Last year World Changers changed hands from the North American Mission Board (Alpharetta, GA) to LifeWay Christian Resources (Nashville, TN). As a former summer staffer (two years) and participant (8 years and 15+ projects) I had some reservations about this. LifeWay already has M-Fuge, which is part summer camp, part mission trip. How was World Changers going to fit into this mix?
Well, LifeWay and World Changers have completed their first summer together, and by most accounts, it went reasonably well. Several people who were key leaders of World Changers while it was at NAMB transitioned to LifeWay to continue leading World Changers, so it wasn’t an entirely new staff running things.
This morning, LifeWay released a statement talking about the 2012 projects, as well as some changes for 2013. Here is their statement regarding the changes:
In 2013, World Changers and PowerPlant will focus on changing the city, changing the world. “Next year we will continue our mission of eliminating substandard housing by replacing doors and windows, re-building porches, adding siding and wheelchair ramps where needed, painting and a host of other necessary repairs,” Bailey said. However, one change Bailey noted for next year is that World Changers will no longer have minors working on a roof.
In 2013 we are focusing on more weeks in cities to have a longer and greater impact. As we grow we will look to add more cities. “Metropolitan areas have tremendous needs and the types of service to meet those needs are endless.” Bailey said, “We are looking to help churches reach more of their community’s needs.”We believe that if we stay longer to help change the city, our students’ lives will change and we can change the world. We are also excited to hear that our church planting partners want more students in the future! Imagine what the Lord could do when a generation of students follows a call to reach the cities? We at World Changers and PowerPlant want to lead the way.”
What this means is no more roofing projects and no more middle-of-nowhere projects.
During the years that I was a participant with World Changers I worked on at least 12 roofs, some of which were much harder than should have ever been allowed. I also jumped in on a few roofing projects while I was a summer staffer to lend a hand.
Two years after my last project I can say that I think removing roofing projects from World Changers projects is not a bad thing. While I’m confident that every roof I helped replace (and most of the others) is still attached and not leaking, putting 10-15 high school kids on a roof is dangerous. I can recount numerous stories of people stepping through rotten roofs (I’ve done it), kids nearly falling off roofs, and a few who actually did, and one construction supervisor going to the emergency room after falling from a ladder when a gutter gave way while climbing to the roof.
And those are just from the weeks that I was a participant! I’m honestly surprised roofing projects were allowed for as long as they were.
This was the second roofing project I was a crew chief for.
There has also been a lack of experienced crew chiefs (adult volunteers from churches) who were competent to put a roof on a house. By the time I was a senior in high school I had done a number of roofs and generally new more than my crew chief, so I often ended up teaching everyone else how to replace a roof on my site. In college I was even assigned as a crew chief to replace a roof on two different projects. Let’s be honest: How many of you would go to a church, find someone with little or no roofing experience and tell him to grab 12 high schoolers to come put the roof on your house?
By removing roofing projects from World Changers, each project will be able to focus on slightly easier projects, and instead of having to send extra crews to help finish a roof, projects may ultimately be able to complete more repairs and improvements to houses in a community.
The second change is a bit tougher to defend. By focusing more on metro areas, the visibility of projects will be higher, but many impoverished communities that likely relied on the yearly impact of World Changers will be left on their own. I’ve done a few projects that are likely to be on the list of cancelled projects, and it will be interesting to see if local leaders pick up the slack in these cities and host their own projects or find other organizations to come in and pick up the slack.
As a former summer staffer, I’m willing to bet (wait, this is LifeWay, no betting allowed) that the feedback of “There’s nothing to do on the afternoon off” played into some of the decisions for which projects to drop. I’m also guessing that ease-of-access to major interstates, local church support, community interest, government rules, and insurance, all played a part as well. There are only two cities on the list that I went to as a summer staffer. Many of those projects were remote locations, had limited support from churches, had projects scattered up to an hour from where participants were staying, and had nothing for participants to do on the afternoon off.
I think this second change will have the most impact on communities more than not replacing roofs will.
But I also see a number of positive changes coming from this. Yes, smaller, rural communities will feel the loss of World Changers next summer, but by focusing on cities and urban areas, participants will now have the opportunity to reach more people in a more consolidated area.
One of my favorite projects was Philly. We replaced the drywall inside of a row house. We didn’t have a church providing our lunch all week because the neighbors of the lady we were helping wanted to provide our meals and it was some of the best food I’ve ever had on a project. When you’re paying your way to go do physical labor for 4.5 days, a good meal at lunch is important. I’ve heard stories about churches that provided good meals, but I’ve heard many more stories about meals being provided by neighbors that were better than anything a church every provided at lunch.
By focusing on urban and metro areas, more teams can be packed into neighborhoods. While it may sound harsh, putting more teams in an area (rather than spread out over a rural location) has more public impact. Five teams packed into one city block is more visible than five teams spread out over five square miles.
