EAST WATERFORD — Simple things like a fresh coat of paint or a weeded garden can give someone hope to start new trends or habits, especially when they’ve experienced their share of hardship.

That’s where the annual Together in Mission Services (TIMS) work camp at the Christian Retreat Center, located in East Waterford, can step into help.

“The TIMS program is where youth groups come to CRC and are then sent out into the community, having another influential summer,” said Wendy Kerstetter, development and events director at CRC. “We were able to send teams to Blain, Ickesburg, Mifflin, Mifflintown and Thompsontown.”

CRC Executive Director Zach Bashore added, “In May, CRC expanded the TIMS program to include a Christian school bringing their eighth-grade students to serve in our community. It was a joy to partner with this school for a few days. We’re planning on doing this school version of TIMS again this May as we pray and discern if this is a program that we will incorporate into our yearly calendar.”

While the TIMS program teaches middle school and high school students about serving their communities, it also offers an alternative for churches who typically send members out of state or overseas for ministry work, which can be expensive and challenging.

“My husband was one of the ones who had gone out of state to do a mission trip and the team came back and said, ‘We can do this here in Juniata County,'” Wendy explained. “There are needs in our own community. So TIMS was created and ran out of CRC in the ’90s.

“It’s grown and developed over the years, we used to take teams overseas however when 9/11 happened, it greatly affected our program and since then it shifted back towards serving people who could use some help in our community,” Wendy added. “Which is neat because it’s a way to give back to our community and be a good neighbor to those around us.”

This past fall, torrential rains damaged a modular home in Mifflintown, and the owners were unaware until the ceiling craved in. They felt helpless as everything was destroyed.

Black mold developed, and the family was forced to vacate their home. They found a helping hand with the TIMS program.

After hearing the family’s plight, Wendy reached out to them to see how the TIMS program could help. It was the perfect project for the teenagers at TIMS to take on.

Former program director Jeremy Kerstetter — who is a pastor at Central Baptist Church in Millerstown and is also Wendy’s husband — agreed to serve as a leader with TIMS this year, along with the youth director Adam Stoak. Jeremy was a part of the first TIMS team when the program started.

That first summer, a small team of teens and adult leaders from Cedar Grove Brethren in Christ Church, of Mifflintown, tackled several home repair projects in East Waterford and Honey Grove — and the vision for TIMS was born.

Jeremy said, “About 30 years ago, I was privileged to join the first TIMS team as a youth. I remember getting our brief in the office and we were told that Don, one of the homeowners, refused to believe that teenagers would give up a week to do manual labor on someone’s house. He reluctantly agreed to allow this unlikely scenario to work on his house if CRC could round up the kids.

“I vividly remember thinking ‘I want this jobsite,'” Jeremy added. “God granted me that and I was able to minister to Don, proving to Him that there were young people that loved Jesus enough to serve him by scraping and painting his house. Our youth group returned the following year and I was on a site directly beside Don’s house where we built a deck on a trailer for a family. As much fun as it was to hammer nails into pine boards, the most vivid memory of my second TIMS week was taking the time to play catch with the young boy who lived there.”

Fast forward to this summer — and when Jeremy was driving the youth group to a TIMS site — they drove past the two sites where he had served as a teenager.

“I couldn’t help but think back to my time learning what it meant to serve in a practical way,” Jeremy explained. “The house we painted has since been covered in siding, making the need for wooden siding to be scraped and painted obsolete. The deck we built on the trailer and even the trailer were gone.”

The commitment to serving his community also strengthened Jeremy’s relationship with God.

“My leaders modeled what it meant to love Jesus by serving others joyfully,” Jeremy added. “During my drive this summer to a new worksite, I couldn’t help but think that the stairs we were building this summer will one day be gone as well, but my hope and prayer is that the homeowner will never forget the love she experienced by a few young people that served her by meeting a very practical need.”

He also hopes that the teens he led will see that the stairs were not the important part of what they did, but the love that they demonstrated will be what lasts long after the stairs rot away and the trailer is gone.

Each June, youth groups come to CRC for a week of service. From there, they are sent out to complete projects: painting, yard work, porches, decks, wheelchair ramps — whatever is needed, and based on the skills of that week’s leaders. But TIMS is about more than projects.

“We serve homeowners who may be physically unable to keep up with maintenance or unable to afford necessary repairs. Many are moved–sometimes even brought to tears — that a group of teenagers would show up to help without asking for anything in return,” Bashore said.

We also encourage our teams to build relationships, to listen to stories, and to offer encouragement — not just labor.

And for the teens, TIMS teaches them how to see and respond to needs in their own communities. They’re not just learning how to swing a hammer or hold a paintbrush — they’re learning how to care, how to serve, and how to be part of something bigger than themselves. These teens will be future homeowners, business leaders and voters. Helping them discover purpose through service is incredibly meaningful, especially in a time when it’s harder than ever to be a teenager.

“We’ve helped people that need a little bit of encouragement and are struggling because it’s been a hard year,” Bashore added. “Some people are disabled, but others just can’t do all the physical labor that’s needed. That’s where we come in.”

Looking ahead, the TIMS program is always in need of:

Youth groups or teams interested in participating;

Homeowners who might need assistance; and

Local businesses or individuals willing to help with supplies and costs.

There’s an application process for both youth groups and homeowners. “While we can’t do every project, we do our best — and where we can’t help directly, we try to connect people with others who can.

Visit www.crctims.org for more information.