WILKES-BARRE, Pa., (BRN) – Restored Church in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, hosted a week long missions opportunity entitled, “In the City, for the City,” for their youth group, known as UNITE Youth Ministries, July 29 – Aug. 2. The event provided students a chance to grow as individuals and support their community by indulging in many different projects.
On Aug. 1, UNITE Youth Ministries hosted a cookout for local families living in a hotel, and brought all of the food and resources right to them. The event took place on the hotel grounds and the youth played games with the children, offered face paint and grilled hamburgers and hot dogs for the families.
Youth Director Wayne Morgan had a large role in preparing the youth to go out and help their community, while also being a good role model for them and getting them excited about these events.
“There’s a lot of people nervous about church, who will never go to church, so we’ve got to be bringing Jesus to the community,” Morgan said.
While the event was also run by Discipleship Pastor Tim Morris, Mobilization Director Jennifer Paris and other parent volunteers, they focused mainly on giving the youth control over the event, allowing them to speak directly to the families themselves.
This event lasted for about three hours and the youth were able to serve close to a dozen families. One of the youth, Gabriel Bell, has learned a lot from attending events like these with Restored Church.
“[These events] gave me a new perspective on how to handle people that need the Lord, because I wasn’t really comfortable doing that sort of thing, but doing it as a group made it easier,” Bell said.
While this event was only one of many that took place during the week, the people that were affected were very grateful for the large impact that UNITE Youth Ministries made in their lives.
Pastor Morris explained that helping these communities not only makes a difference in their lives, but also in the lives of him and his team.
“This church is a special place, it is raw in many ways and the people are real,” Morris said. “I love the people here and the culture that we have the blessing to be a part of. I don’t want to go anywhere else.”
