Social - June 2002

Hammers, nails, faith are teens’ camp tools

By DIANE TURBYFILL, LTN Staff Writer

June 14, 2002 - For months Bill McCoy has prayed a simple prayer, a request for a wheelchair ramp that would allow his invalid wife to return home.

This week that prayer was answered.

Hammers in hand, teens volunteers from across North Carolina turned up Tuesday at McCoy’s modest two-bedroom home on the Gastonia Hwy.

The arrival of the Carolina Cross Connection team was a joyous sight for Bill McCoy. The youngsters began building the ramp in the morning, with temperatures already climbing towards the 90s and the sun beating down.

It was just another day for the Christian outreach ministry that has completed 6,635 home repair and maintenance projects for people in need since 1988.

Camper Stephanie Lineberger, one of a six-member work team, or Christian Mission Group, from Camp Loy White in Casar, is putting in her third summer with CCC.

The Greensboro 16-year-old suffered a minor injury — a splinter in the finger — early on the McCoy project.

After applying a Band-Aid and sunscreen, she said the heat and the splinter are worth the satisfaction that comes from serving others.

“I like to see the way we make people feel after we’ve done stuff for them,” she said.

Her family is surprised by her dedication.

“My parents sometimes want to know why I wouldn’t rather be out swimming,” she said.

Watching them build, Bill McCoy said he is thankful for the teens and their hard work.

“It’s a prayer from heaven, I’ll tell you that.”

The McCoys, both 61, have faced hard times the past year.

Mary McCoy suffered a stroke in March, complicated by ankle and hip problems. She now resides in Lincoln Nursing Center.

Bill has had troubles of his own.

Gall bladder trouble was followed by a diagnosis of emphysema that put him out of work at Carolina Mills and on oxygen. Though no longer reliant on an oxygen tank, he can no longer perform many tasks which once came easily.

“Now, when I do anything I get short of breath,” he said.

Still, Bill McCoy was able to visit with the teens Tuesday, telling them about the home where he and Mary have lived for 30 years.

Sitting on a front yard swing, he recalled the time a car ran into their corner bedroom. Mary escaped injury by moments, having just risen to watch “All in the Family” with him.

Bill said he and granddaughter, Elizabeth, 15, are anxiously awaiting Mary’s return.

“I hope,” he said, shaking his head.

Stephanie Stutts, a 4th-year staff member with CCC, said witnessing the hope and faith of those helped by CCC inspires her to return to camp each summer.

She remembers a woman who held fast her relationship with God despite tough times, and the loss of her son.

“It really touched me that someone could be so strong in her faith,” she said.

Homeowners are not required to pay CCC workers but often reward them with a meal, donations or small trinkets.

“They may not have a lot but they give what they can,” Stephanie Stutts said. “That means a lot.”

At the end of the day, the jobs in Lincoln, Gaston and Cleveland counties completed, the workers return to camp. The teens have dinner, worship and sharing time.

“We have a lot of fun with fellowship, devotions, singing songs and praising God,” Stephanie Stutts said.

But the fun doesn’t come without cost.

“They do pay to come to work,” she said. “Most of them will tell you it’s worth it.”

Often churches hold fund-raisers to pay tuition.

It is time — and money — well spent, she said.

“It’s the only job you can do that you feel so exhausted at the end of the summer but that you feel so good.”

© 2001 Lincoln Times-News  

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