Ohio teens pitch in for Dorchester church

BOSTON. With dirty fingernails, muddied pants and a host of smiles, teenagers from an Ohio ministry helped tidy up the Pilgrim Church in Dorchester yesterday, part of their third trip in as many summers to serve the needy in Boston.

“It’s a phenomenal blessing to us,” Pilgrim Church Rev. John Odams said as some of the 23 kids just weeks from entering high school worked diligently to improve his building, which serves as a homeless shelter and day care in addition to a house of worship.

Hailing from Akron, Ohio, the kids will also spend their week at food shelters and other areas of need, volunteering in any way they can to aid a city most have little or no connection to.
For the organizers of the yearly trip, none is needed.

“This shapes how [the kids] will approach the world and how they serve God through serving others,” said Pastor Joel Harris of The Chapel, which has two locations around Akron and organizes the yearly trips.

Harris told a story of how a past participant told the group she had never served someone without being paid for it. When asked how she felt about that, she replied, “It felt good, I think I want to do it again.”

That sentiment was echoed by a group of workers who uncovered a trove of red ants while landscaping the church’s yard. Unfazed by a constant rain or the biting insects, they kept digging, keeping with the mission.

“I know we are able to help out a lot of people,” Gretchen Zarle, 14, said.

The group will work throughout the city until Thursday before spending a day of sightseeing and departing for home this weekend.