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“Happy 18th!!”
3 John 4 – “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.”
I hope you will forgive my adopting that verse somewhat out of context for the purposes of this article. This week finds us in the midst of year 18 of MOV WorkCamp, conceived and begun in 1999 by a small group of local youth workers, myself included. This week will find the kids (including two of mine – all 3 of my daughters have now been a part of this great service project – when we began in 1999, my oldest was just 5 years old, the middle one was 2, and my last daughter, now 14, was just a twinkle in her parents’ eyes!) painting their 600th house – or their 599th – there are conflicting reports.
I had witnessed the wonder of Work Camp in Memphis, TN when I lived there in the early 1990’s. After moving to Vienna in 1993, me and some other local ministers were looking for ways to get teens together and involved in serving Jesus by serving the community. Mission accomplished, I guess! Others have long since taken leadership and gotten involved, and they have done a great job continuing the legacy and fulfilling the vision.
It is a commonplace that when brothers and sisters in our area talk to people and tell them they are from the church of Christ, the people say something like: “Oh, you’re the people who paint houses for people!” Isn’t that better than what they used to say? Mission accomplished.
I am a proud papa (not only I, of course, several others were involved!). But it does a soul good to see a plan come together for the glory of God. Congratulations MOV WorkCamp on your 18th birthday! I hope you get what you want!
Mark Mason
