Konstantin Vengerowsky/Clarendon Citizen
Alcolu church gives county HOPE
Hands Outstretched to People Everywhere is what H.O.P.E. stands for. Debbie Bishop, a member of the Clarendon Baptist Church in Alcolu came up with the catchy name.
“We were on our church’s couples retreat talking about creating an outreach program locally, and this is the name that came to mind,” Bishop said. “This is something that we want to do to help all people who need assistance in our community.”
H.O.P.E. is a community mission-based project focused on helping low-income and elderly people with tasks such as construction, landscaping, painting and more. Nursing home, orphanage and homeless shelter ministries are some of the other aspects of the project. Kirk Carlisle, pastor of Clarendon Baptist, said that the idea came out of World Changers, a national Southern Baptist missionary organization.
“Several years ago we went on mission trips to Durham, N.C., and Chattanooga, Tenn., and we thought how great it would be to do something like this at home,” he said.
Carlisle said that after much prayer and planning, the church was able to organize the event locally, with the first one taking place last year. The 5-day program included about 60 volunteers from the church and the community. Carlisle said that they were able to help about five homeowners and minister to 30 people, and that this year they are expecting to affect even more people.
“We have contractors, electricians, plumbers, and all are willing to help,” he said. “It brings a sense of unity to the church when you have people in the workforce, and those who are retired, teaching young people some of their skills.”
Welborn A. Brewer, a retiree, said that he decided to do the event last year to give back to the community. His group of 10 worked on replacing the roof on an elderly woman’s house.
“We separate people into different groups according to their abilities,” Brewer said. “There’s a job for everyone who wants to participate.”
Carlisle said that requests for various types of work spreads by word-of-mouth, and those who had seen ads in the newspaper. There are five main locations in Davis Station, Manning and Alcolu. A typical day for volunteers will be to work from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. They will meet back at the church at 5 p.m. for supper and worship. Jonathan and Denise Jones will be leading worship every night and David Bishop will be cooking the dinner. The event this year began Sunday, July 11 and will run through July 15.
Something new this year will be “Mission Possible,” a program for kindergarteners through fifth grade, taught by the pastor’s wife, Kelli Carlisle. They will meet every morning at the church to learn a bible verse and make a craft. They will be taking their creations to a local nursing home, orphanage and homeless shelter.
Carlisle said that the key is not to draw attention to the church, but to what God is doing through his disciples. He referred to Matthew 28, which says: “The light that shines the farthest, shines the brightest at home.”
