Rollin’ Repairs:

A God and Church Service Project

Seventh-grader Cole Gnadt recently received his God and Church religious award from Calvary Church in southern California. As part of his community service, Cole was approved as a volunteer for the House of Hope – a safe house for abused women and children. House of Hope is part of the Orange County Rescue Mission which is a faith-based ministry outreach “to the Least, the Last, and the Lost” of Orange County.  Cole’s project was “Rollin’ Repairs.” Here’s how he described it:

First of all, Deborah Davis, former volunteer coordinator for the Orange County Rescue Mission, mentioned many opportunities to help including bike repairs and I liked the idea. I learned how to fix bikes by tinkering with my old bike. I fixed four bikes (changed wheels and tube, replaced missing seats, oiled and cleaned chains, etc.) and my parents company donated one bike with training wheels. The budget was mostly my allowance and some money my parents company donated. I met the kids who used the bikes and sometimes they helped in the process of fixing the bikes. I still go to the House of Hope once a week (but will be switching to monthly) to keep the bikes in repair.

Rollin’ Repairs was just one facet of the God and Church requirements. Other portions of the curriculum included Bible study, meeting with the pastor, and creating a photo album/scrapbook. According to Cole, “Creating the memory album with my mom was great.”  Click here to see sample pages from Cole’s album.

Cole worked with Eric Wakeling, the pastor of Student Ministries at Calvary Church. As a youth minister and Eagle Scout, Pastor Eric is a perfect fit to serve as counselor for God and Country candidates.  Pastor Eric met with Cole at various stages through the God and Church program and he commented that “Cole's work with the bicycle repair project for the House of Hope was quite impressive. It was so wonderful to see a young man using the talents and skills God gave him to help those in need. That's a pastor's dream.”

Cole’s mother, Annie Gnadt, said that, “We feel so blessed to have our great church and pastors in our life. Our church is non-denominational evangelical. We are a serious Bible teaching/preaching Church, and we are so blessed to have an educated and dedicated ministry there! Volunteering together has made us even more thankful. It was a lot of work, but it brought us all closer to our church and pastors.”

When asked what he would remember about this experience, Cole responded, “Meeting the kids at the House of Hope was fun. After I fixed the bikes I would play basketball with them. I will always remember the kids helping me fix the bikes.”