Why We Are Here

World Changers asks that each participant ask him or herself an important question -- "Why am I here?" As part of youth group devotions Monday night, groups will be discussing evangelism and the importance of sharing Jesus Christ with the people of Chattanooga this week. Youth group leaders will receive Why We're Here cards in their registration packs on Monday to share with students and adults, as well as to discuss with them. There will also be further information for group leaders in their folders when they arrive, and it will be discussed at the adult meeting.  Gregg, our speaker, will talk about it at the end of his message, and group leaders will take it to youth group devotions where they can make sure everyone understands how to share Christ with others.  Please be praying for the many people in Chattanooga who need Jesus Christ in their lives. World Changers may be the only Jesus they ever see, so pray for many opportunities to share.

Encouragrams!

When packing for this World Changers trip, don't forget to include some colored pens, stickers, and markers for your Encouragrams! A very vital part of your World Changers week is your visit to your Encouragram envelope where friends and crew mates can place encouraging notes for you and where you may do the same. Encouragrams are a great way to give others a kind and encouraging word to make their day!

Our First Aid Coordinator

There will be a very special lady taking care of us at Chattanooga World Changers -- our First Aid Coordinator!   Trish Myers will be working with us to make sure everyone is well taken care of all week. Trish will be posted at Brainerd Baptist during the day and will make calls to the work sites, as well as caring for us at the church in the evenings.

Trish was born and raised in Texas, and proud to be a Baylor Bear!  She and her husband  have 4 children and cannot wait for World Changers 2014, because our youngest will be old enough for entire family to serve on a project together.  Trish was introduced to World Changers by her older sister Terri who has served on countless projects and who brought World Changers to Church in Trophy Club; she will also be in Chattanooga.  Trish's husband and she trade off years working at World Changers, she was a crew encourager two years ago in Alabama and has served as a support person on 2 projects close to home.  She loves to serve others through her church and scouting.  Trish also finds working with youth extremely rewarding because they always challenge her to learn just as much she challenges them!  Her 3 oldest children -- Treyann, Jamie and Matthew -- will be working on this project as well.

 

Trish is an American Red Cross Instructor, an EMT, and an athletic trainer -- she firmly believes that you can fix anything with enough tape!  We are so very excited about having Trish as our FAC in Chattanooga!

What NOT to Bring!

In order to make our time together at World Changers Project in Chattanooga a huge success, please DON'T bring the following items with you:

• ANY CLOTHING WITHOUT SLEEVES
• Shirts or dresses with spaghetti straps
• Midriff shirts
• Short shorts
• IPod, CD, or DVD players
• CDs or DVDs
• Headphones or radios
• Expensive clothing
• Expensive jewelry
• Tobacco products, alcohol, or illegal drugs
• Weapons of any kind
• Fireworks
• A bad attitude

Our Schedule at World Changers!

You will hit the ground running when you arrive in Chattanooga on Monday, July 25th! We have an action-packed schedule, so it is important that all leaders, chaperones, and participants are VERY familiar with it -- with what happens each day, each afternoon, each evening. Please call Pam if you have any questions!

MONDAY

12:00-2:00 PM         Registration
3:00 PM                  Welcome Celebration
4:00 PM                  Crew Chief meeting; Crew Encourager meeting
5:00 PM                  Project photo (wear WC tee shirt); divide into crews
5:30 PM                  Crew Chats; crew position assignments
6:15 PM                  Dinner
7:15 PM                  Position training stations
8:00 PM                  Worship/”Why We’re Here” Training
9:30 PM                  Church Group Devotions
10:00 PM                Free Time with Marketplace (Sales Table) & Missions Lounge open
10:30 PM                In Rooms/Showers Closed
11:00 PM                Lights Out

TUESDAY and THURSDAY

6:00 AM                  Breakfast
7:00 AM                  Great Send-Off (Tuesday only); leave for worksites
4:00 PM                  Leave worksite for Brainerd Baptist
6:00 PM                  Dinner
7:00 PM                  Adult Meeting and Prayer in Sanctuary
7:30 PM                  Worship (doors open at 7:15)
                              Church Group Devotions
9:00-10:00 PM        Free Time with Marketplace (Sales Table) & Missions Lounge open
10:30 PM                In Rooms/Showers Closed
11:00 PM                Lights Out

