Missionary Baptist teenagers repair forgotten Conway church

Pastor Dorothy Jones watched with tears streaming down her face as a group of teenagers tore through the walls of her tiny church on Main Street in Conway.

Velvet-covered oak pews more than a century old were pushed together in the sanctuary and piled high with hymnals, decorative cardboard fans and an enormous portrait of Jesus Christ.

The hard work then began to repair the Damascus Baptist Church, which suffered severe damage nine months ago in the record-setting floods that ravaged the region.

A dozen teenagers and several adults under the direction of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of South Carolina spent last week in Conway tearing out the flood-damaged walls and hammering in new drywall, and tending to other needed repairs.

Electric fans vainly battled the heat, humidity and dust that stubbornly smothered the chapel as the team of teens worked seamlessly and without complaint.

Watching from the pulpit, Jones was overcome with emotion.

“They’re working so hard, and I’m grateful,” Jones said.

Sunday school was interrupted that morning in October when the flood of water rushed through the church. The two feet of water was more than the parishioners could sweep back, bail or soak up with towels.

“It was a mess,” Jones said.

Church was canceled that morning and it would be nearly a month before services could resume — after the first group of missionary Baptists from North Carolina initially came to Jones’ rescue.

The pulpit was rebuilt, but so much work remained.

Jones tearfully recalled reaching out for help in the local community after the floodwaters receded, but few came. And those who did, promised to come back and help, but never did.

“They didn’t keep their word,” Jones said.

“So, it’s just been hard,” she said. “Living in this community, but having to have strangers come here to help.”

Jones reached out to her friend, fellow Pastor Cheryle Moore Adamson of the Palmetto Missionary Baptist Church for assistance, and that’s when the Cooperative Baptist fellowship sprang into action.

The network of 60 congregations from around the state has been busy since the flood, helping churches and those in need recover from the disaster, said Jay Kieve, coordinator of the cooperative. All of the materials and labor are donated, with support from the Palmetto and Conway Baptist churches.

Many of the teens cleaning up the flood-damaged church are members of the Bon Air Baptist Church in Richmond, Virginia, who say they’ve spent their summers since sixth grade volunteering for missionary work across the region.

The impact of that experience shines through in 18-year-old Amari Brown, who will begin studies this fall in engineering and architecture at the Richard Bland College of William and Mary in Virginia.

“It’s a lot of work, but once you’ve done it, it makes you happy when you see everybody else just smiling,” Brown said.

This was the first flood recovery project for Amanda Dean, who will be a high school senior this fall and hopes to make her career as a worship leader in the church.

“I love making a difference and doing things that bless the Lord, and sharing all of the talents that God has blessed me with, to help other people,” Dean said.

Jackson Spencer, 16, says the mission trips have bonded the teenagers over the course of the years, and offers experiences that most people don’t consider in their daily lives.

“Missionary work has greatly influenced my life in a way that is not known to many people because not many people go out into the community and see what happens behind closed doors,” Spencer said.

“We’re all so sheltered in our own world and we never get to go out and see how people are living in such poverty and such sadness,” Spencer said. “It’s great to open your mind and say ‘I’m not the only one on this Earth, there are so many other people I can be helping.’”

Jones was also inspired by the teens’ dedication. In addition to her daily missionary work that includes outreach to the housing projects, jails, troubled school students and gang prevention activity, she wants to expand the congregation’s horizons.

“I tell my young people every day, that when we do get on our feet, we’re going to start mission trips to go out and help other people,” Jones said.

Members of the state Cooperative Baptist Fellowship will be back this fall to help with some additional work at the church, but don’t have the expertise to undertake some delicate work to restore the ancient pews, which were bought at auction from the old Cherry Hill Missionary Baptist Church.

The wood is beginning to rot at the base because of the flood damage -- it’s a repair that requires certain expertise that Jones can’t afford.

But she’s patient, and hopeful, that those prayers will also soon be answered.

“We’re in God’s plan, it’s his timing. It will be all right,” Jones said.

This story was originally published July 6, 2016 at 4:59 AM with the headline "Missionary Baptist teenagers repair forgotten Conway church."