Home Repair Program Philosophy
The Home Repair Program and the Home Repair Mission Trip is specifically designed to meet the following two primary objectives:
- Service To The Appalachian Region
- Leadership Development of Youth
We view each of these objectives with equal weight, thus offering an experience that is, almost certainly, different than any other mission trip you have previously experienced. As such, we feel it is important for you to further understand the overarching philosophy of The Home Repair Mission Trip.
Service to the Appalachian Region
At the heart of the Home Repair Mission, is service to the Appalachian region. We focus upon meeting the basic housing needs of the elderly, widows, handicapped/disabled individuals, and single parents. In meeting these needs, it is our desire to develop relationships with the homeowner(s), and, from that platform, be able to share the Reason for our service, Christ, our King. We feel this is the way Christ served-providing for the physical as well speaking to the deeper relational and spiritual needs.
While much of focus of the week is the project(s) at hand, Confrontation Point desires for youth and adults to see a grander picture of their service. They are serving God, not just a family. They are working on a family's home, not a project. They are helping a family in need and not "poor people" or "those less fortunate." Such distinctions, though they may seem harmless, can have a dramatic effect the outcome of your experience. It's tough to develop a sincere relationship with an individual or a family when, subconsciously, you look down upon them, their lifestyle and priorities. Granted, you may not understand the culture or some of the lifestyle choices an individual or family has made - We understand this completely! However, if you will engage poverty...if you will develop sincere relationships...if you will hold back on judging the culture...if your service is truly from and for God and not of selfish ambition...you just might receive a blessing!
This philosophy, along with the Leadership Development objective you'll soon read about, lead us to work at homes for multiple weeks, when at all possible, and to take on projects in multiple phases (i.e. We don't build a house in a week).
Leadership Development of Youth
As previously alluded to, The Home Repair Mission Trip focuses equally upon leadership development of youth. We believe that through teaching, challenging and empowering youth during their week of service, tremendous growth can and will occur. We promote and create opportunities for youth to step up to physical, mental, and spiritual challenges. Specifically, trip participants will be challenged in the areas of taking ownership, decision-making, principles of servitude, communication and conflict resolution, and personal character development. We see these goals accomplished through the following principles and activities:
Show, Help, Let is the overarching leadership development principle that governs many of the activities that take place on the Home Repair Mission Trip. We want to provide knowledge, guidance and support so that the youth can take ownership of individual projects throughout the week. Show, Help, Let is not about delegating. It's not about assigning duties. Further, it's not about supervising effectively. Rather, we want to empower the youth (providing adequate tools and knowledge) to complete a specific task, while still supporting them in that task. It's about helping the youth understand why and how we nail a board in, instead of telling them to simply do it. It's about asking, "What do you think?" instead of supplying all the answers. It's about helping the youth develop "a plan of attack" and overcome obstacles they may encounter by forcing them to engage their mind. This principle is often as much of a challenge for adults as it is for the youth!
Teachable Moments are opportunities that arise in the middle of activities where there is a lesson to be learned if we would simply stop and see it. Teachable Moments are about using the truth and experiences around us to reveal more about God. It's experiential education in its purest form! It's using the darkness of a cave to illustrate Christ as the light of the world. A teachable moment is showing a youth how to repair a board on a porch and then encouraging them show the rest of the group. There are no parameters that can be given for teachable moments. There are no instruction booklets. These moments will be encountered throughout every day of your experience. On the worksite, at camp, in the van...everywhere. The CP week is a perfect time to draw these moments out. You will see that through these moments, youth will start to notice God working in and around them and how this world is a testimony to God, His vastness, and eternal truths we read about in the Bible.
Games and Initiatives are simply times when we stop during the week and ask the youth to work through a challenge together. They are strategic in the sense that we will use them to build teamwork, leadership, servant hood, trust, etc... They are great for increasing energy, transitioning, refocusing and challenging negative attitudes. We will often integrate these into the workday, meal times and debriefing to help the group to grow in an area of struggle. Many of these times will be followed up with a teachable moment to discuss what may or may not have been learned. Games and initiatives are also a great time to relax, laugh, and have some fun among a long, challenging week. We encourage all the leaders on your trip to participate whenever possible. These times are especially great for building a bond with your youth.
Worship and Meal Preparation are opportunities given to the youth to become the leader of a specific task. With meal preparation, they are asked to work with a team to setup and cook a meal for the entire group on a camp stove in the outdoors. With worship preparation, the youth are asked to plan a thirty-minute to one-hour worship service for the group. They are given a "worship preparation manual" and some basic guidance and supervision, however the ultimate success for the worship that evening is placed on their plan and preparation. While both of these tasks differ, the philosophy behind them is the same-empower the youth to overcome any challenges, give them basic guidance, support them, and let them persevere.
Seed Thought is our morning devotional time. Each summer a different theme is focus upon. These themes revolve around the pillars of CP and are written by CP staff each year to be real, relevant, practical, and challenging. The seed thought time is in the morning after breakfast, and is usually 30-45 minutes. The goal is to plant a seed in the heart of the youth in the morning and then to have them reconnect with it throughout the day using teachable moments, initiatives, debriefing and worship.
Strategic Debriefing Times are daily "set apart" times for reflection upon the activities of the day and application of lessons learned. This is also a time to work through struggles and interpersonal conflict that may (or should we say, WILL) exist amongst your group. It's a time to work through struggles participants may have with the Appalachian culture. It's a time to revisit and apply the scriptural teaching of the day.
Keeping the above narrative in mind, we believe that you will find The Home Repair Mission to be a powerful, life-changing experience for yourself, the youth, and your adults/chaperones...an experience that none will soon forget.
