Columbia, S.C. Daytime highs of 105 degrees. Rooftop temperature: undoubtedly higher. Christ-centered service barometer: immeasurable.

Such was the experience of almost 180 World Changers who provided volunteer construction – roofs, ceilings, painting, wheelchair ramps and general home repair – at more than 16 sites in the Lexington and Columbia areas in mid-June.

“It’s not much to go out and give a week of your time,” said Andrew Frazier, of Cleveland, Tenn., who served as crew chief at one site. “We can give a lot more of ourselves than we think or realize.”

Frazier should know – he’s worked on World Changers sites for 16 years, from Dallas to Pensacola to Raleigh, and three trips to the Columbia area. The full-time builder spent the week of June 20-25 teaching high school and college students how to replace the roof of a men’s transitional shelter in the Rosewood area of downtown Columbia.

“Really, this is the only thing I’m good at and all I know – building,” he says. “I’m not gifted as a teacher, evangelist or preacher. I’m just good with a hammer. But it feels so good to help people with what I know.”

At this, Michelle Roberson, a chaperone from Sunset Avenue Baptist Church in Rocky Mount, N.C., quickly interrupts: “Don’t let him fool you,” she said. “He may say all he knows is a hammer, but you should see him teaching these kids how to repair a roof – he is so patient, such a good teacher.”

Roberson was accompanied by three of her four children, who have been going on World Changers trips for years. It was Roberson’s first World Changers, and she was clearly enjoying the challenge of roof work and the chance to encourage students in their tasks.

A majority of the students on the project were at least one-time veterans of World Changers – not a surprise, considering that World Changers, as a Cooperative Program-supported Southern Baptist missions opportunity, is in its 20th year and steadily grows in popularity. For about the price of a typical summer camp (often less), middle school, high school and college students serve for three to seven days in the summer. The majority of projects are construction-focused: Students work at sites during the day, attend a worship service each night, have crew- and church-specific devotional times, and get to serve alongside fellow students from all over the country.

Churches and ministries in a given area request World Changers crews to help with repairs: ministry center repairs, home repairs for members and others in their communities, and more. World Changers students are the labor; churches, individuals, associations, and other church-related ministries provide building materials. Local churches also provide housing and meals for the students, leaders, and chaperones. Taken together, a World Changers project exemplifies the compounded benefits of Cooperative Program funding, in which no single ministry carries the financial weight alone, and in which many ministries can easily participate.

Part of this year’s project was the chance to work “inside the fence” at the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice. Several years ago, South Carolina Brotherhood Builders, an adult volunteer construction ministry, built a chapel at one of the Columbia juvenile justice facilities. In June, World Changers were invited to repaint the classrooms in that building, putting the Christian students in contact (even some shoulder-to-shoulder service) with students their own age in that facility.

“It’s a great opportunity for our students to really interact with the kids at DJJ,” said David Lee, director of lay mobilization at Lexington Association, “and hopefully be able to share the gospel. That’s worth all the special requirements the students had to meet to volunteer there – the security clearances and all of that.”

Another event was the community block party on Wednesday. After a full day of working at the sites, the students returned to Trinity Church in Cayce, which housed them for the week, and offered a block party, complete with food, games, and music, to the Cayce community.

In an example of multiple ministry incarnations, the shower facilities for the students – a disaster relief shower trailer – were provided by First Calvary Church in Gilbert. It was the first use of their new trailer.

The site off of Rosewood Drive in downtown Columbia was another of the week’s highlights, said Lee. The house is owned by a layman who has a heart for a homeless ministry and has offered the house to Midtown Fellowship, a relatively new church in Columbia Metro Association, for use as a men’s transitional shelter.

“It’s not an emergency shelter,” said Alan Tipping, a pastor at Midtown. “What we do is accept referrals from organizations that we partner with like Oliver Gospel Mission and others. Guys who stay in the house pay a nominal program fee that goes toward rent and utilities, and they’re allowed to stay up to two years.”

One of the two current residents, Luis, was in the thick of the student volunteers all week, helping on the roof and then helping on the ceiling when the ceiling fell in after a major rain storm.

Said Steven Higbie, a college student and member of Midtown who spent his Thursday of that week helping: “I’ve spent a lot of summers doing stuff like this. But really, Jesus has just given me a heart for the homeless, and this is a chance for me to serve alongside the servants who are working here to help Luis and others like him.”

Even on a rooftop – in Columbia, S.C. – in 105-degree-heat. – SCBC