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Appalachia project gives students sense of service

April 16, 1998	Contact: Linda Green*(615)742-5470*Nashville, Tenn.
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By United Methodist News Service

When the Rev. F. Stuart Gulley was a ninth-grader, he began a ministry
with the Appalachia Service Project that has turned into a 20-year
relationship.

Now, Gulley, president of United Methodist-related LaGrange College in
Georgia, is connecting other students with the program, with the broader
aim of cultivating in them a spirit for community service. He and
LaGrange's chaplain, the Rev. Quincy Brown, spent their spring break
with six students working at the Appalachia Service Project.

"I obviously have a self-interest in the Appalachia Service Project, but
I also have a self-interest in LaGrange College and our students,"
Gulley said. "As a church-related college, we have the opportunity to
instill in our students a sense of obligation to serve and to give back
to their communities. This experience with ASP is but one of the many
ways I expect that our students in the future will learn what true
Christian service is all about."

The Appalachia Service Project was founded in 1969 by United Methodist
clergyman Glenn "Tex" Evans and has headquarters in Johnson City, Tenn.
The project, affiliated with the United Methodist Board of Discipleship,
is a home-repair and homebuilding ministry that uses volunteers to help
needy people in Central Appalachia. More than 8,000 volunteers serve in
20 locations annually. Often regarded as summer service program, the
project has grown to include year-round service and mission
opportunities throughout Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia and West
Virginia.

Gulley began his involvement with the project as a ninth-grader
participating through Calvary United Methodist Church in Nashville. For
the last two years, he has been chairman of the project's board of
trustees.

This year, Gulley, Brown and the students traveled  400 miles to the
project's Jonesville Housing Center in Jonesville, Va. The students --
including three United Methodists, a Lutheran, an Episcopalian and a
Buddhist --helped renovate two houses through painting, roofing,
carpeting, paneling, guttering and replacing hardwood floors. 

"We knew the people whose homes were renovated would feel a sense of
gratification," Brown said, "but we also wanted to give our students a
sense of accomplishment that they would go back and share with other
students. We may have traveled 400 miles, but we're also wanting to
create a climate for our students that charity begins at home."

Mission opportunities such as the Appalachian Service Project give
students a chance to become familiar with different cultures, Gulley
said. After they graduate, students may be able to address some of the
needs they encountered in their professions, he said.

Gulley expressed his pride in the students, who spent their spring break
in service to others.
"I'm proud of them for displaying the gift of going to others in
Christian service. The people we helped are now warmer, dryer and safer,
and I like to think that they sensed Christian love and spirit from us.

"And we got so much back from the family as well," he said. "The father
of the family had serious health problems from years of working in coal
mines, yet he worked just as hard as any of us. The love the family had
for each other was incredible, despite health worries and cramped
conditions and lack of resources. They taught us more than they'll ever
know."

The trip had an unexpected impact on student Christie Bradford, who
plans to go into mission work after graduation. 

"I thought I would get the overwhelming feeling that comes from doing
good for others, but I didn't," she said. "There was so much work to do
that I just focused on getting it done.

"Before I left for the trip, I thought that if it gave me that
incredible feeling, then I would know that I definitely wanted to go
into the mission field. Instead, the trip helped me refocus and realize
that I shouldn't always have to feel something internally to be driven
to do what Christ did. I realized that there's not always going to be
something in it for you to do good for someone else."

# # #

Information for this story is based on a release from the Office of
Institutional Relations at LaGrange College.

United Methodist News Service
(615)742-5470
Releases and photos also available at
http://www.umc.org/umns/