New Life at Lake Seminole Church of God in South Georgia has received the blessing of being able to worship in their own building again since it was destroyed by Hurricane Michael three years ago. According to WCTV, the church was deemed unsalvageable after its destruction, but Campers on a Mission, “a group of retired volunteers who rebuild churches” made a commitment to get New Life at Lake Seminole Church of God up and running by the spring so its congregation could again meet together under their own roof. Pastor Glen Elmore of New Life at Lake Seminole Church of God shared that he thanks God every day for the volunteers who are bringing his church back to life.
Campers on a Mission is an organization dedicated to serving the Lord and helping others rebuild and renew their churches. The volunteers work for little in return; many just appreciate one meal a day if the church can afford it. Living in their campers, volunteers, who are usually 70 years old and older, work five days a week. Though many churches may find it difficult to retain hope that their congregation may return to their own building, Campers on a Mission is restoring their hope and eliminating any doubt that help will arrive. Kenneth Dykes from Campers on a Mission stated, “‘we realize these small churches would not be able to afford to build these buildings if it wasn’t for the volunteer work that we do and we’ve just been blessed and are trying to give some of it back.’”
The wives who accompany the men rebuilding the churches, have their own part that is unique to their skills and further blesses the surrounding community. The women sew quilts, blankets, and clothes which they donate to local hospitals and ministries. Pastor Elmore has also found this to be a tremendous blessing for his community and sincerely appreciates all the hard work from the men and women who came as volunteers to help out of the goodness of their hearts.
The work of Campers on a Mission is admirable as volunteers are guided by their faith to do good work out of the basic motivation to help others and share in the blessings they have received. Not requiring any type of compensation, Campers on a Mission is not only rebuilding churches, but renewing faith in the goodness of people to selflessly serve communities and people in need. The new building for New Life at Lake Seminole Church of God is expected to be completed by the end of the spring. Pastor Elmore is greatly looking forward to welcoming his congregation back into a beautiful and blessed new building for which they have been waiting for a long time.