JOHNSONVILLE — Nearly 200 volunteers are joining together this week to build a new family life center at Johnsonville Baptist Church.
The volunteers are members of churches in several different states throughout the Southeast, including South Carolina, and arrived Saturday.
The family life center will serve as an additional building for fellowship at the church.
Of the many volunteers working on the site, one took special measures to make sure he offered a helping hand.
Justin Leonard suffers from a disability that took away his ability to walk and is confined to a wheelchair.
But when the teen found out about the trip to help the Johnsonville church, he made sure he played a part in the construction.
“When we decided to open the mission trip to all of our youth, Justin was the first one on line, saying ‘I want to go,’” youth minister David Kunde said.
Leonard said he didn’t want his disability to affect his efforts.
“I wanted to help build the church in some way ... Because I was doing something for God,” he said.
Volunteers working on the site built a special wooden chair for Leonard that’s the correct height for him to reach and operate a miter saw.
With Kunde’s assistance, Leonard has been able to cut boards being used in the construction project.
“It was touching, you know, that they took their time and they’ve really gone above and beyond to make absolutely sure that there was nothing that Justin couldn’t accomplish,” Kunde said.
Leonard said he’s enjoyed helping out and making a lot of friends in the process.
As for the project, church officials said the volunteers plan to work on the site until Saturday.
They’ve been able to complete several projects already, including work on interior walls, wiring, plumbing and the installation of sheet rock.
Church officials said they will continue to work on the building once the volunteers leave, but said the impact of the volunteers’ work already has made a tremendous difference in the effort.
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