NORFOLK, Va. — Sharon Lockyer enjoys the simple pleasures of life. An ideal day for her and her 13-year-old dog, Cookie, includes tending to her flowers, listening to the wind chimes that hang near the back of her house and watching the planes fly by from Norfolk’s nearby Naval Base.
The 35-year-old Brooklyn native, who enjoys a relatively quiet life, never dreamed that a recent week would be one that would change her life forever.
The Norfolk crew and homeowner Sharon Lockyer (third from right) stand above a concrete slab commemorating their week together. (Photo by Scott Stephens)
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After applying to World Changers — a Southern Baptist volunteer service organization — for work to be done on her house, Lockyer never heard any word back. She had almost lost hope, and even explained to her family that it probably wasn’t going to happen. With only a week before the date of the construction, the letter finally arrived announcing that Lockyer would receive the help she so desperately needed.
“I was surprised. I didn’t know what to say,” Lockyer said. “I called my family and they were ecstatic.”
The house’s long back yard is higher in the back than in the front, which can prove problematic. Lockyer explained that when hard rains come, the water gathers dangerously close to the back of her house. Water damage to the foundation of the house can cause serious structural damage — damage she’s not able to repair on her own. Time had also taken its toll on the house’s paint job. The worn exterior and faded green shutters were an unpleasant sight for the neighborhood.
A crew of 10 students and adults who took part in a week-long World Changers project made their way from all over the nation — just to fix Lockyer’s house.
World Changers is a ministry of the North American Mission Board that provides students and adults with opportunities to meet the physical and spiritual needs of others. During the week of June 21-26, 260 students and adults worked on 27 homes in Norfolk, including Lockyer’s.
The crew, called the Stone Rollers, built a small deck and a trench in front of it to keep the water from reaching Lockyer’s home. They also added a fresh coat of paint to the house and its shutters, and worked on some minor projects, including replacing exterior trim and covering a hole in the yard near the septic tank.
Despite the extreme temperatures during the week, Chris Smith of First Baptist Church in Matthews, N.C., who was participating in his second World Changers project, cited his reason for giving up a week of his summer to work on a stranger’s house: “[The work] helps other people who can’t do it all.”
Watching the non-stop activity in her backyard, Lockyer commented on the students’ hard work. “There are good kids out here,” she said. “They’re fantastic.”
This group of students went above and beyond in showing the love of Christ.
Their first day on the job, the church that provided them with food for the week accidentally brought hot dogs for more than double the number of students on the crew. Instead of throwing the extra food away, they opted to visit the apartment complex across the street.
When unexpected teenagers came to the doors of renters, they were surprised. People were hesitant at first and asked why these students were bringing them free food. The door was literally wide open for these teens to share the gospel, and that’s exactly what they did.
Emily Mooney of Friendship Community Baptist Church in Owings, Md., explained it very simply: “God calls us to love like he did.”
It was these acts of kindness, overall joy, and love for each other that caught Lockyer’s attention. She saw something in this group of people that she hadn’t seen before.
The students working on Lockyer’s home invited her to join them for their daily crew devotion. Lockyer sat with them each afternoon and showed a keen interest in what the students were talking about. Tim Pyles, an adult leader who has participated in five World Changers projects, noticed her interest and started sharing some scripture with her.
Pyles explained to Lockyer how one can know for certain if they’re going to Heaven. “I want to know,” was her response. After sharing a few more verses, Pyles was able to pray with Lockyer and lead her into a relationship with Christ.
“There aren’t a whole lot of words to describe it,” Lockyer said about the whole experience.
This World Changers crew not only painted siding and trim, but they also painted a picture of Jesus Christ making all things new. That picture now includes a portrait of Sharon Lockyer sitting on her new deck, listening to the quiet symphony of wind chimes, while watching her bright red flowers bloom.
Scott Stephens is a student and missions communications specialist serving with World Changers this summer.