St. Peter's United Church of Christ provides hope to storm-battered Port Arthur, Texas

St. Peter's United Church of Christ in Elmhurst wrapped up its 16th annual adult mission trip last month in Port Arthur, Texas.

A group of 22 parish members spent a week building and repairing houses affected by Hurricane Harvey in 2017.

After being hit with 45 inches of rain, the lower-income citizens of Port Arthur had no resources to repair the severe water damage in their homes.

St. Peter's UCC saw this as an opportunity to restore hope to the community.

Adult mission trip chairs Kent Sands and June Nikoleit organized a relief trip through the Southeast Texas Community Development Corporation, a group who helps low-to moderate-income individuals.

"Every time I return home from one of these trips it makes you realize how fortunate you are, and how many blessings that we have living in a town like Elmhurst," Kent said.

The church volunteers arrived in Port Arthur Feb. 9 and worked on three separate locations until Feb. 16.

The mission team, under the direction of site coordinators David and Claudia Burgener, built a house used to accommodate volunteers for the Southeast Texas Community Development Corporation and repaired two other sites including a single-family home and a duplex, both severely damaged from flooding.

"If your life circumstances enable you to get away through your church or through whatever, do it because you will absolutely love it" Kent said. "I'm extremely proud of St. Peter's for making the decision that they needed to get involved in these hands-on missions."

St. Peter's United Church of Christ, 125 W. Church St., rejoices in its congregation strengthened by diversity of culture, economic status, age, ethnicity, race, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, and physical or mental ability. St. Peter's UCC affirms that God is glorified by welcoming all people to its community of faith, as Jesus did. For more information, visit www.stpeterselmhurst.org.