First Baptist Church in Washington partnered with Deep Impact youth ministries for a weeklong mix of mission work, activities and community outreach.

Jim Rosene, a member of First Baptist Church in Washington who is passionate about mission work, said the church has been active in mission work across the country for the last decade or more.

“We’ve been doing this across the country for the last 10 years,” Rosene said. “As I rode around our community, I saw the struggle of people and we had all these storms and stuff. We realized the need for mission work in the community and arranged Deep Impact to come. We went out in the community and talked to people about the needs of community members and coordinated these projects. This is what I do. This is my passion. I don’t preach, I don’t sing, I love helping people.”

Julie Rosene, a member of the church, serves as the liaison between DI and the community, arranging projects and activities for community participation.

Nathan, assistant director of Deep Impact, said his youth ministry team, one of two teams with Deep Impact, visits different locations over the summer to conduct youth ministry camps. Nathan, along with two worship leaders, a children’s coordinator, a campus life/recreation coordinator and an office manager make up the six-person college student staff which leads the youth in camp activities and mission projects.

Deep Impact involves middle and high school students in missions, education and missions involvement, Nathan said. It began more than a decade ago as a missions boot camp at the N.C. Baptist Assembly at Fort Caswell under the leadership of the N.C. Baptist Men. In 2007, NCBM decided to build on its success and expand the opportunity for churches by making DI a summer-long student mission camp.

“As staff, we make sure the camp runs smoothly,” Nathan said. “We provide materials for the sports activities, Bible schools, and other activities. I love missions. Just studying scripture for myself, I feel like God has really put it on my heart to go out and spread the Word. For me, that hits home.”

This week, the team visited First Baptist Church and did some good things in Beaufort County. The youth participants stay at the church all week and participate in a number of recreational activities, mission projects, Bible schools and community outreach projects, Nathan said.

Each morning, the youth have worship services with Deep Impact staff and the week’s guest speaker. From there, the children go out to different sites for the day, whether that be for construction, servant evangelism, sports camps or vacation Bible schools, Nathan said.

Over the week the youth participants built two handicapped ramps for homes of those who needed them, Rosene said.

“The kids do all the work,” Rosene said. “There are adult supervisors who provide technical support, but the kids actually do the building.”

Friday, the ministry held a soccer camp in which youth played pickup games of soccer and learned about the game. There was a group who volunteered at the Carolina Pregnancy Center to help sort and fold clothes that have been donated for single mothers who need them. A group went to the Washington Fire-Rescue-EMS and cooked lunch for first-responder personnel. The group also donated a grill to the station, Nathan said.

Other events included a Backyard Bible Club, a mini-Bible school in which skits were performed, Bible stories were learned, arts and crafts were made and games were played. Tuesday, a group of youth visited Chocowinity to aid families affected by the April 25 EF3 tornadoes. The group helped remove trash and debris as well as sorted through belongings, which had been thrown around yards by the storm, Rosene said. After, they did a Prayer Walk, walking through communities and praying for those affected by the tornadoes.

On Friday, the mission group visited Eagle’s Wings, a local food pantry, and helped with repairs and preparations for a grant the nonprofit just received in order to expand. They also sorted through food and refurbished handicapped ramps at the pantry.

There was also a block party on Thursday evening to give back to the community and let community children enjoy a good time. At the party, there were free hot dogs, drink, snow cones, Bibles and a huge inflatable bounce house, as well as a performance by Christian rapper Capello and Eternal Collision, a faith and strength ministry. Eternal Collision’s performance displays strength through feats of ripping phone books in half, bending metal rods and weightlifting, Rosene said.

Nathan said the youth finished all community projects Friday. Saturday, the last day of camp, there will be a soccer tournament for the youth participants, along with a final worship service.

Rosene said the weeklong ministry has been a joint effort of church members, Deep Impact staff, youth participants and the community. Church members, as well as members of other churches, chipped in to feed the staff and youth and the week marks a continuing community outreach in Beaufort County.