Rebuilding Day 3 homes + 4 churches = renewal
By ALOISE McCULLOUGH
Four United Methodist churches in greater Oklahoma City partnered April 12 for "Rebuilding Day," to help restore three homes for senior citizens in the capital.
About 150 volunteers from Chapel Hill, St. Andrew’s, Quayle, and Edmond-Summit churches combined their efforts at those sites during the annual day of service directed by the nonprofit organization Rebuilding Together OKC.
The four churches had not previously worked together in this way, leaders said. Chapel Hill directed and invited the other churches to participate.
The goal was "to provide a way for people to share the love of Christ through neighborhood ministries," according to a Chapel Hill spokesperson.
In northwest Oklahoma City, the volunteers scraped, primed, and painted the exteriors of two homes. Participants from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints worked beside them at one residence.
One homeowner was unchurched. "It is great to show the love of Christ to this man," said one United Methodist.
At the third site, in the city’s northeast, interior alterations needed to be done in the home of a woman who said she was a Baptist. The senior’s faith was so vibrant, volunteers said. They felt blessed to be of service to her.
"Programs of this nature will bring some understanding to other types of faiths," said one volunteer. "It is all based upon the fellowship of serving others."
Rebuilding Together OKC seeks to improve homes and lives of low-income, elderly homeowners in the metro area. During the 2013 Oklahoma Annual Conference, one of the hands-on mission projects was with this organization.
Volunteer painters freshen an elderly resident’s home in Oklahoma City during "Rebuilding Day."