The Coaster

By TOM SHORTELL

Mark Posey, a crew chief from Tuscaloosa, Ala., takes a water break with World Changers Ben Tillar, Thomas Bailey, Fabian Pacheco and Casey Jones. The group is working at the Boys and Girls Club of Monmouth County in Asbury Park.

Over 300 people teenagers and supervisors from around the country paid hundreds of dollars each to paint walls, fix roofs, repair homes, weed patios and sleep in Neptune High School for five days last week, and they did it for the Lord.

The group is part of World Changers, a service group run through the Southern Baptist Church. The group also visited approximately 41 sites in Asbury Park, Neptune and Freehold.

The 320 workers, mostly ranging from seventh graders to college students,woke up at 6 a.m. every morning in time for breakfast and morning services, according to Mark Posey, a crew chief from Flatwood Baptist Church outside Tuscaloosa, Ala. The volunteers then arrived at their work sites around 8 a.m. and worked until 4 p.m. each day.

About 20 people painted two coats on the exterior of the Boys and Girls Club in Asbury Park.

Theyve been wonderful. Theyre very willing, said Rita Reinbold, an adult chaperone from Sweet Home Baptist Church in Guntersville, Ala. Theyre like, What can we do next?

The kids enjoyed themselves with their work.

Haylie Whitford, a member of Tabernacle Baptist Church in New Bern, N.C., said Its just fun. I love coming. She and her friends covered each other in paint handprints the first day on the job.

This was Haylies third service trip with World Changers, with other stops in Norfolk, Va. and Durham N.C. in the last two years. Haylie, whose mother Kerrie is another crew chief, said shes used to being in larger groups.

Theres only 300 this time, she said.

Her past groups have had up to 1,500 volunteers.

Theyre All-American kids, said Bevin Irvin, an Ocean Township volunteer with the Boys and Girls Club. Who else would pay $300 to do this?

While the cost of the trip was over $300 per person, many of their churches assisted in the price by holding fundraisers. Ashlin Shuttlesworth, also of Flatwood Baptist Church in Tuscaloosa, said her church raised around $2,200 by selling pumpkins last fall and another $800 through a pink flamingo game. Church members would put a plastic pink flamingo in someones yard during the night, and the property owner would have to pay a minimum of $10 to have it moved into someone elses yard. As a result, Ashlin said her cost was cut down to $50.

A major aspect of World Changers trips is witnessing, or spreading the Gospel.

Robert Trombley sat on the top of his ladder and talked to children in the next yard over. Trombley, also a member of Tabernacle Baptist Church in New Bern, said, Were all here to witness. The trip would be a success if they brought just one person to God, he said.

Ashleigh Fennel of Watertown, N.Y. was one of the groups public speakers. Their work, the New Hope Baptist Church member said, is a way of showing others Gods love and our love to the community.

Reinbold echoed that message. We show people in the area the love of God. We could come and preach, but instead we show it through action, she said.

The community, especially, Neptune Township and Mayor Randy Bishop, showed its love right back, Posey said.

They rolled the red carpet out. Theyre supporting us 110 percent, he said. Posey, who has been on three other service trips, said none of the other communities have embraced them the way this community has.

Nick Williams, a Neptune Township Board of Education member, Mary Beth Jahn, a Neptune Township committee member, and Bishop put in 300 hours with the group through the week, including visiting work sites, meeting with crew chiefs and eating dinner with the volunteers. Bishop and Williams had worked out the logistics for the trip for two years before World Changers visited, they said.

To show its thanks, the community threw a beach party for World Changers July 9 in Ocean Grove. The Camp Meeting Association opened the beach to the volunteers and New Jersey Natural Gas covered the cost.

On top of that, the Board of Education allowed the volunteers to use the high school as their head quarters, the Red Cross and the Neptune Office of Emergency Management provided cots for them to sleep on, Jersey Shore Medical Center loaned sheets, pillows and blankets, and the Neptune High School football team set the cots up.

Williams said, It became the Neptune Hilton. Thats what they were calling it through the week.

Haylie said she likes her accomodations at the high school.

Its cool. Its really big, she said. Haylie, who transfered from a class of 25 to a smaller private school, admitted to getting lost in the building.

Now we dont have to haul our air mattresses all over, Ashlin said.

While the World Changers may be grateful, local people are just as grateful to have them. World Changers are already scheduled to return next July 4, Williams said.

Isiah Jones, program director at the Boys and Girls Club, is one of those people. We really appreciate the efforts, he said. Im very happy were on the receiving end.

Williams was grateful for the hard work the group put in, saying they had to keep looking for more jobs for World Changers to work on. It was one of the most incredible things Ive ever seen in my life, he said. It was one of the best things this township ever saw.

Bishop was also greatly impressed with World Changers. It truly has been one of the most rewarding things Ive been involved with since Ive entered elected politics, Bishop said.

Ashleigh Fennel and Danielle Thompson of New Hope Baptist Church in Watertown, N.Y. paint one of the exterior walls to the Boys and Girls Club in Asbury Park.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 17th, 2008 at 12:58 pm and is filed under Asbury Park, Neptune. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.