Northgate Church members lead mission trip to help poor in West Virginia

Jesse Boggs, pastor of Northgate Church in Ross, grew up in one of the poorest areas of West Virginia — Clay County.

Every summer since 2012, he has returned with members of his congregation and others to help improve living conditions for the residents there.

“I grew up in and around poverty. (Clay County) is very impoverished. Some of the homes don't even have running water,” said Boggs, 60, of Ohio Township.

This year, he took a mission team of 117 volunteers — 42 Northgate Church members and 75 participants from churches in six states — from June 10-16. They refurbished nine homes, taught sewing and computer skills to local residents, and ministered to more than 100 children through a Bible sports camp.

Throughout the week, however, challenges and adversities threatened to hinder their ministry.

“Satan took shots at us,” said John Gormley, 57, of McCandless, who helped install windows, drywall, and electrical wiring in one of the homes.

“On the first night, we had no hot water for showers. The second night, we lost all water. Wednesday, we lost power because of bad storms.”

The final night, flooding forced the team to evacuate.

Some believe the adverse conditions actually were a godsend.

The torrential downpours, for instance, revealed a leak in one home's newly installed windows

And the loss of running water?

“It gave us an understanding of what people living here have to deal with. It's tough not to have water. We take it for granted,” said mission team member Anastasia July, 15, of Ross.

One of the major projects this year was constructing a 100-step stairway with four landings to help an 87-year-old resident reach her double-wide trailer home, which was perched atop a hillside.

Other projects included restoring a trailer home that had a compromised truss system, installing a new roof on another home, and revamping the interior of a house owned by a resident who has cancer.

In addition, sewing and computer classes conducted by mission team members taught marketable skills to about 45 residents. At the end of the week, the sewing students were able to take their sewing machines home to keep.

More than 100 children from kindergarten through the sixth grade were bussed in from all over the county each day for a Bible sports camp run by the mission team. The camp included baseball, basketball, soccer, wrestling, cheerleading and Bible stories.

Toward the end of the week, the mission team held a picnic that was attended by nearly 300 Clay County residents. Every guest received a gift, such as a toy or Pittsburgh Pirates T-shirt; every family was given a quilt handcrafted by members of Northgate Church's quilting ministry.

According to Boggs, the week-long mission cost about $40,000.

“The people in Clay County are probably getting $100,000 in home improvements, so that's a lot of bang for the buck,” he said.

Construction supplies, food and other expenses were funded through a fee paid by mission team members.

“The need is so great, we could probably go down there for another six or seven years and still not scratch the surface,” Boggs said. “Still, there's a lot of satisfaction seeing God work through people to make a difference. And we are making a difference.”

Laurie Rees is a freelance writer for Trib Total Media.