Once upon a time in the summer of 2020, New Zion Youth Choir and Student Ministry dreamed of serving the San Antonio community through an in-town mission trip. Plans were made to beautify the grounds of Asbury UMC, but these plans were put on hold due to COVID-19. Now fast forward to Saturday, October 3: That dream was finally brought to life.
Students, adult volunteers, and AHUMC staff gathered together at Asbury UMC on a perfect fall Saturday morning to clean out a dozen garden planters and replant them with new perennials that will thrive there for years to come. The effort was headed up by landscape architect and AHUMC member Jan Giles, who also managed to get bags and bags of soil and mulch donated by New Earth. She chose plants that would thrive in this location and created a landscaping plan.
Students--wearing masks and physically distancing--grabbed their rakes and shovels and made quick work of removing overgrown weeds from each planter.
Following Jan’s lead, they carefully tilled in fresh soil and planted rosemary, coral sage, lantana, and wooly stemodia, blanketing each bed with a layer of mulch. And what a difference their efforts made!
As the morning’s work drew to a close, everyone gathered in the breezeway at Asbury and reflected on the time together and the work done. Many students shared their feelings of gratitude at being a part of this restoration project, knowing that it offered something beautiful and helpful to our friends at Asbury. But the other beautiful part of the day was gathering students and those who love them and spending time together in person, doing something meaningful and enjoying each other’s company.
Many thanks to all the students and adults who made this project happen!
