Colorado youth group lends a hand in Lynn

LYNN – Eight members of the Fuse Youth Ministry traveled across the country to spend some time volunteering on the East Coast.The youth ministry is based out of St. George?s Anglican Church in Colorado Springs, Colo., and group leader Kenneth Emery said they picked Massachusetts as the group?s destination because they had already done various ministry trips on the West Coast.Emery, who is a Lynn native himself, said he did not help plan the trip and was not even supposed to attend.?I was not originally part of the trip, but the youth leader was involved in a bike accident seven days ago,” he said. “The group needed someone who knew the Boston area, so I stepped up.”The ministry came to Lynn under the guidance of YouthWorks, an organization that coordinates mission trips for churches and other groups, and has a location at the Washington Street Baptist Church in Lynn.The group arrived on June 29 and spent the past five days volunteering in the city and other nearby communities.?On Monday and Tuesday, we volunteered in Danvers at a home for the disabled” Emery said. “And with our help, the staff was able to take a group of disabled adults to the Salem Willows.”Emery said the outing included a baseball game, collecting seashells and just sitting and relaxing on the park benches. Later in the week, the group volunteered in Lynn.?We spent a day at My Brother?s Table, where we cleaned, prepped lunch and served food,” he said.Emery felt that serving lunch was a great experience for the kids of the ministry because he feels it is often difficult to tell a person?s struggles by their outer appearance, and many of those who received the free meal looked like “normal people” to the kids.Emery said the trip provided him a chance to visit some of his old favorite eateries, like Charlie?s Seafood on Essex Street and Sub Villa in Saugus. Emery also said the group took time to simply enjoy the change of scenery.?These kids have never really seen Boston or the ocean before,” Emery said, “and the driving seems incredible to them. It?s not something we see in Colorado Springs, the concept of traffic doesn?t really exist there.”Kristin Bornstein may be reached at [email protected].