WEDNESDAY EVENING

3:30-4:00 PM              Leave worksite for Brainerd Baptist
5:00 PM                  Dinner (eat with church youth group and wear WC tee shirts)
5:45 PM                  Leave for Ministry Project and City Experience
9:30-10:00 PM        Return to Brainerd Baptist
10:30 PM                       In Rooms/Showers Closed
11:00 PM                Lights Out

FRIDAY EVENING

6:45 PM                  Adult Prayer in Sanctuary             
7:15 PM                  Worship (doors open at 7:00)
8:30 PM                  Crew Chats/ Evaluation time
9:00 PM                  Closing Celebration
                              Youth Group Devotions
10:30 PM                 Free Time with Missions Lounge open (Marketplace closed)
11:00 PM                 In Rooms/ Showers Closed
11:30 PM                 Lights Out

SATURDAY
6:00-8:00 AM           Breakfast/Check Out

Let's Pack!

Since our project is almost here, many of you are asking what to pack. Since the worksites haven't all been assigned, here is a generic packing list for students and adults. 

If this is your first experience with World Changers, it is important to remember that your clothing is part of your Christian witness, so all shirts should have sleeves (no spaghetti straps or tanks) and all shorts should be long.

CLOTHES
For work -- 4 work teeshirts
2 or 3 pair work jeans or carpenter pants
work shoes or boots
socks

For worship, free time, and travel --  4 of 5 teeshirts with sleeves
1 pair "good" jeans
long shorts or capris
athletic shoes or sandals
a hoody or sweater
sleep stuff (remember -- with sleeves!)
raincoat
shower shoes
sleep clothes -- with sleeves
shorts and teeshirt to wear to shower trailer

STUFF
toiletries (soap, deoderant, shampoo, etc.)
sun
screen
chapstick
insect repellant
small bottle Febreeze
large plastic bag for dirty clothes
2 towels and washcloths
air mattress (twin, please)
sleeping bag or sheets and blanket
pillow
money for mission offering
pen or pencil
Bible and journal
water bottle         
hat or visor
work gloves
paint brush
scraper
safety glasses
hammer
sunglasses

Our World Changers Summer Staff!

You guys have a real treat in store this summer when you meet our World Changers Summer Staff.  Here are pics and a little info about each of these talented young people.

Our Office Manager and Team Leader this year is Erin Kicklighter.  She is finishing up her junior year of college at North Greenville University and is majoring in Elementary Education.  Erin has competed in 4 beauty pageants (3 of them were prelims for Miss South Carolina).  She has lived in her current house for only 15 weeks while the rest of her family has lived there for almost 2 years!  Erin LOVES ducks, and Reeses are her favorite candy.  She has been doing World Changers since 7th grade and is very excited about the Chattanooga project!

Doug Forsythe is our Missions and Communication Specialist.  He is a junior at Liberty University where he is studying to be a Youth Pastor (yay!).  Doug lives in Grand Junction, CO, and he loves to ride four-wheelers in the mountains.  He has been on five World Changers trips, as well as a mission trip to San Felipe, Mexico where he worked at Sonshine Hacienda Orphanage.  Most Importantly:  Doug LOVES Jesus!

We are excited to have Molly Fly this year as our Audiovisual Technician.  Molly is just finished her freshmen year at Itawanda Community College in Fulton, Mississippi.  She has no clue what she wants to do when she grows up!  Molly has a sister named Kara who is married, as well as a younger brother named Harrison who is in the ninth grade.  She laughs about almost anything, and Molly gets scared really easily!

Last but not least is Steven Zhang, our Music Leader.  Steven has just finished his freshman year at Georgia Southern University where he is studying Mechanical Engineering.  He is from a little town in Georgia called Eastman.  Steven loves to play sports and is always active; he is on the Club Frisbee team and the Club Tennis team at Southern.  He is a HUGE advocate of Campus Outreach and what they do; if it wasn't for World Changers, he would be with CO at a Summer Beach Project but praise God for both doors!  Steven will surprise you when he speaks -- English is his first language, but he speaks English with a Southern accent!

Please be praying for these very special four college students as they serve in several other cities before they come to Chattanooga.  Of course, we all know Chattanooga will be the BEST WC PROJECT for them and for us!

What Tools Do We All Bring?

As we all know, bringing the necessary tools is essential to a successful World Changers project! It is important for EACH participant to bring a PAINT BRUSH, SCRAPER (also called putty knife), HAMMER, WORK GLOVES, and SAFETY GLASSES.  In the past, Chattanooga was fortunate to have the use of the Tennessee Disaster Relief Tool Trailer, but this year we won't have those extra tools and supplies.  Therefore, we are also hoping some churches will be able to bring ladders, paint rollers, roller pans, etc.  We appreciate your help in encouraging your students and chaperones to come prepared!

