TeenServe, a faith based organization out of Wisconsin, rallied over 300 teenagers to serve for a week in the Plymouth area. As part of the week-long “mission,” the teens and adults will serve together to repair 57 homes in the tri-county area (Richland, Huron, Crawford).
The teens and youth leaders will be housed at Plymouth High School, where they will have access to a cafeteria and gymnasium. Each day is planned for groups of five teens and a leader to work on homes. Then, in the evening, the teens will congregate in the high school building for worship-oriented programs.
Repairs offered through the workcamp include interior and exterior painting, weatherization repair and shingling roofs, as well as wheelchair ramp construction, and other work. The elderly and those struggling financially will be assisted. TeenServe will complete work on 60 homes within a 25-mile radius of the school.
“TeenServe is a really good way for the teens to learn how to share their faith with strangers. Others have worse situations in our county, we just don’t know until we seek. It’s great for teens nowadays to experience this stuff,” said Youth Leader of Life Community Church Heather Braun.
Braun said she and her husband, Chris, attended TeenServe with their youth group in Indiana last summer and were inspired. They decided to have TeenServe come to their home town of Plymouth. Ten months later, the ministry from Wisconsin rallied over 300 young people from youth groups from nine states including Tennessee, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Ohio, Virginia and Wisconsin.
“It’s a fun experience for everyone involved. TeenServe is unique because during the day we go out and serve, and then come back and there are programs for worshiping and growing together,” she added.
This year’s theme for TeenServe is “Greener.” Worship programs during the evening will encapsulate this theme of growing deeper in their relationship with God and being firmly rooted in faith. Different speakers will teach or preach during the week, like KP Westmoreland. The week’s worship music will be led by Phil Joel‘s Zealand, a former member of the contemporary band Newsboys.
TeenServe is also working with the Richland County Habitat For Humanity’s “A Brush With Kindness” program and different community members.
TeenServe was founded in 1999 by a couple from Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is a non-profit organization and is currently based out of Holcombe, Wisconsin.
On Friday, June 27 at 6:45 p.m., Plymouth’s High School gymnasium will host an evening program open to the public to cap off the previous week’s ministries. For more information on TeenServe, visit their website.
“It’s a fun experience for everyone involved. TeenServe is unique because during the day we go out and serve, and then come back and there are programs for worshiping and growing together,” said Heather Braun.
