Faith is what brought four teenagers hundreds of miles to a home on the northwest side of Wadena.
Faith came in the form of a call to service for four teenagers seen laboring on the 200 block of First Street Northwest. Specifically, faith called Jake Eichhorn of Lake City, Minn., Chris Sorenson of Ramsey, Minn., Christina Smith of Lake City, Minn. and Libby Peterson of Edina, Minn., to the front yard of Larry and Ruth King.
The group traveled to Wadena with adult advisor Tim Morgan of Rochester, Minn., as part of STORM Camp, a Christian youth organization charged with painting homes, mending fences, or in the case of the Kings, building a handicapped-accessible ramp. STORM stands for "Service To Others In Rural Minnesota."
"We're about serving Jesus through serving others," explained Bruce Ruggles, the major group leader for STORM Camp.
Small groups of Christian teens put on their work pants and spend a week working on qualified projects around rural Minnesota, Morgan said.
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But why not just go to church, or just pray? One of the local workers made a biblical reference to Jesus washing the feet of others.
"You're serving people who can't do stuff for themselves," said Sorenson. "It's almost like washing their feet for them."
There's another reason the kids strap on tool belts to help.
"Because it's fun," Smith said.
The group was scheduled to be at the Kings' house until the end of the day Wednesday. But they had faith they'd be done Tuesday, "if we put the hammer down," Eichhorn said.
The group will wrap up the week with a picnic Thursday at a resort in Park Rapids, where they'll share a meal and, of course, their faith.