Our Awesome Speaker for Week Two!

Pastor Gregg Hauss will be the Worship Speaker in Chattanooga for the week of July 15-20.  Gregg is the Missions and Ministry Pastor of Red Bank Baptist Church in Chattanooga, a church that has supported World Changers in numerous ways for years.  Called into the ministry at age 16, he has served as an ordained minister for 25 years.  He has a BS in Business Administration from the University of Memphis, a Master of Theology from Dallas Theological Seminary, and is pursuing a Doctor of Ministry in Missions from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.  Gregg was a youth pastor at Peachtree Corners Baptist Church in Norcross, GA, and at Bellevue Baptist in Memphis, TN.  With a heart for church planting, he helped Bellevue begin a satellite campus called Bellevue Arlington and has led student groups on mission projects all over the U.S. and several other countries, including World Changers projects in Tuscaloosa, AL, and West Frankfort, IL.

Gregg has been married to his beautiful wife Allyson for 26 years.  They have three children:  Kimberlee who is married to Stephen and lives in Birmingham, AL; Stephen who is a senior business major at Union University in Jackson, TN; and Callie, who is a sophomore at Chattanooga Christian School.

Gregg played college football for the University of Memphis as placekicker, and he loves to watch and play basketball.  His favorite vacation spot with his family is the beach!  Pastor Gregg is thrilled about working with World Changers this year as our Worship Speaker.  The students from his church will be traveling to New Orleans to do a WC project in July also.

Where Will We Be Working?

Ricky has been busy selecting worksites and preparing material lists for our Week Two project!  He is working now on reviewing crew chief applications and matching up crew chiefs to work sites that fit their skills; the crew chiefs will be receiving detailed information about the specific work they will be doing and the tools they need to bring.  It always helps, however, for the kids and adults to have a peek at some of the sites where they will be working.  It is also very important to stress that they come prepared with their tools -- paint brush, hammer, scraper, safety glasses, and work gloves.   Other items such as paint roller frames and roller pads would be a big help, too! 

These two houses are good examples of many of the jobs this year -- exterior painting.  The houses will have to be scraped, and some minor repairs completed.  Then the house will be painted.  Obviously, painting supplies and scrapers will be needed for each participant.

Welcome Week Two Groups!

We have some fabulous groups coming to Chattanooga to work together during Week Two.  Here are the churches, cities, and group leaders:

• Central Baptist Church of Round Rock, Texas, led by Ryan Hanson
• Community Church of Salem, Virginia, led by Laurie McCracken
• First Baptist Church of Greenwood, South Carolina, led by Bea Tillman
• First Baptist Church of Reidsville, North Carolina, led by Lance Cole
• Forest Baptist Church of Lynchburg, Virginia, led by Will Soto
• Gate City Baptist Church of Jamestown, North Carolina
• Haywood Hills Baptist Church of Nashville, Tennessee, led by Lance Wamble
• Pleasant Valley Baptist Church of Providence, Kentucky, led by Ron Winebarger
• Richland Baptist Church of Hartwood, Virginia, led by Phil Howard
• Springboro Baptist Church of Springboro, Ohio, led by Mike Shirley
• The Baptist Church at McAdory of McCalla, Alabama, led by Matt Pope
• The Church at Trophy Lakes of Trophy Club, Texas, led by Terri Thompson

We are very excited to meet all of you and are praying for a blessed week together in Chattanooga!

Meet Our National World Changers Coordinators

What a blessing it is to have National World Changers Coordinators who also live in Chattanooga!  Modena and Bill Kagay went on their first World Changers projects as participants with their church group to Canton, NC, in 1992. Over the next seven or eight years, they served as Crew Encouragers, Crew Chiefs, Supervisors, and Construction Coordinators at 13 additional projects plus several other mission trips with their church.   In 1999, Bill resigned from a 28-year career at the Tennessee Valley Authority to sign on along with Modena as Mission Service Corps volunteers serving as Construction Consultants for World Changers. In 2002, Bill was hired to serve as a National Missionary for World Changers.  Bill and Modena are now serving as National Missionaries with World Changers and PowerPlant at LifeWay Christian Resources.  During their time with World Changers, they have served as Project Coordinators and Construction Coordinators for three International World Changers projects in Nairobi, Kenya, Chevin, Peru, and Valenzia, Venezuela.  They have also provided Disaster Relief to several communities which suffered damage from wind and flooding.   Bill and Modena do their best to share Christ's love with others in their church and community.  Please pray for them as they prepare for our project!

