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We took 15 teenagers from Shady Grove Baptist Church in Staley to First Baptist Church of Kitty Hawk for a missions retreat.

Normally the group goes to the North Carolina Baptist Assembly at Fort Caswell each summer. But because of economic conditions, we had to put something together on our own.

Many hardships in finding and funding a place to stay had to be met and overcome. We reached out to many churches, associations and camps and got one positive response. We left with less than a minimum of funds and the faith that we were doing what God had planned for us.

We left with the promise of a Sunday lunch and snacks throughout the week as we worked. The tasks ahead of us included painting a fellowship hall, conducting vacation Bible school on the beach and cleaning up a causeway that the church sponsors.

We experienced great blessings, conversions, growth and many changed lives. We left behind many great new friends, a painted fellowship hall, surprised tourists and unused groceries in the church’s food pantry.

We came home with new hearts, the experience of a great learning curve, lifetime memories and close to half of the “less than a minimum of funds” that we started out with that we can now use as seed money for next year’s trip.

We followed His will and were placed in the right place at the right time to do the right thing.

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“Sometimes it takes a blessing to be a blessing.

“Once we got down there and tried our best to work with a servant’s heart, we were blessed more than we could ever imagine and things seemed to fall into place.

“We were blessed with the fact that we were fed by the church for a whole week for lunch and received three nights of free dinner. Later during the week, we were also blessed with two people coming to Christ.

“At the end of the week, we were just all blessed that we were able to help paint a church’s fellowship hall and to share Jesus with little kids on the beach. As a result, this whole trip has been such a wonderful blessing and has also been a great experience!”

— Hillary Evans

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“It was one blessing after another. Seeing all the friendly faces that welcomed us on Sunday morning at First Baptist, Kitty Hawk, seeing everyone work hard during our mission work while painting their fellowship hall, but especially seeing someone come to Christ!

“A bunch of people came closer to God in that week, including me. Ever since I’ve gotten back home, I’ve felt better about myself as a Christian. The only reason why that is and why some of us were saved is because of God’s glory and how powerful He is. By the end of the week we called ourselves missionaries because we felt we had served God and let people see God through us.

“I’m glad I was able to be a part of this trip because it showed me just how amazing God can truly be and what he has done for me.”

— Morgan Cox