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Sunday April 28th\nThis summer a team of youth and their leaders from the First Congregational Church of St. Johns will, once again, head down to Appalachia to build not only homes but relationships.
\nOn Sunday April 28th a fundraiser concert will take place at the First Congregational Church at 4PM featuring the local talents of the Mint City Singers and many talented youth from the St. Johns High School and local community. A free will offering will be collected to help raise travel funds for the team.
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\nIn 1969, Rev. Glen “Tex” Evans invited a group of 50 teens to Barbourville, KY to fix up homes. After serving for 13 years as a minister in Frankes, KY at the Henderson Settlement, Tex took notice of the unsafe, unsustainable, fast depleting conditions those he loved and ministered to lived in. It was time to do something about it. By the end of the summer in 1969, four families had homes that were now “Warmer, Safer, and Drier”. This summer of service gave way to the foundation of the Appalachia Service Project and a forty three-year long history of partnering teens with Tex’s vision, which is to get involved and act responsibly in the face of human need and injustice.
\nSince 1969, the Appalachia Service Project has hosted over 300,000 volunteers and fixed up 15,000 Appalachian homes. And this summer, 17,000 more volunteers will fix up 400 homes!
\nBut the problem persists. The Appalachian region still, to this day, struggles with a deep and unyielding poverty and substandard housing conditions. The cause of this poverty’s persistence are complicated, but we can say that this it is a generational poverty and a isn’t being helped by the vast economic withdrawal from the area that has been happening over the past 30 years. Poverty throughout this region is more than double that of the national average. This means 62,500 homes are considered substandard, with 19,000 lacking adequate kitchens, 21,000 lacking adequate plumbing, and half the population living on a household income of less than $20,000 a year.
\nBut, as always, there is hope! Ministries and social justice outreaches, such as the Appalachia Service Project, are seeking to eradicate this need by making a dent in the housing issues of the area, providing an economic “shock to the heart” for small Appalachian towns, and by raising awareness of the hurt happening in this region. With the help of the Appalachia Service Project and its volunteers, families can living in a safe, dry, and warm home and are able to focus their energy and resources elsewhere. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"