By MOLLY DAVIDSON / Staff Writer

PELHAM—This past month, members of RiverPoint Church in Pelham teamed up with members of Kingwood Church in Alabaster for the RiverPoint congregation’s first ever mission trip.

“Over the past couple of years, we had begun to get involved in missions,” RiverPoint Church Lead Pastor Bobby Lewis said. “We have a heart for missions, but we had never been on a mission trip.”

A group of 50 members from both RiverPoint Church and Kingwood Church, ranging from age five to 74, traveled to Hot Springs, Ark., on June 1, and spent the week working with the Hillcrest Children’s Home.

Part of COMPACT Family Services, the Hillcrest Children’s Home houses and cares for child victims of abuse, neglect and sexual exploitation from ages five to 18.

“It went very well,” Lewis said of the week the group spent working in Hot Springs. “We were able to accomplish quite a bit.”

Throughout the week, Lewis said the group painted a nine bedroom cabin, built a 300 foot fence, a 150 foot privacy fence and a fire pit, installed a “small kitchen” in the Hillcrest Children’s Home chapel area and did “a lot of electrical work.”

The group also held a cookout and ice cream night for the children and house parents of the Hillcrest Children’s Home.

Lewis said the trip was a very positive experience with “quite a few” highlights, but he said one of the best parts for the entire group was “the feeling of satisfaction knowing you have helped so many people that are ministering to kids.”

“(The trip) helped us get our feet wet with missions trips,” Lewis said, noting the trip required “a lot of logistics” and advanced planning, including raising money for supplies.

Lewis said he hopes to expand RiverPoint’s mission trips, and has an eye toward foreign mission trips in the future. Bur for now, the church is focusing on domestic trips.

“We will definitely go back to Hillcrest again, probably next year,” Lewis said. “It was quite a trip.”