This summer, twenty Echo students signed up to see and reveal Jesus among the rural poor of Appalachia. The group spent a week in West Virginia working alongside Mustard Seeds and Mountains, a Christian community development organization that has been building relationships in hill communities left behind by the modernization of the coal mining industry. Some of the highlights students shared were:
- Chatting with families and playing with kids in the community.
- Building and decorating (with the families) the ukuleles they had brought to give out.
- Taking time to intentionally encourage each other as a team.
- Worshiping and connecting with other groups who came from very different backgrounds and lifestyles.
- Making a stop to raft down the New River and experience some of the natural beauty of West Virginia.
