Meet Adrien Gibbs. Adrien, along with Kaye Leadman, is one of our volunteer coordinators. It's her job to recruit volunteers to Union Mission and make sure their time with us is profitable for both The Mission and for the volunteer personally.
Adrien wanted to share some stories from a recent volunteer group's experience here.
"If anyone said you have to go overseas to take a mission trip they are sadly mistaken. Just ask the group from Compassionate Heart International.
Compassionate Heart International is a not-for-profit charitable organization committed to enriching the lives of people in communities around the world. This past week I had the privilege and honor to work with this group of eight volunteers based out of Winston Salem, North Carolina.
When the group first arrived I did not know what to expect. Yes, I have worked with groups before, but this group was going to stay for an entire week. We had a schedule of tasks that we wanted to accomplish before the week was over, but I never expected that this group would have accomplished so much. They wanted to do anything The Mission needed, and they were eager to learn all about The Mission. They were “blown away,” as one of the volunteers put it. They simply could not believe all The Mission does for people.
They said our organization is the first organization that they have been to that is so well put together and has several aspects that make up The Mission. At the beginning of the week, they painted the handrails at Brookside Family Life Center and cleaned the grounds of leaves and debris. They also cleaned up the flower beds at our Administration building. Every evening for dinner they served at Union Mission Crossroads, our men’s shelter, and on Thursday of that week they had a devotion and special music. At the end of the day they were so eager fellowship with the men at Crossroads and everyone else that came to get a hot meal. By the end of the week they knew several of the men by name and they honestly wanted to know about each and every person there.
On Wednesday we headed up to Summerlee, a small town near Beckley, West Virginia, to a church called Hand and Hand Mission. It's one of the sites we serve through Union Mission Outreach. We hosted a food giveaway and presented the gospel to 135 families. Six people dedicated their lives to Jesus that morning and you could feel God's presence in that old coal camp store building. It rained the whole way up and the rain did not stop for us, but that did not damper our spirits as we passed out food, toiletries and mining boots. When we were leaving Summerlee the group could not stop talking about how they have truly been touched.
Thursday and Friday the group got to experience the different areas of The Mission. They shadowed Union Mission Family Services and learned how the process works for people to get vouchers for food and clothing. They also got to go to the warehouse and give out food to the clients, work in the Union Mission Thrift Store sorting and hanging clothes, and work at Brookside Family Life Center, our woman’s and children’s shelter.
Our biggest surprise from the group was that out of the eight people two of them were IT specialist. At that time we were currently in the process of rewiring the entire building and setting up networks. When our only IT employee found out about the men he said he had been specifically praying for help and that they could help get it done faster than he ever could alone. “It was an answer to prayer," he said. One night they took advantage of the empty offices and pulled wire until 4 in the morning...and they were back by 9 that same day. At the end of the week they were still not finished--so one of the volunteers said that he would be back on Monday to help finish the IT job. This group was truly God sent and came to the mission at the perfect time.
One experience that I will remember is the morning Kaye Leadman and I shared devotion and communion the group. We got to share what God has done in our lives and embrace the Holy Spirit. By the time it was over we were all crying.
I wish all the best to this amazing group and hope we can host other groups just like this one."
To get an idea of our ministry, visit wefeedpeople.com. Want to dig a little deeper? Click on the "learn more" button.
Union Mission. We Feed People. It's what we do.
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