These changes are certainly in line with the states goals of LifeWay and World Changers for next year:
In 2013, World Changers and PowerPlant will focus on changing the city, changing the world.
I don’t expect to see roofing projects added back in the future. This change seems quite logical to me. (Although painting is dangerous, too. I almost had a cracked rib thanks to a painting accident with a ladder.) However, I think that, in time, LifeWay and World Changers will branch back out into smaller communities. This is certainly an important area that needs to have as much assistance as possible. But since LifeWay is wanting to focus on cities at this time, reducing the number of rural projects makes sense. It also makes financial sense because summer staff teams won’t have to travel as far between projects, participant churches won’t have to drive as far to get to a project, and supplies and materials may be cheaper.
These changes, especially the second one, don’t surprise me at all. Even when I was on summer staff three years ago I knew that the location of many projects were not financially viable for World Changers. Having teams drive several hundred miles between projects is expensive, especially if there is no easy routing between those locations. Eliminating projects had to be a hard decision, especially for John Bailey who has been with World Changers for a long time, beginning at the North American Mission Board. But I don’t believe that the decision for which projects to cancel was made lightly.
World Changers will continue to have a positive impact on communities. Leaving some towns may force the local Church to step in and do what it should already be doing: helping the poor, sick, and needy; the widow and the orphan. If not, then the loss of a World Changers project week is not the worst problem those towns have to deal with.
Edit: Yes, I realize that some of the projects that were dropped next year are probably amazing projects that have more than enough support and resources. That’s not my point. You can’t use one or two projects as proof that an idea is bad, or good. Unless someone from LifeWay wants to weigh in on this post with first-person details of the conversations that resulted in these changes, it’s hard to challenge the motives behind it. Dropping projects may be a business decision, but LifeWay is a for-profit business.
As a coordinator in the St Louis project for 10 years I will tell you the only projects not completed have been non-roofing projects . World Changers has done an excellent job with doing roofs in St. Louis but has failed at other projects . This has not only cost the agency money but has hurt the WC reputation.
I have been told by residents, grantors and city officials that WC is now just like any other home repair program that is only there to fulfill the hours needed and that nothing special is happening. Now you can say that they are wroung but remember, these are the people that you are trying to impact.
And then to be lied to and told that the decision is due to OSHA rules is insulting. If you look at OSHA rules you will plainly see that they do not apply to VOLUNTEERS. They do not apply to Volunteer medical, Volunteer Firemen, and they do not apply to Volunteer construction.So dont lie to me just tell me that it is your decision(Lifeway) and move on.
So I say WC is making a mistake by not sticking with their niche and it will cost them in the long run. Youth groups have options rather Lifeway thinks so or not. Lifeway was late in the game to online curicculum and they are blowing this one also.
DaVE
David,
Thanks for stopping by! Maybe it’s time for another organization to step in and pick up the cities World Changers left as well as focusing on the roofing projects.
I personally loved doing one or two roofs every summer for several years. I had the opportunity to go with two different churches, so I did a LOT of projects. I also had the fortune/misfortune of ending up on three or four of them that should have never been approved. One project required the Construction Coordinator to bring his professional roofing guys in for a couple days to help out. We ended up having to resheet the entire roof before we could shingle it and it was way too much work. It happens.
I know people aren’t happy about the changes–and it’s understandable–but I’m excited to see what the future of World Changers looks like.
I’ve been taking students to World Changer projects for 24 years. I’ve continued just about every year because of the kind of work students get to do, mainly roofing projects. I want my students to be able to make a huge difference in a families life and roofing projects do that. This is the work that my students are drawn to. Something that they can’t do here at home. Here at home anyone can paint a house or fix a broken fence. What my students can’t do is re-roof someones house. That is what most of our students look forward to. On projects where students didn’t get a roofing job there is a big “let down” in their expectations. Just about everyone wants to roof. Myself included.
There are not many other organizations that have been able to do what WC has done over the years. Trust me, we tried once or twice. Not the same because of the kind of work WC does, mainly, roofing. If projects just include “ground work” there are a host of other organizations that do that and probably just as well, maybe cheaper and maybe in other locations.
I don’t like the changes (And I’m a change loving guy. Hey, I tried a few other organizations like WC before.) but know you have made your decision. So for the first time in a number of years we will not be deciding on “Where to go for World Changers? but now “Which organization do we go with, where and what kind of work do “they” do?”
Tim DuBois
Student Pastor
Clearwater, FL
Tim,
Your name seems familiar, I wonder if we’ve ever crossed on a project before.
I agree, I preferred roofing projects, but I also really enjoyed the porches that I got to build. Basically give me something that I swing a heavy hammer at or use a power tool with and I’m happy.
