After two years away, Yardley UMC returned to Franklin
County, Maine July 12-19th for our summer mission trip. The
economic situation has deteriorated in this area since our last
visit. Several of the larger mills have closed down in the past
year which added to the high unemployment rates. Many of the jobs
which are available are below the "living-wage" level - they
don't pay enough to live in this region.
Our team
consisted of twenty-seven people (13 adults and 14 youth) ranging in age
from 11 to 71. This was the first YUMC mission trip for sixteen of our
team members. Together with a group of sixteen old and new friends
from Langhorne UMC, we performed home repairs for six families including building
wood truss roofs on two leaky mobile homes and a wheelchair ramp so that
a senior citizen can now come home from a nursing home.
We were again hosted
by the United Methodist Economic
Ministry (UMEM), a wonderful and caring organization. Special
thanks to Joanne Moody and Pam Hinckley who supported us every day.
In addition to the construction projects, we had
evening worship/sharing time, were
invited to a community potluck dinner, found some local swimming holes,
held a scavenger hunt, and explored Farmington.
