Mt. Horeb United Methodist Church was full of young people last week - 105 to be precise.
They were from all over the country and were everywhere when I visited last week. 
In small bunches, they read, relaxed and chatted about the work they did that day.
Why were they there? 
Mt. Horeb was hosting a group from Next Step Ministries, a non-profit ministry from Wisconsin. They provide mission trips for thousands of middle and high school students. College age interns run the trips.
Next Step has a long partnership with Mt. Horeb.
Charity Ramsey, the partnership coordinator told me their aim is long-term community development through short-term missions. 
They serve 17 communities in the US with 10-year partnerships.
Mt. Horeb has developed 4 working partnerships in our area:
Mt. Horeb’s various projects
Mission Lexington (formerly LICS)
The Scooter Scott Project, a United Way youth entrepreneurship program
Turner AME Church in West Columbia 
For 9 weeks each summer, young men and women live and work on various projects. 
Currently 11 work sites are in Lexington County. 
One major project is restoring an old house owned by Turner AME Church with a new roof and repairing and painting inside the house.
After working with Next Step for 5 years, Charity genuinely loves how God uses relationships that develop on the summer projects to bring people closer to him.