hurch missionary trips help people in countries worldwide.
But what about our friends and neighbors?
In the past, the Lake Orion Church of Christ has supported missionary trips to Panama. But four years ago, members of the church looked around northern Oakland County and saw there were people who needed help here at home.
‘Why do we have to go to Panama, why can’t we do it in our own backyard?? said Randy McClure, the church member who heads up ‘Mission Possible,? a weeklong missionary trip that doesn’t leave the county.
Instead, participants take a week off of work and pop campers and tents at the church, located at 1080 Hemingway Road.
This year, the 130 church members who camp out at the church for the week are split up into 13 work crews. Each day between July 26 through August 2, each crew is headed out to a different site to perform various services.
The church isn’t limited to service in Lake Orion; they do work all over the area including Oxford, Clarkston and Pontiac.
According to Kevin Kadrich, the leader of the church’s teen crew, the church had 26 ‘jobs? slated for the 2009 ‘Mission Possible.?
‘There are people who need help here and we’re willing to give it,? said Kadrich.
The ‘jobs? range from clearing out overgrown bushes and weeds from the homes of senior citizens to putting on roofs free of charge for people who can’t afford it.
In the past, they have also painted garages and installed a deck for a single mother. Even the youngest members of the church get involved, making gift baskets to take to the Orion Senior Center.
McClure said one of the most significant ‘jobs? the mission’s finished in the past was installing a shower in the house of an elderly Oxford woman to make it easier for her to take care of her wheelchair-bound son. The church will be performing a similar service for a different family this year, McClure said.
Like all missions, it’s not only a way to help people, but to spread a message.
‘We see a trend in the country where Christianity is being pushed out of society,? McClure said. ‘We wanted to show that Christianity is alive here in Lake Orion.?
The Lake Orion Church of Christ is a Bible-based, nondenominational church.
The church finds people who need a hand through places like Orion Neighborhood Television and a posting at the senior center.
This year, Leo Charlie, who Kadrich said was in his 80s, asked for a bit of help with some yard work at his property in southwestern Orion Township.
On July 27, Kadrich and a teen crew from the church numbering around fifteen were out in Charlie’s backyard with rakes, shovels and trimmers doing what the crew had started calling ‘de-landscaping.?
The crew helped rip out junk bushes and weeds and take them off the property.
Travis Hodges, 13, helped drag away the brush after it was cut down.
‘It’s an opportunity to help people and give back to the community,? he said.
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