For 109 years, Union Mission has cared for the hurting and needy of West Virginia. Bringing hope and second chances to our fellow West Virginians has always been the goal. At times, however, Union Mission gets
to experience a slight role reversal.

Each summer, several mission groups from all over the country (and the world) come to Union Mission to help
do facilities improvements, assist our staff, and help serve our clients. These teams are facilitated by Praying Pelicans
– an organization focusing on sending mission teams domestically and internationally. This summer a mission
group of volunteers from Erie, PA spent a full day working on the exterior of several buildings at our Brookside
Campus.

“While following social distancing guidelines,” says Jason Quintrell, CEO of Union Mission, “this group did a great job of cleaning the exterior of our buildings at the Women’s Addiction Recovery Program as well as other outdoor spaces.”

The group consisted of several adults and a handful of teens that were eager to do whatever needed to be done that day. One might look at a project like this involving cleaning and cosmetic details and wonder how is this really helping the Mission or the hurting people of West Virginia? Lindsay Stephens, Women’s Addiction Recovery Program Coordinator, explained the incredible benefits that aren’t always obvious to most people.

“We have a lady newer to the program. She has been with us only a couple weeks. The start of the program is hard for most people as they are really struggling with a multitude of issues and concerns. She was having an exceptionally rough time with depression. When the mission team showed up, she decided to help. Midway through the day she was laughing and working and interacting with the team. You could see at that moment, she was able to put her fears and concerns aside and focus on the positive activities around her. That is a great part of the healing process here.”

Lindsay also feels quite strongly that a program trying to bring hope and true joy into the life of someone struggling with addiction needs to have facilities that are bright, cheerful, and clean.

“What happens inside the building – the work of the program – is a beautiful experience,” says Lindsay. “I want all of the ladies to be able to experience the same beauty outside the building that they get to experience on the
inside.”

While mission groups coming to Union Mission to clean buildings or help sort donations or plant flowers may seem like basic work, the ramifications of their service to Union Mission reaches much further.

Being a blessing to Union Mission by serving also allows the server to be blessed as Ronda Baldwin, leader of this team and Praying Pelican representative explains, “We really enjoyed our time here at Union Mission. Working hard to improve the aesthetics of this campus allows us to bless a Mission we are happy to support. Working side by side with the women in the program, however, blessed us as much – if not more!”

Supporting and serving one another and helping meet the needs of someone else is really the core of Union Mission’s mission. Being the hands and feet of Jesus is practical day to day work. The staff at Union Mission would like to thank all the domestic mission teams that have helped over the years. They truly are a blessing to Union Mission.

Would you like to assemble your own domestic mission team to help Union Mission? Please contact Joyce at 304.925.0366 to start planning your team project. Want to know more about Praying Pelicans? Visit their
website at: www.prayingpelicanmissions.org.