Families On Mission - Big Stone Gap, VA
Bringing Water Home

Estelle Washington, 89, lives alone. Her home, in a transitional neighborhood, is within walking distance of downtown and only blocks from Oak Grove Baptist Church. A lifelong resident of Big Stone Gap, VA Estelle is a retired nurse. If you ask the locals if they know her, they reply, “Of course, she worked at the hospital for years.” Although most in this small Appalachia mountain community know who she is, what they do not know is Mrs. Washington, partially blind, has been living in her home without running water for years. A broken water line and a rusted furnace pipe the culprits.

But that was before Families on Mission brought help her way during a project in the summer of 2009. Two families spent three days working more than 90 volunteer hours gutting her kitchen. Before week’s end, they installed new countertops, cabinets and a kitchen sink with running water from the newly installed water line. They also installed a new drain in the bath tub, replaced the bathroom floor and sink. A new refrigerator was donated and installed as well.

Estelle Washington’s home was one of 77 ministry sites where families ministered this summer through Families on Mission Projects. These unique, five day mission experiences allow children, youth and adults to build a legacy of missions by meeting the physical and spiritual needs of people like Estelle Washington.

At the heart of Families on Mission is an opportunity for parents and grandparents to instill a legacy of missions in their children and grandchildren by participating together in missions. To learn more about the ministry of Families on Mission and to find information about the 2010 Families on Mission Projects visit the website. (www.namb.net/fom)