Friday, July 1st, 2022

Making an impact: Mission trip brings youth to serve in Greenwood

Youth from all across the country are spending one week of their summer break camped out at Greenwood High School as part of a mission trip.

TWIG, which stands for “Together We Impact Greenwood,” is hosted by First Presbyterian Church.

More than 100 youths broken up into 14 crews are spending their week at 11 work sites, doing simple home repair and improvements such as painting or building wheelchair ramps for those in need of some assistance.

The mission is through Group Mission Trips, an interdenominational nonprofit Christian organization that organizes missions. This is the third time First Presbyterian has hosted one of the home repair mission trips.

Phyllis Collins, a volunteer with the church, said they initially reached out to organizations such as GLEAMNS and the Upper Savannah Council on Aging and took applications.

Liz Steinberg with Group Mission Trips said this year’s theme is “go serve.”

She said acts of service are an easy way to feel a connection with God, and regardless of the intricacies of one’s faith, “I think we all find service in common.”

“That is a way that we can all demonstrate our faith and grow through it,” Steinberg said.

Zoie Gilreath, a camper from LaFayette, Georgia was at a home where the teenagers this week will be replacing parts of a deck, painting, fixing a doorknob and fixing a doorbell.

She said it makes people feel better to have things that are better to use and for her, the best part of the week is working and meeting people.

Collins thanked Rock Presbyterian Church and Greenwood School District 50 for their help with the camp.