July 17, 2026: Despite the heat and under a blanket of haze from Canadian wildfire smoke, 142 volunteers made repairs to 63 properties this week in an eastern Pennsylvania community.
“Well, in the Bible, it says you’ll know Christians by their love,” explained Stuart Wells, who coordinates the annual Mission Trip Birdsboro & Beyond. “You need to be out in the community. If you’re inside a church, it’s not really doing much. You should be out among the people. That’s what Jesus saw, too.”
A member of St. Paul’s UCC church in Birdsboro, Wells is one of the original Mission Trip Birdsboro volunteers who began the service to the community now in its 13th year.
“The community mission was started as a way to live out an example of what it might look like to follow Christ’s teachings, to love your neighbor, service to others,” Wells told the Reading Eagle as he looked over job site assignments posted in the supply sheds behind St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in Birdsboro, where the mission trip is now based.
Conditions No Matter for Mission Trip
Sleeves rolled up as far as they would go, Dawn Fear, another original volunteer, said the heat and haze weren’t a concern as she painted an outdoor set of stairs.
“You know, we don’t really think about the weather,” she said. “Yeah, you get used to it, and you know it’s gonna be hot.”
“The only thing we don’t pray for is rain,” she added with a laugh.
Fear recalls how the initiative began at St. Paul’s UCC in 2014 after the church had sponsored mission trips around the country.
Church members saw a local need, and the passion for the project grew as other local churches joined in to help their neighbors in southeastern Berks County.
“We’re really blessed to be able to do this,” Fear said. “I know the homeowners are grateful for what we do and allow us to be here and help them a little bit because it’s not always easy to ask for help.”
Mission Trip Seeks Help for 2027
The mission trip is already looking for volunteers for next year’s effort, Wells said.
The mission trip serves homeowners who need assistance within 15 miles of Birdsboro.
“Our volunteers come from all walks of life,” the website states. “Some have been church members since their earliest memories, while others have barely ever stepped inside a church, let alone professed a saving faith in Jesus.
“We welcome anyone who desires to care for other people with a love that echoes the heartbeat of God and who are open to receiving into their own lives this same depth of love.”
Volunteers don’t have to be Christian to take part in the mission trip, Wells said.
“There are humanitarians who are worried about the quality of community life and worried about isolation and marginalization,” Wells said.
Those interested can sign up or donate at missiontripbirdsboro.org.
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To read another story about Good Samaritans helping a homeowner in need, read about how military veterans and other volunteers fixed up the home of a U.S. Marine Corps vet in Texas.
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