Summer: A time for sweat and service (Posted 6/30/2010 12:27 pm)
By Christopher Amos
Summer vacations come in many variates. For one group of Louisiana church members, it came as an outreach mission to Alvarado.

Students and adults of Calvary Baptist Church of Slidell, La. volunteered at Peach Orchard Park, a work-in-progress by Paula Rayburne Ministries. The home on property two blocks north of the Alvarado downtown square is envisioned to be a collection of homes for single mothers and economically challenged families.

The project broke ground May 2009.

The volunteers started by prepping, priming and painting the new home. The group then converged on Rayburne's house next door.

Word came to the volunteers of a woman across the street that took in a homeless expectant mother, and the church members began eyeing the crumbled paint on that home as well.

“It is a great way to do great things,” Kris Cripping summed up as he and his wife, Jessi, painted the neighbor's house. Others stood on ladders or climbed on the roof to reach awnings and roof vents.

Sean O'Brien said he will be returning to Louisiana to begin summer strength training with his high school football team. For now, he is leaning the hazards of working outside in Texas.

“It's not the heat that bothers me, it's this,” O'Brien said as he displayed a pant leg covered with thistles and briars. "All the bushes in Texas have stickers.”

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