History of Love At Work
The idea for a Tallahassee area mission first began with then youth
director Mike Crawford in 1988 while on a mission trip to Tennessee called
Mountain T.O.P. For several years the youth from Killearn United Methodist
attended Mountain T.O.P. and helped the needy in rural Tennessee repairing
homes and lives. However, as time went on Mike realized that we did not
need to go all the way to Tennessee to help the needy. Despite the conviction
and desire to start a local mission project, the vision did not become
a reality until 1993.In 1993 the youth from Killearn worked on three
homes in Fort Pierce, Florida. The next year, Love at Work was held in
Gretna for the first time. The dream of starting a local mission project
was slowly becoming a reality.
In 1995, the project was taken up and operated by the Tallahassee
District of the United Methodist Church. For the next five summers
Love at Work was run by the district with groups coming from as far
west as Texas and as far south as Miami. In 1995 the camp was directed
by Rich Wilson and run for 7 weeks, including 2 weeks of Vacation Bible
School for the local children. The original seven person staff was
lead by Glenn Tindale and Jason Roper, both 19 at the time. The next
year, Glenn prepared and ran three weeks of Love at Work by himself.
In 1997, John Hinson, who now serves as the director of Centenary Camp,
took over as camp director. Brian Hickey and Matt Long joined Glenn
Tindale on staff along with Kelly Dugar and Andrea Henderson. There
were five weeks that summer. In 1998, there were only two weeks of camp. That next summer there
were five weeks and then Glenn was aided by Jeremy Green, Taylor Ashley
and Glenn's brother Brian. This was the last year that Love at Work
was operated by the district. Despite proving that the mission in Gretna,
Florida could be financially self-sufficient and a demand from youth
groups around the southeast for such a mission project, there was no
one capable at the time to organize and plan the project. As a result,
Love at Work was once again limited to the youth of Killearn United
Methodist starting in 2000. From 2000 until 2004, Love at Work was
run by youth director Steve Gibbons and the Killearn Student Ministry
interns. During that time over we were able help over 50 homes and
families. However, the vision and potential for the project was out
of reach. The vision for Love at Work was to create a local mission opportunity
for the youth of Killearn. However, as the program developed and the
magnitude of the work and planning required for such a project became
more evident, the vision expanded to provide this opportunity to other
youth groups in the Tallahassee area and around the southeast. During
the fall of 2004, the push to expand Love at Work was renewed. The
idea was proposed to the KUMC Missions Committee by Jon Becknell and
the Board of Directors was formed shortly thereafter. The first year
consisted of two weeks and a men's weekend during which time more than
160 people helped to repair the homes and lives of 20 households in
Gadsden County. For 2006 we are planning four weeks, during which time
over 300 participants will serve our Lord by making much needed repairs
to an estimated 40 homes in Gadsden County. The hope and prayer for Love at Work is that the program grows; that
we may encourage the spiritual growth of the youth and adults that
come through the camp. We pray that we may be able to display the love
of God to the residents we work for in both word and deed. And most
importantly that God will be glorified in everything we do.
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