Community Shepherds invest at home

 

By Rachel Pritchett, synod communicator

CASTLE ROCK — They painted the outside of a restaurant struggling to stay open, then pulled waist-high weeds at a community garden.

They washed and waxed fire trucks and tested the hoses. They even battled the afternoon heat beating off the asphalt to built a skate-park ramp.

Those were among a dozen projects in and around Castle Rock taken on by 42 middle- and high-schooler in the extraordinary Community Shepherds Program at St. Paul Lutheran Church, from July 9 through 14.

"We had a bunch of different work sites this year," said organizer Lucas Myers, 23, St. Paul's youth director.

Each day when they finished work, they returned to the RV park where they were camping. 

Then it was into the pool to cool off their weary bones. After some well-deserved dinner, they worshiped and sang around the campfire.

In the end, the young Community Shepherds were changed. So were the communities they touched.

"I just don't think they're going to understand the love that's going to come from doing these things, how that can change someone's entire life," Myers said.

Amanda Snow, 14, member of St. Paul, agreed. "Just because we don't need help doesn't mean other people don't."

That is especially true in Cowlitz County, historically dependent on logging and construction. Unemployment persists at 11.2 percent, among the highest rates in Washington state.

In the past, St. Paul youth had gone to other places for their summer mission work. Why they weren't working in their home communities was a question that grew louder.

"I thought, 'Why are we going to Idaho and spending thousands of dollars on something that isn't being invested in our own community,' " said Myers, a Castle Rock native.

The cost per young person this summer was a mere $50. Fundraisers throughout the year brought in more money than needed.

The Community Shepherds Program is growing. For the first time this summer, youth and leaders from other congregations joined in, including Castle Rock Christian Church and Solid Rock Fellowship of Longview.

Myers wasn't too tired at the end of the week to begin thinking how the Community Shepherds Program might look next summer. He's thinking about extending it  throughout the summer, maybe with less camping.

"It's more of a lifestyle rather than a getaway," he said.

On July 14, as the workers were breaking down camp, the Rev. Robert Sinclair of St. Paul hoisted boxes and pushed heavy carts of folding chairs used for worship into a trailer.

"I think that God works in, with and through all of his children," he concluded.

To learn more about Community Shepherds Program, contact Myers at lmyers@atsu.edu or Pastor Sinclair at rsinclair001@luthersem.edu.

Pictured above top to bottom:

Left to right, Amanda Snow, Brandon Ruhland and Delaney Fouell spiff up a firetruck. (Cole Forney) 


Cody Dowell hauls a load at one of the gardens tended by the Community Shepherds. (Cole Forney)


Clarence Knutson, Brock Johnson and Steven Bohna work on free lunches for low-income people at St. Paul. (Cole Forney)

Closing camp with song (Pritchett)

St. Paul Youth Director Lucas Myers (Pritchett)

Myers also teaches biology at Lower Columbia Community College and has a 1-year-old baby. (Pritchett)

Amanda Snow of St. Paul (Pritchett)