LifeChangers spread message through community service

FLORENCE — Loris James’ little white house on Mallory Street has been in her family for several generations. Six, to be exact.

She’d always planned to keep the home in the family, but she didn’t know what she was going to do when the roof began to leak and the paint on the outside begin to peel off in sheets.

“The roof was so bad, when it would rain, rain would come pouring down through the ceiling into the living room,” James said. “I was born in this house, so yeah, I sure did want to keep it up, but I didn’t really have any way to fix it.”

That was until a group of teenagers by the name of LifeChangers came along. LifeChangers is a ministry of the Florence Baptist Association, which is made up of about 40 area Southern Baptist churches. This week, more than 100 youngsters and adults from eight local churches and one Arkansas church have come together to work on and repair James’ house and six others in the city of Florence.

“They’ve been working on painting the outside and fixing my roof,” James said. “They’re doing a beautiful job. I just can’t even explain how much it means. And they’ve all been so nice and friendly. I’ve just been so surprised to see everything they’re getting done.”

The LifeChangers program began seven years ago with three houses and four participating churches, volunteer Doug Henderson, of Greenwood Baptist Church in Florence, said.

“We’ve all done trips with World Changers where we’ve gone to Alabama or Mississippi to do mission work, but we decided we wanted to do something local for our own community,” Henderson said. “In addition to the work we do on the houses, we try to get to know the residents and their families and show them Christianity and Jesus’ love and also that there are kids out there who care about more than just themselves and their Gameboys.”

The youngsters pay about $100 apiece to participate, which goes toward the cost of project materials. The participants arrive at Calvary Baptist Church in Florence on Sunday night, and sleep at the church throughout the week. Calvary houses the participants for free and provides breakfast each morning. Lunches and dinners are provided by other churches in the Association. The volunteer crews work on their homes from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., then return to Calvary for dinner, worship and fun activities such as bowling and skating.

“We mix all the kids up so they’re not on crews with all members of their own church,” Henderson said, “so they make a lot of new acquaintances and many lasting friendships.”

Kevin Gaymon, 16, of Coward Baptist Church, said the work has been tough at times, but he’s enjoyed every minute of the experience.

“I just like being able to help out people in the community, and it’s good getting to spend time with my youth group,” Coward said. “It’s fun to be able to hang out with your friends and do something good for the community at the same time.”

Jessica Dowling, 21, of Southside Baptist Church in Florence, has served as a site chaperone on the James home project this week. She said the program has provided her with a unique way to spread God’s love.

“Ms. James is just so glad we’re here, and getting to talk to her has been a blessing. We’ve had people from the neighborhood walking up, asking us what we’re doing, so we’ve had an opportunity to share with them, too,” Dowling said. “This has given me a chance to further God’s kingdom in so many ways. It’s the most worthwhile thing I’ve done in a long, long time.”