UNION — The collaborative, week-long effort known as “The Jerusalem Project” concluded its third-annual local event on Friday.
More than 200 volunteers from various churches within the county spent Monday-Friday mornings working on 22 different homes by building wheelchair ramps, making repairs, painting and doing yard work. In the afternoon, project participants volunteered at project sites such as Union County Pregnancy Center, Ellen Sagar Nursing Home, Oakmont of Union, Jacob’s Well, Union County YMCA, Union County Recreation Department, and others. In the evenings, the groups came together for dinner and a worship service.
On a nightly basis this week, the Facebook pages of numerous local residents included comments about the Jerusalem Project experience and how moving the nightly services were.
Some of the comments left on the Jerusalem Project-Union Facebook page were as follows:
“Thank you all so much for helping out my grandparents, Sonny & Gwen Crocker. What a blessing from God! Your hard work and selfless efforts will never be forgotten!”
“Sad to see an amazing week with Jerusalem Project-Union end. Ministry never ends tho! Blessed & honored to have had another opportunity to serve & build relationships with a couple hundred people. Great stuff….”
“Now, whatever we do next week will be a bit of a let-down.”
The name “The Jerusalem Project” came from Acts 1:8, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
“The Jerusalem Project” originated in 2004 in Cherokee County with 30-40 people and 4-5 projects. The Cherokee County project now has more than 700 volunteers and takes on approximately 40 projects. The Jerusalem Project began in Union County in 2011, and similar projects have also begun in Chesnee.
Staff Writer Derik Vanderford can be reached at 864-427-1234, ext. 29, or by email at dvanderford@civitasmedia.com.













