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Since May, 2007, New Horizon has been traveling to East St. Louis, IL to provide service to, and engage with, the citizens of this economically disadvantaged community. In partnership with Lessie Bates Davis Neighborhood House, our work in East St. Louis has included refurbishing the homes of families and the elderly, painting the Family Development Center, clearing out overgrown yards, and helping to complete the development of a soon-to-open women's shelter. Trips have not only included the Axis student ministry but also small groups. Along with service work, our trips also include time spent meeting community members, and whenever possible, joining them in worship.
For spring and early summer, 2009, New Horizon will be making three trips to East St. Louis. For each trip, we will bedoing a variety of cleanup, repair, and construction tasks during the trip. Time each evening will be setaside for both whole-group and also personal prayer and reflection.
For more details and to sign up for any of our upcoming trips, please contact Martin Wolske.
Departure: Friday evening, March 20 Return: Sunday evening, March 22 or Tuesday evening, March 24 Cost: $65/person (2 nights) or $115/person (4 nights) + gas and food on the road
So often serving activities are done by individuals from a family. For this trip, we are encouraging families to travel and serve together. In addition to our whole-group gatherings each evening, we will be setting aside time for family-group prayer and reflection. We will be staying at the Hubbard House, a Catholic worker house in East St. Louis, and will be joining our partners for worship on Sunday morning. You do not have to be married or bring children to participate in this trip. We do ask that children be age 10 and above.
Departure: Friday evening, May 1 Return: Sunday evening, May 3 Cost: $65/person + gas and food on the road
Everyone and anyone is encouraged to join us on this missions trip to East St. Louis. We will be staying at the Hubbard House, a Catholic worker house in East St. Louis, and will be joining our partners for worship on Sunday morning.
Departure: Sunday after church, June 7 Return: Friday evening, June 12 Cost: To be determined
The Axis student ministries will once again return to East St. Louis and the Trinity United Methodist Outreach Center for a week of service and fellowship.
Located on the Illinois side of the Mississippi River across from St. Louis, this city of 30,000 was named an All-American City in 1959 and has been the home of such notables as poets Eugene Redmond and Robert Wrigley, dancer Katherine Dunham, musician Miles Davis, politician Richard Durbin, and athletes Jimmy Connors, Jackie Joyner-Kersey, and Dawn Harper.
During the 1960s and through the 1980s, the loss of industry, the effects of urban sprawl, political corruption, and race riots contributed to a dramatic decline of the city. Fortunately, over the last decade pro gress as been made towards restoring various areas of the East St. Louis community. But much work remains to be done helping the residents of this community in achieving their goals for revitalizing their economy, schools, and neighborhoods.
One organization providing key support to those in need is the Lessie Bates Davis Neighborhood House (http://www.gbgm-umc.org/lessiebates/), an organization celebrating their 100th year of service in the East St. Louis community.
Neighborhood House is a United Methodist multi-purpose community center whose mission is to provide quality social and human services, social action and advocacy programs and housing and economic development programs, which help to improve the quality of life for all persons of all ages in East St. Louis and the surrounding communities. Neighborhood House offers or coordinates more than 20 different programs in the community. With our trips to East St. Louis, New Horizo provide support to this essential community center and its programs.