Salkehatchie volunteers repair Rock Hill home

Buddy Stover, in his own words, proved his wife wrong.

Told last summer that he should take a year off from working with the Rock Hill Salkehatchie ministry, the 74-year-old Stover would still call in to the site directors, just to see how things were going.

And nothing would stop him from getting back in the action this summer.

"It gets in your blood," said Stover, a Greenville native who has volunteered to help in the Rock Hill area for seven years. "If you can come down here and not be touched, you've got a cold heart. I proved her wrong, I'm back now."

Nearly 50 volunteers from across the state descended on the Rock Hill area to help rebuild four homes as a servant ministry sponsored through the South Carolina United Methodist Conference. While the majority of volunteers are high-school age (the youngest are 14), adult leaders such as Stover say they enjoy instilling passion for ministry.

Volunteers work from Saturday to Saturday, with camps available from May through August. The group has been staying at local United Methodist churches in Rock Hill, who also provide all of their meals to the hungry workers.

The volunteers have nearly finished renovating a roof on Brenda Baxter's home on Simpson Street in Rock Hill, and they're working on installing new windows. Baxter, who lives with her son Michael, called it a blessing.

"I'm so thankful," said Baxter, who said she had to put out buckets in her home to catch the rain. "It's a blessing, a blessing from God. God puts things through his people to help somebody who can't help themselves."

That's just one of the reasons Dutch Fork High School junior Allee Cobb took time to give what she could to Baxter's home. Cobb also volunteered to clean up after heavy rain flooded her hometown of Columbia last October.

Once she and her new friends are finished replacing the windows, they'll move on to cleaning up the inside of the home.

"We do it because we love Jesus," said Cobb. "We love to help when you see how much we have, and we can feel really appreciative. It feels good knowing you can make a difference."

That's music to Chris Conley's ears. As the youth director of Union United Methodist Church in Irmo, the 29-year-old has been volunteering at Salkehatchie projects since he started high school.

Typically, he said, Salkehatchie volunteers take part in their service at least an hour away from their homes, in order to direct their full focus on the task at hand.

"At first, you don't know what you're getting into, and then you spend a whole week with it and everyone, and you can't pull yourself away," said Conley.

Stover agrees: At first, he balked at the idea of going on the mission trip. Several years later, he's one of its most enthusiastic cheerleaders.

"He (my youth minister) didn’t ask me to go, he told me 'You're going to Salkehatchie,' and I asked 'What are you talking about, is it a fishing trip?' I hug him every time I see him because of what it means to me."

Soon enough, the effort of Salkehatchie volunteers will afford Baxter a renewed sense of pride in her home. She said she can't thank the workers enough for the new additions, which will help cut down on monthly heating and cooling costs.

Baxter said she's had devotion every morning with the visitors, who she says are doing "the Lord's work."

"They've been so wonderful," said Baxter. "It's just been a miracle that's happened."

This story was originally published July 21, 2016 at 5:00 PM with the headline "Salkehatchie volunteers repair Rock Hill home."