RICHMOND, Va. — Weekend events typically draw large crowds. A marathon, craft show, concerts and baseball games attracted the attention of many in Richmond on the weekend of April 10. But a crowd of over 325 people, most of them teens, came to Richmond that weekend to participate in Virginia’s inaugural Mission Madness, three days of mission service projects, worship and fellowship sponsored by the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Virginia.
A team scrapes and paints an area home.
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“We call it ‘madness’ because youth groups from churches all over Virginia are intermingled to serve on different mission sites,” says Rob Fox, field coordinator for the CBFV. The mixed-up madness process allows each youth group to experience a number of different service opportunities, as they mix, mingle and make new friends. Over the weekend, youth from 21 Virginia churches logged 2,073 combined hours of community mission service at 15 different mission sites in and around Richmond.
Students prepare ground at Tricycle Gardens for planting.
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Central Baptist Church in Richmond was the host church for Mission Madness and its minister of youth, Mark Snipes, first approached Fox with the idea of the project to serve the community. The CBF of Georgia has sponsored Mission Madness weekends for its youth for the past 14 years.
Mission Madness began Friday evening with a Madness Gathering. After groups registered, youth enjoyed pizza and games. Each group received a colored wristband to enable them to identify with their work assignment the next day. The evening concluded with worship. Marnie Fisher Ingram led worship for the weekend, and her husband, Daniel Ingram, led the music on guitar.
Saturday’s madness began early as teens traveled to 12 different sites for ministry. Three teams were disbursed to the William Byrd Community House to work outside clean-up and debris removal. One team at that site weeded a community garden and prepared it for planting season.
Twelve people served at the Central Baptist Community Center where they painted the community storage area and stocked food, organized a closet and cleaned the storage room.
The Northminster Community Center has a free market, food pantry and community garden and a team of Mission Madness volunteers served at this center. Twelve girls worked with the YWCA Women’s Advocacy Group organizing a garage and painting.
Mission Madness volunteers at the Farley House.
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Two dozen youth worked at the Farley House, a residence owned by Ginter Park Baptist in Richmond and used as a residence for students at the Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond. Students living there covenant to model hospitality in the community and are involved in the ministries of both the seminary and church. Mission Madness volunteers scraped and painted the house and scrubbed and bleached its foundation.
Other sites included homes of two city residents, Tricycle Gardens, CARITAS (a local homeless ministry), Synergo, the African Christian Community Church, the Ronald McDonald House, and the Church Hill neighborhood.
Tools needed for the weekend were obtained from the Atlanta Tool Bank, a non-profit organization that has a stock of over 300,000 tools for churches and other non-profit organizations to borrow for an event such as Mission Madness. Hundreds of items such as rakes and hammers and paint brushes and shovels were brought to Virginia for use on different work sites.
“After a day of hands-on missions, we rewarded the youth with a Saturday night celebration. We are Baptists who work hard and we aren’t afraid to dance,” said Fox. Teams returned to Central Baptist where members had cooked dinner. There was a dance and vespers before groups headed to their hotels. Missions Madness concluded on Sunday with breakfast and a closing devotional service.
“Tell Us About the Madness” posters were placed in the hallways for students to share their greatest moments during Mission Madness.
While dates have not been finalized, plans are for Missions Madness to take place in 2011 in Fredericksburg, Va., and Danville, Va. The CBF of Virginia’s website is www.cbfva.org.