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God’s servants work to ‘Transform’ local neighborhoods

By Pat Crossley 8 min read

For the past 12 years -- minus the year of COVID -- members of First Church along with others in the community have spent a week in August giving of their time and their expertise in helping others and being "God's Servants at Work."

Behind the scenes, a lot of preparation has been happening since the beginning of the year to coordinate the 180 workers, both young and old, who showed up this year to be a part of the outreach known as "Transform."

"We had a great response this year, and we're actually at a record point," said Steve Tallman, who along with Hurley Kane, co-ordinates the workers and sites.

"It involves seeking volunteers primarily from our congregation, but we also have friends of the congregation and relatives, as well as even neighbors who want to help," he said.

He also noted that there were youth groups from four churches that had signed on to help.

Tallman pointed out that there are a lot of variables that have to fall in place to make the week a success, including the weather and volunteer levels. Projects requests come from homeowners and nonprofits in the area, which adds another level of coordination depending on the projects and the experience needed to complete them. Over it all is the mission that drives the group.

"It's all representing service to others and others before self, and obviously to honor God and and you know be the hands and feet of Jesus. I mean that's what we're emphasizing, and obviously, spreading the love," Tallman said.

In all, the group expects to complete 45 projects this year during Transform week. These include landscaping work, a lot of trimming, raking, weeding and there are also painting and basic carpentry jobs.

At the home of Alec and Jacqueline Eggerton in South Williamsport, one of the crews was busy removing yard debris as well as working inside the home that the family had just moved into. They were removing wallpaper, painting and taking up carpets. For Jacqueline, who is expecting the couple's third child, the help came at the right time, although at first she was reluctant to ask for it.

"I was around for Transform last year and I thought it was for people who needed help and everyone was like, you do need help -- you're pregnant, your house needs work," she said.

"So, I was encouraged to, and I'm so glad because I was feeling a little like not deserving it almost," she said.

"When they came, they were just so eager to be here -- I just feel so blessed that people would take a whole week out of their work to just get at it. I feel like they're very selfless and they're doing God's work right now," she added.

The materials the Transform workers use are either supplied by the homeowner or non-profits or churches and people in the community can donate to purchase what is needed. Tools are either supplied by the property owners or the workers are encouraged to bring their own depending on the jobs.

The talent is supplied by the workers and it varies with whatever is needed for the job.

"We have found that the week of Transform, it's a juggling act day to day, whether the type of projects, volunteers and their skills. You know, when you have 70 or 80 people on a day, and you're coordinating them skill by skill, you're assigning them to different projects, and sometimes you have to move them around. Sometimes people are only working half days. Sometimes mornings or afternoons, which is great. We welcome all the volunteers. You don't have to sign up for all day. And then we try to apply skills. If you have a construction project, even though it's generally considered simple construction or light construction, we still want to have someone who knows something about carpentry," Tallman said.

"We have varying talent. We ask volunteers when they sign up, are you skilled, handy, or willing to learn? The majority of the people, of course, put down willing to learn, which we know better. They're modest, but then, between the skilled and then the handy, you know those are the ones who can do some of these projects for people," he said.

In the midst of these projects, the workers are also building relationships not only with the owners of the sites where they are working but also with the community who drive by and see the signs, "God's Servants at Work."

"Homeowners are just so grateful, ranging from ecstatic to what would I ever have done without you? And nonprofits, likewise. You know, they recognize the fact that we're helping them out, and you know, again, honoring God," Tallman said.

"Our goal is obviously to reach the homeowner with not only the project and labor and whatever help we can give them at their home based on their need, but also we fellowship with them throughout the day. We asked our site leaders to start the project off with a quick prayer, and then we also make a lunch (to give to) the homeowners," he continued.

"We sit down with them, and you know we share, and obviously they get to know us. We get to know them better because these aren't project requests necessarily from our congregation, although we encourage that. You know, we want folks who need help from here to let us go in and offer them help. You also have people who are so reluctant to ask for help, but we at times will reach out to them and ask, "Do you happen to need anything here? Because we have Transform Week coming up. Guess that's again, others before self," he added.

The church also has a barbecue at the end of the week and invites the homeowners and nonprofits to join them.

As far as those people driving by the Transform workers, Tallman said that he feels that shows that someone is willing to help.

"It shows people who are in need of either a little or a lot of help that we want to be there to help them and again demonstrate the love of God that comes from each and every one of our volunteers. Just to give a helping hand at times that enables them to be free of the worry because of something that needed done," he said.

Ben Conrad, discipleship pastor at First Church, was serving at the Eggerton home as site manager.

He said that he feels, as a pastor and a Christian, that the work of Transform connects words to action.

"(It's) kind of practicing what we preach, being out and making connections, and seeing the heart. Of wanting to connect with the people in the community and wanting to actually live out what we say we believe, and so transform is one of the ways that our church really kind of rolls up our sleeves and puts that time in," he said.

"I hope it speaks to the community in the sense that it is inspiring people to care for their neighbors in a time when trust is low. I think neighborly, like I'm just going to walk across the street and see if they need anything like that. Kind of a posture of caring well for one another, I just think is low," Conrad said.

'So, if there's a way that we can demonstrate a different way of living, that's really important to me. For us, it's rooted in the fact that you know we believe God loves us, and we believe that the command to love your neighbor wasn't something that's just to be like on a fridge magnet or something. This is our effort to put it into practice," he added.

Conrad stressed that Transform is not trying to take business away from local professionals, that the projects they do are for people who may not have the means to have them done any other way.

"I think if I were to summarize why Transform matters for people who want to know, I would say that Transform has developed in me a belief that the small things really do make a big impact. We can be at a house and we can do something that's seemingly innocuous, like cleaning up their yard or mowing or painting a room, it's really not, especially for somebody who's in a moment of need. And so, doing small things at the right time and just being willing to do it out of care can make a really huge difference. And so, the encouragement I have is just do something small for somebody and trust that it actually makes a big difference," he said.

Starting at /week.