Calling All Crew Chiefs!

Since all World Changer participants, both students and adults, are placed on crews, filling the crew leadership roles is critical to a successful week of work.  Here are some important reasons to recruit crew chiefs soon!

• In Chattanooga, we try to keep our crews at 10-12 people, which means each church needs to provide one crew chief for every 10 people they bring. 
• Being a crew chief does not mean being a construction genius -- it just means that a person is willing to lead a crew! 
• At Chattanooga World Changers, we can use all levels of crew chief skills since we have all levels of projects, ranging from interior and exterior painting projects to building decks and handicap ramps.  This year LifeWay has eliminated work on roofs for all students below college level. 
• Ricky Rector, our Construction Coordinator has worked hard to gather an excellent support staff of supervisors and runners who can assist crew chiefs in the areas where they need help.
• Crew chiefs are charged only $50 instead of the regular $259!  They need to submit their applications soon so the billing will be correct.
• Applying is easy -- just go to www.world-changers.net and find Work With Us at the top or Volunteer Applications where both tabs take you to the link 2013 Construction Volunteer Applications; there you will complete the application on line in just a few minutes!

Being a crew chief is an unbelievably rewarding experience!  Apply now, and encourage other adults in your group to do the same!

Our Home Away from Home!

The lodging facility for Chattanooga World Changers is Brainerd Baptist Church. It is located at 300 Brookfield Drive, Chattanooga 37411. Brainerd has hosted WC crews for years, and they are masters at it. The church is a very nice, well-maintained facility. You will register at the front porch of the church, then you will unload at the sliding glass door entrance on the side.

Boys will be rooming on the first floor in preschool classrooms, and girls will be rooming on the third floor in classrooms. The second floor houses the church offices, so it is off-limits. Here is a sample classroom where the boys will be staying, but of course, the furniture will all be pushed into a corner or into the hall. There will be two restrooms on the both floors for your use, and all showers will be taken outside in Disaster Relief shower trailers -- two for boys and two for girls.

We will gather for our delicious meals in the fellowship hall, located under the sanctuary, just steps away from the rooming quarters. Our meals will be provided by the church's disaster relief team who are masters at preparing and serving delicious meals quickly and efficiently!

Our worship services will be held in the large church sanctuary.

You will find Brainerd Baptist Church to be a fabulous facility for your week in Chattanooga! The space is roomy, the people are helpful, and the location is central. Just wait!

Picking Our Work Sites

On Thursday, April 25th, your leadership team met with the Agency Representatives from the City of Chattanooga, Vanessa Jackson and Anthony Sammons. We were also blessed to be joined by our own National World Changers Coordinators Bill and Modena Kagay.  Vanessa and Tony are World Changers veterans, having worked with the Chattanooga project for years. They are very committed to the purpose of World Changers and work hard to make the project a success. Vanessa has gathered and organized a list of candidates for both our weeks in July. Tony is busy working out other details such as vendors, dumpsters, and many other important components.  This week Eric and Ricky will begin visiting homeowners and assessing houses in order to select the 2013 project sites.

The homes being consider have a variety of improvement needs, from both interior and exterior painting to porch or deck repair to handicap ramp building.  In case you haven't already read or heard, LifeWay has decided that World Changers will no longer be doing roofs; since many states have OSHA guidelines that prohibit anyone under 18 to work on roofs, LifeWay felt that it would be best to make it a blanket policy. 

Welcome to Chattanooga World Changers!!

Your Chattanooga World Changers leadership team welcomes you to our blog and to Chattanooga! The blog will be updated often, and posts will be added that will:

• Introduce you to the leadership teams for both weeks
• Provide you details about preparing your group for the upcoming project
• Share pictures of sample work sites, using last year's project pics, as well as pictures of our housing site
• Post packing lists, as well as information about what do expect and where to go in Chattanooga
• Give you the latest updates from World Changers and Lifeway
• Post pictures during the project

Please save this blog as a favorite, and check it weekly. We hope to update it often. Also share it with students, parents, and chaperones, since much of what is posted will also be helpful and interesting to them.

We so look forward to meeting you in person.  We think you will LOVE our city, our project, our people, and our ministry!

Please continue to pray for this project and for your students and chaperones, as well as for the people in Chattanooga whose lives you will change. May God bless you richly!