In case you missed it (York Dispatch) here is an article on Servants & Faith Beyond the Pews
Churches help residents with home repairs
Local congregations are going beyond their churches' four walls to help residents at home.
For the 15th year, Faith Beyond the Pews Work Camp volunteers will help with home projects for Red Lion and Eastern York School District residents who cannot do the work because of age, physical limitations or financial restrictions.
The work camp is scheduled to run Monday, June 9, through Friday, June 13.
Camp participants will perform minor construction and repairs, yard work, painting and cleaning, said Trent Davis, founder and executive director of Servants Inc., a nonprofit mission organization that is running the work camp.
"We hope that everybody has an opportunity to build relationships with people that we serve," said Davis, of Windsor Township. "We hope (volunteers) build relationships with other team members and, most importantly, we hope they build a relationship with God."
Founded in 2000, Servants -- based in Hallam Borough -- recruits volunteers to help homeowners who need help with minor construction and maintenance.
"We're connecting people (who have) the desire to serve with people who need to be served," said Davis, a member of Red Lion-based Chapel Community Church, which will serve as headquarters for Faith Beyond the Pews work camp.
Other projects: Servants Inc. also conducts mission trips to Guatemala and India, helping build and repair children's homes in both places, as well as to Mississippi to help Hurricane Katrina victims rebuild homes, Davis said.
This is Servants' first year running Faith Beyond the Pews Work Camp, started 15 years ago by a group of Red Lion residents who attend United Methodist churches and traveled to Florida to help clean up in the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew.
While returning home, someone suggested they didn't need to travel hundreds of miles to volunteer their time.
Since then, dozens of volunteers -- mainly from Methodist churches in the Red Lion and Wrightsville areas -- have repaired roofs, painted walls, built wheelchair ramps, installed bathrooms and done yard work and other home projects for people in need.
Last year, 62 volunteers from 20 churches completed 21 projects.
Ken Poet, who was among the Red Lion residents who traveled to Florida, helped start the work camp and served as its chairman. He said that he and fellow work camp organizations decided to let Davis handle this year's efforts because they are getting older and want younger people to help keep it going.
"We thought that Trent is sort of the new guy on the block, why not give it to him and give him some guidance," said Poet, a 76-year-old member of Zion UMC in Red Lion. "He's worked with us last year, so we're sort of giving him full rein. Hopefully, it will become a full-blown Servants project."
Poet said that over the years, he has met some hard-working residents who don't mind taking time out of their lives to work for somebody else.
"I just hope (the homeowners) feel the kindness and the warmth of Christ when these people are out there working for them," he said.
