Mission Guthrie spruces up schools, parks

Nearly 150 youth from across Oklahoma and Texas have blanketed Guthrie to carry out mission projects and spruce-up the city for the past five days. “Mission Guthrie 2016” was hosted by First Christian Church and is a Disciples of Christ camp that shifts from city to city each year in Oklahoma. “Here Comes the Son: Project 7:16,” as it was titled this year, was July 16-20.

“It was our first time to host and to see junior high and high school students coming to our city to spend a week giving of their time and energy to make a difference in our community. It is something you just can’t fully imagine until you see it in action,” FCC Youth Minister Staci Carey said. “It is life-changing not only for those who participate in the hands-on work but for all those who helped behind the scenes as well as those whose lives we touched in the community.”

Mission Guthrie tackled numerous community projects, including painting lockers as an interim until there is enough in the budget to buy new school lockers. They also painted the bathrooms at Fogarty and playground equipment at Central; cleaning and weeding playground areas at all the elementary schools; painting and striping parking lots at the high school, junior high, GUES, and bus barn; cleaning hallways and moving furniture at the school sites; setting up a new food pantry at the high school; mowing, weed-eating and hauling off items for several families; organizing and helping clean areas at Logan County Aging and visiting with retirees; clearing brush and gardening at the Community Gardens near Mineral Wells Park; and picking up trash at all local parks.

“We are very thankful for the young people who gave their time and labor to benefit our schools. It is a great example of placing others above self,” Guthrie Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Mike Simpson said.

“I would like to send a huge thank you to the First Christian Church Mission team,” Fogarty Principal Marsha Todd said. “They have worked long, hot hours in our schools to make a very noticeable difference for our students and teachers.”

In addition to mission work, Christian artists “Stars Go Dim” led the mission group in worship each morning and evening. They also had several fun outings with a scavenger hunt, block party downtown, “tacky tourist” dance and a luau at Central Christian Camp.

Organizers of Mission Guthrie included FCC Youth Ministers Staci Carey and Jeff Ball, as well as team members Jessica Eaves, Jana Frey, Stacey Johnston, Shana Bench, Karen Allen and a host of other volunteers from the church and community. There were numerous donations and discounts for food, snacks and supplies from businesses and individuals throughout the community that made Mission Guthrie possible.

Youth Groups in attendance were from churches across the state including Guthrie, Stillwater, Duncan, Claremore, Enid, El Reno, Woodward, Oklahoma City, Edmond as well as Arlington, TX.