By CHRISTINE BOATWRIGHT / Staff Writer

PELHAM – More than 130 members of First Baptist Church of Pelham slept on the floor for the week of June 25.

The group, ages sixth grade through senior adults, traveled to the First Baptist Church of Moulton to assist the tornado-torn area with physical challenges and spiritual encouragement.

To celebrate the group’s homecoming, the church in Pelham, located at 2867 Pelham Parkway, is holding a homecoming block party on July 31 from 6-8 p.m. The block party will feature free food, prizes, music, drama, human videos and a puppet ministry. All are invited to attend.

Donnie Sisk, the pastor to students and recreation at First Baptist Church of Pelham, said the team targeted Moulton because it was in the middle of the tornado damage.

“The parents of the pastor at our host church lived in Pleasant Grove. They walked out with the clothes on their backs, not even the keys to their cars. The first people we ministered to lost everything,” Sisk said.

The mission team held five block parties, one for every night in Moulton. During the day, however, the team worked in the area in construction teams and Bible clubs.

“One of our construction teams went to put a roof on a house for a senior adult, but the house was in such bad shape, they basically built a new house,” Sisk said. “They painted everything, and she basically has a brand new house.”

The team also held three backyard Bible clubs in the Moulton/Decatur area. They held a sports camp in Moulton city park, and played football, tennis and dance with the kids of the area.

“We weren’t in the midst of things that were ravaged by the storms; we dealt with people on the peripheral edges,” Sisk said. “We did reach out and minister to those people, but we weren’t in the tornado-torn areas.”

The team will bring a final block party back to its home church in Pelham on July 31. Sisk said all of the creative ministries of the church will perform, including the band and ensemble, acrobat team, human video team, stick team, puppets, stomp group and more.

“This is the first one we’ve ever done at our church. We’d love to have our community come join us,” Sisk said. “It’s not a testimony service. We just want to tell the community we’re here, we’ve always been here and would love to have you join us.”