults among southern Baptists and other evangelical churches spend a week doing exterior painting and light construction jobs at no charge in cooperation with Habitat for Humanity.
This day they were painting a home along 16th Street in Chicago Heights. Other teams were in Lansing, Park Forest, East Chicago, IN and other areas in the South Suburbs.
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"We are so grateful," said Burner. The team could only paint half of the two story home, because the ladders only reach a certain height. Nevertheless, the family was grateful.
During a lunch break, Burner asked one neighbor for charcoal,and another for a grill. She cooked up lunch for her team of painters, renewing the home she shares with her mother and aunt.
After lunch one of the team leaders asked Burner and her mother, Jacki Newman, to join them in a devotion to God. After the group settled under a tree in the front yard, Spencer Long opened with a prayer. After the devotional words were said, conversations opened up. The World Changers team listened, then prayed for the homeowners, for their neighbors.
Back to work.
Two children next door wanted to help. Their small hands were welcome to join in.
"Help me over here," said Taren LeVan she showed 10-year-old Julian Solano how to use a paint brush.
One by one neighbors came by to see what was going on. The World Changers stopped and listen to others. They had almost finished the first coat of paint. They would be back tomorrow to finish the mission.
Valspar Paint donated all the exterior paint for the Brush with Kindness project. Another World Changers team arrives Monday to begin a week of serving others. Already they are planning to come back next summer, July 16.
For more information about World Changers call 1-800-462-8657 extension 6475.