The picture of the roof in my post is actually from a Mission Serve project in Gastonia, NC. I’m friends with the lady who was the project coordinator on that project and actually drove down from Nashville for the week to be a crew chief. If you guys are going to move away from WC this summer (I’d still really encourage you not to just because there won’t be any roofs), then look into Mission Serve. I did several projects with them when they were licensing World Changers. While they weren’t always up to par with the “real” WC projects, they were still solid projects.
Don’t do a Group Work Camp. Ever. That’s all I’m going to say about that.
My personal experience as a participant and a crew chief is that if I’m on a roof, I’m staying up there until I fall all, lunch arrives, or I’m physically forced off the roof. First up, last off, no matter how hot it gets. And that’s the problem. I put a roof on. I don’t meet the home owner or the neighbors or the kid that rides back and forth on his bike a dozen times watching us.
Roofing projects were an easy escape from interacting with residents. It was also a way to have bragging rights. Which roofing crew comes back the dirtiest? How many layers of shingles? Do you have to replace all the sheeting; was there even sheeting? How high is the roof? Did you hear about John who fell through today? What I never heard (and never said) was “we led five bundles of shingles and three rolls of tar paper to Jesus today.” I heard that from the crew putting on vinyl siding, installing windows, rebuilding a porch, painting a house, or some other ground-level job.
I’m not a youth leader/pastor, but my dad was. And I was close to my youth pastors in high school. I won’t discount that your perspective on the end results is different than mine. We have different experiences on projects and you hear the side of the experience that I didn’t hear as much. But I read evaluations for two years as a summer staffer, and I’ve talked to crew chiefs, and I’ve had my own first-hand experience.
As this issue has grown, more has come to light. I will agree with most people that I think some of the cities being dropped may be bad decisions. But maybe they aren’t. Maybe the leadership at Lifeway sees a bigger picture. Maybe they’re trying to get everyone to cancel their WC registrations so they can can the entire organization. I don’t know. What I do know is that whether I ever do a World Changers project and get on a roof again or not, God will still be using projects in the cities WC continues to invest in. And He’ll continue to work in the cities were there are no longer projects.
Tim,
LifeChanger Missions offers the same type of ministry and we do roofing!
Tim, World Changers has abandon the Midwest and westward so we’ve organized a new missions organization called LifeChanger Missions. Check us out at http://www.lifechangermissions.org
Gene,
Thanks for sharing the new organization! I’m not a fan of the word “abandon”, but I certainly understand the sentiment behind it. I also have a feeling that if I was a local project coordinator then I would probably feel differently about it.
I’m really excited to hear that local groups are forming to fill the void where World Changers projects once were. This is exactly what I was hoping/praying to see. Positive fallout and stepping up when and where it’s needed is much better than everyone just talking about how World Changers is changing their focus.
I understand your point in reference to “abandon” but we had people signed up to come to Sioux City and were notified after having an agreement to host an event in 2013.
In the book “Transformational Church” written by Thom Rainer and Ed Stetzer, the authors make two very important points that should be applied to World Changers.
“Transformational Churches are characterized by a missionary mentality. They know their context. They know their community. They know the stories of the people in their community. So they are able to present the claims and power of Jesus Christ to their community.” P. 51
“A Missionary mindset is focused much more on geographical terms versus methodological terms. Evangelism, church planting, preaching, and discipling in Transformational Churches are a given. Adjusting their work to the community becomes natural.” P. 53
These quotes from the Lifeway leadership themselves point out the weaknesses of the current World Changers leadership philosophy and overall strategy.
1) They have lost touch with the work of the local church in SBC new work states.
2) They have lost touch with the community through the local church. (They have a one size fits all system instead of a core system with flexibility built in for the local context.
3) Instead of a missions supporting organization to involve our youth in missions, they are a top-down, centralized organization with too much overhead.
4) It also appears their emphasis is less on the youth on the ground and more on the young adults they recognize as summer staff. The recent decisions about city locations and travel time support my conclusion.
Respectfully,
Gene
Having been on one World Changers project that included the roof, porch, painting, and new deck I can totally understand the reasoning behind removing roof projects. We had no harnesses and almost lost an adult and a few students due to the steepness. Being the wife and mother of two who have done quite a few WC projects I have often worried about their safety. I believe WC to be an excellent program and opportunity for students to get their hands dirty for Christ. One weak spot has been that of being able to share the gospel with the homeowner and neighbors which is a big part of this program. Many projects are too large and the students are so spread out even if they are in the same general area that they cannot do things to “involve the neighborhood” where they could all have the opportunity to share the Gospel by word and by action.
I hope these changes make a huge “for the good” impact on what is already an excellent program in many ways. Only Christ is perfect, so we know no program can be perfect, therefore there is always room for improvement.
This was a very good article in response to the announcement today…well stated and brings out a lot of good points. And yes I’m proud of the writer of this first comment as this is my son!