Throughout the 27-year history of Good Works, we have provided opportunities for individuals to gain experience and understanding in how to serve and empower those 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. To read some reflections from former Summer Service Interns, click here.
     Worship Teams are the groups of volunteers that come to serve with Good Works 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 our ministry projects. These work camps 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.

Below are brief descriptions of the Summer Service Program in which your worship team will be involved:

Samaritan Projects
Our property-assistance program has helped low-income homeowners in Appalachia, primarily seniors who are widowed and disabled, since 1999. These individuals are often not able to care for their property. Supervised by Good Works staff, the interns lead volunteers (primarily visiting work groups) 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. 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.

The Luhrig Road Property
Your group will be staying in the Hannah House on this property. 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, various repairs, wood splitting (we heat with wood), etc.

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.

Friday Night Life
This is an excellent avenue of contact ministry, with which we need your help during the summer. Your week with Good Works will conclude with sponsoring the Friday Night Supper, 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 contacting Sherilyn Weinkauf at 740-594-3339 or e-mailing her at goodworks@good-works.net.

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. The other 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” as well as 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 discuss what the Lord is doing in the hearts of each person. The interns will lead the 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.

The Timothy House
During the summer we encourage members of each group to participate in a volunteer shift at the Timothy House with the Summer Service Intern we have assigned for that evening. Although there are chores that need to be done, this is more about being present with the people who are living in the house. This is a great connecting point for the people in your group. Monday, Tuesday and Thursday evenings two members 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 pm.

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 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 begin planning for your worship team to come serve with the Community of Hope, contact Paul Richard at 740/594-3336 or e-mail him at goodworks@good-works.net.

Click here to read a reflection by a former Summer Service participant.