PCOC members travel locally and regionally to provide assistance to those in need.

Past Events

Presbyterian Church of the Cross Adult Mission Trip
Boulder, Colorado
July 10 – 16, 2016

“Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have…” Hebrews 13:16

Christina is a single mother of three living in a trailer home that was flooded in 2013.  We finished painting the exterior of her home, hauled away some debris from her yard, and left her with summer flowers in a recovered planter. Anna Sumner said, “Watching the mother come home from work and the kids come out to check on our progress and seeing their smiles reminds me why I go on these trips.”

Presbyterian Disaster Assistance identified this opportunity to help families recovering from the 2013 flood.  A few trailer park residents could not get federal assistance due to documentation issues.  In addition to helping Christina, we put together a Suncast shed for her neighbor and painted a new shed for a different family in the park.

We also helped a single mother in Boulder, whose basement has flooded five times since the 2013 flood.  We completed digging an exterior sump hole – final dimension of 28” diameter by 48” deep.  “Nothing is ever straightforward,” Mike Howland commented.  “Murphy’s law applies.  We hit a huge rock and had to tailor-cut the sump casing to fit.”  We also dug a 30’ trench to direct surface water away from the house. Laurie Stiles noted, “I felt tremendous empathy for Diane and all she’s been through as they’ve tried to solve the basement flooding. She was tremendously thankful we were there.”

“It was nice to put the finishing touch on all these projects,” said Clarence Waters.  “People need to move on and in four days, we helped four families get back to normal.”

The 2013 flood was the result of a year’s rainfall received in five days.  “I feel close to this community after hearing their flood stories and helping a little these last two years,” said Jean Waters. “It is inspiring to see people recover from suffering and turn it into ministry.”

We stayed at St. Andrew Presbyterian Church in Boulder. They shared pictures from September 13, 2013, where the flood washed out their front driveway, covered their beautiful playground and memorial garden, and touched the corner of their building.  On Sunday, just after early service, the creek was rising so fast again they canceled late service. St. Andrew hosted many mission groups since the flood. We slept on modern cots and had use of a kitchen/fellowship room. We showered at the YMCA. On the fifth day of our trip, we visited Rocky Mountain National Park. St. Andrew conducts impressive outreach including an ecumenical effort where they host homeless women overnight in their fellowship hall once per week.

Valmont Presbyterian Church in Boulder, the oldest continuously operating Presbyterian church in Colorado, was a co-sponsor of our visit.  They had a delicious potluck dinner for us and shared their flood story.  Valmont has an impressive commitment to Presbyterian Disaster Assistance.  They recently had 12 members participate on a mission trip, that’s 28% of their members!

We thank Presbyterian Church of the Cross and Presbyterian Disaster Assistance for supporting adult missions.  This was a meaningful experience for us and provided important relief for the families we assisted.  Consider praising God through Adult Mission next year – you will change lives for others as your own life is changed.

James 2:18 “… I will show you my faith by my deeds”Adult Mission Trip 2016