Josh Clark has been attending Orange for the last five years, and participated in the church-sponsored mission trip to Athens, Ohio recently. He writes:
Attending Orange Friends Church is fulfilling my belief in Christianity and knowing the Lord. Going on the recent mission trip helped my belief even more, which is what I needed. The mission trip to Athens gave me the opportunity to see what it means to live in poverty. In Athens, most of the community knows how much the smallest things mean to them; whereas in my neighborhood, some people take those little things for granted. Unfortunately, the people in Athens struggle in their daily lives. The Orange Friends group and I were glad to help.
One of the projects that I worked on was to replace a rotted wood floor and install vinyl flooring. The person that we were helping was so thankful for what we were doing. The person would want to talk with us to get to know us, and he seemed to appreciate us talking to him; rather than our actual labor. All the people that we helped would continually thank us for talking to them and working for them. That definitely made the trip worth it. Of course, lots of other things made the trip worth it.
One of the many things Orange Friends Church has taught me is to be open to strangers and greet them like you would greet your family. So when I arrived at the Hannah House (which was where we lived while we were on the mission trip), I felt obligated to welcome myself to lots of people I did not know, like the summer interns who reside at the Hannah House. The summer interns were friendly, so they were very easy to get along with. This is the same truth for Orange Friends Church, where every new person is welcomed as a regular attender. I am glad to be a part of Orange Friends Church because we are friendly and strong when we work together.
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