The Summer Service Program

     Throughout the history of Good Works, we have provided opportunities for individuals to gain experience and understanding in how to serve and empower our friends struggling with poverty. The summer experience at Good Works is an intensive time of discipleship for all who are involved. Your group will be confronted with the people and the issues of poverty that will help them understand God’s heart for the poor.
     At the core of the Summer Service Program are the summer interns. We are seeking to provide college students an intensive ministry leadership experience, which will shape their worldview as they pursue God’s calling upon their lives. While Good Works staff is investing in them, they are providing leadership and discipleship to your group as part of their personal development. They will also be part of the community that lives in the Hannah House, contributing to the transforming experience of residents in the Life in Transition program. Click on the links below to get more information about the Summer Internship.

     We call the groups of volunteers that come to serve with Good Works Worship Teams. who make the Summer Service Program possible. What you do with your group is more than physical work. It is the offering up of your bodies as living sacrifices as an act of worship for a God who has loved you and given himself up for you. Beginning with the summer months of 1994, we have welcomed a large number of groups, often youth groups from churches, who come to Good Works to assist with our ministry projects. (Click here to see a list of groups who have come to serve with us over the years.) These volunteer Work Retreats are critical for Good Works and transformational for the individuals in the group. Arriving on Sunday evening and leaving Saturday morning, your worship team will stay in two large dorm rooms in the Hannah House that will accommodate up to 30 people. You also have access to the 35 acres that surround the house.  The Summer Service Program is the best opportunity for your group to intersect with many of the ministries of Good Works. What follows are descriptions of these intersecting points:

Neighbors Helping Neighbors
     Our property-assistance program has helped low-income individuals in Appalachia since 1999. Most often these are primarily seniors who are widowed and/or disabled and are often not able to care for their property. Supervised by Good Works staff, the interns lead volunteers to provide labor to complete the needed projects. We take on a wide range of projects based on the skill level of the volunteers. We have done things as simple as raking leaves, to more difficult projects such as replacing plumbing and roofing. This is all based on the skill of the volunteers. Both the low-skill and the high-skill volunteers are necessary to accomplish these projects and can be a blessing to those we are serving. We are seeking to meet the needs of the individual while forming a relationship with them at the same time that is transformative to everyone involved.

Good Works – The Luhrig Road Property
     This is the property where your group will be staying. We rely on volunteers to assist us in the many projects that are required to maintain the facilities and the property so that it will be a safe and stable environment for people to live. These projects include mowing, trail maintenance, gardening, painting/staining, various repairs, wood splitting (we heat with wood), etc.

Good Works – The Timothy House
     Our shelter for the rural homeless has maintenance projects that need to be accomplished on an ongoing basis. Volunteers help us with these projects to provide a clean, safe and stable environment for the residents of the Timothy House.

Property Development Projects
     The properties that have been given to us are a valuable resource that we continually seek to develop for the good of people struggling with poverty. Each year we take on projects that will make these properties more useful for this community. In the past we have constructed our Administrative Building/Bed and Breakfast, The Transformation Station, a large bridge, an amphitheater, and the Solitude Retreat Cabin.
     For 2011, we will be completing our new facility, the Hope Center, which is a resource for large groups. Your group will be helping us to construct the deck and finish the siding on this much needed facility.

Summer Kids Discovery Club
     Since 1997, we have sought to fill a gap during the summer that is left by schools being closed. Many times children are able to get a good meal from the school, but during the summer this becomes difficult for some families. Hosted at The Plains United Methodist Church, Discovery Club begins at 9:00 with various activities with which your group will be involved. Sometimes you will plan and execute these activities, other times you will provide supervision.
     One of the key roles your group members provide is that of new people coming into the Athens County community. Not only do you bring freshness to each week of the program, you also give the children the opportunity to meet people from different backgrounds and places. This is important to us as it enlarges the world of children in poverty in Appalachia. Please share your stories with the children.

Daily Community Meal
     Closely connected with Discovery Club is the Daily Community Meal that we host. In addition to providing a meal to the children, this is also available to anyone who wants a free lunch. Your group will help in the planning, preparation and serving of this meal.

Friday Night Life
     This is an excellent avenue of contact ministry. Your week with Good Works will conclude with sponsoring Friday Night Life, a community meal for 100-125 people. This will involve providing and preparing the meal for this event. In addition, you will get involved in the various events going on with those that attend. Another contribution that you could make is to edify those who attend through your talents. Music, drama, comedy, etc. are all excellent venues to build up those who participate in Friday Night Life. You can get more information about this event by clicking here , by contacting Sherilyn Weinkauf at 740/594-3339 or by e-mailing her.

Group Spiritual Development
The Summer Service Program is about much more than doing projects. It is primarily about developing people. As we seek to develop the interns who serve with us, they in-turn help with the development of the people in your group. These aspects of this program are described below.

Devotional Times
     The morning devotional times will be educational in focus. They are going to provide the members of your group with teaching from our philosophy of ministry called “A Christian Worldview.” We will also address issues that we have encountered in serving people struggling with poverty. The summer interns will lead these as part of their internship experience.
     Beginning at 9:15, the evening gathering is intended to be more reflective and devotional in nature. We want your group to gather to discuss what the Lord is doing in the hearts of each person. The interns will lead on Monday and Thursday and you or someone from your group will lead Tuesday and Wednesday. If you would prefer to lead all of these, please let us know and we will adjust for the goals that you have for your group.

Timothy House
      During the summer we encourage members of each group to participate in a volunteer shift at the Timothy House (our shelter for the rural homeless) with the intern for that evening. Although there are chores that need to be done, this is more about being present to the people who are living in the house. This is a great connecting point for people in your group. Monday, Tuesday and Thursday evenings two members (one adult and one teen) of your group will go with the intern. They will have dinner with the residents at 5:30 and then participate in the evening activities until 9:00.

Solitude Retreat Cabin
     We want members of the group to take time for solitude and spiritual rest. This is the purpose of our retreat cabin. We encourage everyone from the group to set aside a morning or an afternoon to be spent at the cabin. These times are included in your schedule. People will just need to sign up for the time they want.
     At Good Works, we are seeking to serve this community and help people struggling with poverty. But “we” does not refer only to the staff of Good Works. “We” includes the many volunteers who become part of the Community of Hope called Good Works, who seek to come alongside those who are carrying the burden of poverty. The Summer Service Program, along with much of what Good Works is doing, would not happen without the estimated 1,000+ volunteers who want to make a difference.
     However, the Summer Service Program is more than the activities that we plan. What makes it really amazing are the “Works of God” that He does in the midst of your group and in the lives we touch as we serve Him as a community of faith. This is where we bear the fruit that brings glory to our Father in heaven.

To Start on this Wonderful Adventure
To begin planning for your worship team to participate in the Summer Service Program at Good Works — A Community of Hope, contact Paul Richard at 740-594-3336 or e-mail him.

Reflections from groups who have participated in the Summer Service Program:

Bee Stings and Cockroaches by Cari Floehr

YouTube Videos from Crosstown Church, Bolingbrook, IL: GW Family GW Worship Projects

You will need to read the following documents as you prepare to serve with us during the Summer Service program:

The following documents address some of the issues associated with living at Hannah House for the week:

The following are the forms that you will need for your Worship Team