Jennings, LA — Middle School and High School Students from Texas Baptist Churches are spending a week of their summer vacation in the Jennings area. They are here with an organization called Bounce Student Disaster Recovery which empowers families to “bounce back” after natural disasters.

 

“I’ve been at Bounce before and one of the things I really like about it is that it really allowing you to put your faith into action and really serve others in your community. Besides thinking about yourself and about what I want to do, but you’re thinking about what others need from me. And I think that’s really important about Bounce.” – Dominic Lara (Bounce)

 

The Jennings area is one of five locations in Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana to receive aid from Bounce this summer. First Baptist Church Jennings is hosting over 200 students and student leaders this week.

 

“We’re excited about Bounce being here with their student Disaster Recovery effort. We’re here to help Mrs. Sylvia Abbott today. We helped her back in March and April and one of the things we noticed about Mrs. Sylvia’s home was that it needed some paint. We are glad to have our friends from El Paso here preparing her house for paint.” – Brian Wells (FBC Jennings)

 

During the day, students perform a wide variety of construction asks on homes. These tasks may range anywhere from installing flooring, painting homes, building wheelchair ramps, reroofing homes, and any other repairs or projects that they may find. 

 

“We’re building a wheel chair ramp for a homeowner. She’s been having trouble getting in and out of her house. So we are going to have it to where they have steps but they also have a wheelchair ramp. Being able to go out and provide a service for someone who can’t do it for themselves or can’t afford to do it, I think that’s what being a Christian is really about. I think we look past the fact too often that God calls us to give to others and we just look at what we get from Christianity.” – Jamie Buford (Bounce)

 

The Bounce organization enables students to be a part of helping communities recover from disasters. Their goal is to restore hope, rebuild communities, and above all to reflect Christ.

 

“It’s not all about you. There’s other people in this world who go through so much more than you. So it’s cool to hear other people’s testimony and see the things that they do.” – Kamryn Martinez (Bounce)

 

“It’s been fun so far and I’m excited to help more people in the future and come back every year.” -Gage Fleming (Bounce)