I really never spent much time in Pennsylvania before this month when I was able to travel with 142+ students and 10 Adventures staff to transform Johnstown for a week.
Johnstown, PA used to be a bustling industrial city until the floods hit and wiped out most of the industry. Since that time, the city has struggled to gain its momentum and keep its population growing.
Our team of 142 were split into 11 different vans going to various ministry locations across the city. Our 3 vans were assigned to the Colver Youth Project.
Our contact for the week was Jeremy, a general contractor/youth pastor who has a vision and passion for the youth in Colver, PA (about 40 minutes from Johnstown).
You see, his story is pretty awesome. He bought an old hospital a few years ago with a vision to transform it into a Youth Center, a safe place for the youth in rural PA to come and learn life skills, while having fun, and being exposed to God’s Word! He saw it listed for sale online as a mansion for sale for $100,000. He went to look at it and kept getting visions for the center filled with youth, reconciliation with parents, a positive environment and growth for the youth. Obviously, he did not have 100,000, so he made a VERY low offer and 1 hour later, he had a mansion/hospital!
There were 39 of us on this work site all with a mission to make this hospital ready for Jeremy to transform lives! We were tearing down ceilings, removing insulation, pulling nails, transporting wood, cleaning up the yard, cutting pipe, moving scaffolding, filling 2 huge dumpsters with debris from the old hospital, and we did a great job! I have never seen kids work SO hard, especially doing construction! Most days ended with a lot of dirty faces!
At the end of the week, they had a beautiful time of reflection. To know that the youth were working on a project for youth was AWESOME!
Pray for Jeremy and the Colver Youth Project, that he could finish this youth center and get all necessary funding to make that happen.
Thanks for the update! So cool to have met Jeremy and seen the hospital in December and to know you guys were able to get so much accomplished! So cool!