Twenty-five of our U of A Wesley students, staff and volunteers welcomed the new year by traveling to Port Arthur, Texas, to do hurricane relief and build relationships with homeowners and other Wesley Foundations around Arkansas. The money raised from Wesley’s Work Weekends in November enabled students to serve on this trip at an affordable price. We are grateful to all who hosted projects and helped make it possible for us to go make a difference in so many lives!
With your support, God empowered us to do finish work in seven houses damaged by Hurricane Harvey. Students found considerable joy in learning new skills over the five work days, including how to install vinyl flooring, trim, doors and baseboard. In total, we ripped up old flooring and put down 2,000 square feet of new vinyl flooring, we installed 44 doors and hung trim around the doors, entryways and windows, and we painted over 10,000 square feet with 40 gallons of paint. Our teams grew very close to the homeowners as they shared their stories with us and made our devotionals during lunchtime a deep, open and heartfelt experience. Some of the homeowners even worked alongside us in transforming their houses into a homes again.
Our morning and midday devotionals and evening worship services for the week revolved around the biblical theme of Empowerment. We meditated on Romans 15:5-6 and discussed how God empowers us to reflect God’s glory. Themes included cultivating the potential of God’s creation towards positive ends; being transformed in righteousness as new humans in Christ; persevering through suffering; blessing others when we surrender all we have to God; and empowering those in need to flourish in love and purpose.
U of A Wesley led worship two nights and U of A junior and Wesley leader, Henley Wells, gave a message on how even in grief, Jesus showed active compassion, and Henley challenged us to embody Christ’s compassion for others. The extent to which systemic poverty effected the communities we served was an eye-opening experience for many of our team and inspired us to look forward to more opportunities to empower those in difficult circumstances.
