COLUMBIA, Md.—Earlier this summer a mission team from South Columbia Baptist Church headed to Vidor, Texas, about 90 minutes north of Houston’s Space Station to help Harmony Baptist Church minister to their community.
Vidor was hit hard by Hurricane Harvey in 2017, and Harmony Church has worked diligently to help in the community.
Derrick and Leah Anderson have a moment to relax while ministering together in Vidor, Texas.
Doug Bray, pastor of Harmony Church, and several of his church members had been working tirelessly for months helping people in the community with construction, supplying food and distributing relief goods and food to people in need, as well as doing construction work, providing housing to people displaced by the floods, and hosting and coordinating relief groups.
The problem was that they hadn’t been able to take care of their own church needs. Harmony Church had been flooded.
The 10-person mission team of men and women, including two college students, from South Columbia Baptist Church, wanted to do whatever was most needed, so they stepped in to lend a hand to meet the needs of Harmony Church.
“We were glad to help them get back to full strength,” said Derrick Anderson, who led the team. Anderson and his wife, Leah, minister to young adults at SCBC.
SCBC’s mission team was multigenerational. All served and were blessed.
The team did drywall, painting, worked on the baseboard, and did other construction work as needed at Harmony Church. They also framed a sound booth to enhance the church’s worship experience.
Derrick’s wife, Leah was a bit anxious. She had been on mission trips before but had usually worked with the children, not construction.
“I didn’t feel like I would be useful, but I decided to trust that God was calling me to attend,” she said.
God answered Leah’s prayer and honored her trust. She was pleased to be able to learn basic skills, including mudding and taping, cutting and drilling, drywall, and painting trim
“During the trip, I found that a willingness to serve was all I needed,” she said.
The team was pleased that in addition to helping at the church, they had some opportunities to share a bit about who they represent, what they were doing, and why there were serving. Also, as a group, they bonded together and they grew in Christ.