My Mission and Sea Island Experiences

Lane Dukart, Kingsport Tenn.
Youth Volunteer to the Rural Mission

Throughout my years in high school I have committed my time and effort to many extracurricular activities outside the classroom, but none have meant more to me than my trips to St. Johns Island. Every year my church, First Broad Street United Methodist Church, takes a group of high school students to an island in South Carolina where we spend a week devoting our time to helping less fortunate residents renovate and rebuild homes. I have been attending this trip for the past two years and plan to do so again this year.

Last year my work site focused on creating a tool shed and rebuilding a bedroom for an elderly woman by the name of Mrs. Williams. I had been blessed the previous year by having the opportunity to work for a gracious woman, but this year I met an even sweeter and kinder lady. Every little thing we did we were thanked by joyous laughter and countless hugs. Even in her state of poverty and need, she found multiple ways each day to bless us while we were the ones supposed to be blessing her. After all the rigor and work we had gone through throughout the week, the one little task that cheered her up the most was when I simply mowed the lawn for her the last couple of days. It had not been mowed since her husband passed away, and every time I looked up from the yard I would look into her glossy eyes filled with tears. If that was not enough motivation for me to stay on the job, then there was no motivation in the world for me.

At the end of the last day, she took us out to a long, snake-like bridge that reached out into the middle of the marshes of the island. Her husband had built it over thirty years ago, and it was there that she held each of our hands and prayed for us and for the blessings she had received over the course of the week. It was then and there that I realized how incredibly lucky I was to live the life I do, and if I ever got to feeling like I was worth nothing, just to think of Mrs. Williams face and all hope would be restored.

I have learned some valuable lessons from my summer trips to St. Johns Island. From the funny moments of clowning around with my friends in the church we stayed in to the serious and spiritual moments with our coworkers and the kind souls we worked for, it is always a truly amazing experience. Some of the houses we worked on were so run down when we started they barely resembled a house, but the people who lived there took great pride in home ownership. I can now really appreciate how important it is for people to own a home. And maybe the best thing that happened to me personally was I developed a sense of responsibility for those who have less than me. It didn't take a lot of money or a lot of time, but the improvements we made were worth a great deal to the people we helped.

First Broad Street United Methodist Church
Kingsport, Tenn.
Summer 2007