Volunteers Give Face-Lift to Fellowship Hall, Computer Lab
JOHENNING CENTER — A team of workers from Spring Hill Baptist Church in Charlottesville, VA, arrived Saturday, April 24, to work at the Johenning Center. They transformed the Fellowship Hall into an off-white color called bone. In a single day, the dozen volunteers gave their time for painting the two-story, cinder block auditorium from the floor trim to each of the eight windows.
Driving nearly three hours, the intergenerational mix of volunteers worked together in a joyous camaraderie of open jokes and constant encouragement. They arrived with all the supplies needed for the day, including more than 30 gallons of paint, ladders, scaffolding, rollers, brushes, tape and clean-up materials. They took down broken blinds, rearranged closets, changed light bulbs and brought gifts to help maintain the building. The revolutionary changes gave radical cheer to the room.
While a large group painted, another team refurbished old computers in the lab and offices of the Center. Performing technical maintenance and troubleshooting, these dedicated workers even took several older machines home to revamp them and return them ready to use. As an on-going project for the church, the congregation hopes to adopt the Center in a long-term
relationship of several work-days through the year. These tradesmen gave professional expertise and advice on everything from networking to electrical lines.
An answer to prayer, this group gave their time to make a difference by increasing our operating capabilities and brightening our facility. The value could be seen in the faces of a few of the after-school children who came over to see what was going on. They stared in amazement from the door of the Fellowship Hall at the now-sparkling white walls. Their father, visiting for the afternoon, couldn't believe we'd done it all in a day. "Ya'll should be starting a business," he told me. When it comes to the business of love, we couldn't agree more.