By BARTON PERKINS | Staff Writer

CHELSEA – On Saturday, July 15, members of North Shelby Baptist got up at 5 a.m. and left on what has become an annual mission trip to New York City.

From July 15-22, members of the mission trip walk the streets of the Big Apple and try to converse with pedestrians about faith.

“What they’re doing every day from about 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. is they’re going on the streets of New York, and not trying to be rude or abrasive or catch people off guard , but just trying to have conversations with just people who may have questions about religion or question about faith and religion,” Lead Pastor Jared Cornutt, said.

North Shelby Baptist’s trip to New York is only one of the many mission trips the Church has taken over the past year.

“We try to do a lot of benevolence, ministry and service here in Shelby County and the state and beyond,” Cornutt said.

Recently the church had a service trip to Hanover, Indiana, to help build a church for a congregation that had outgrown its last building. The group that North Shelby Baptist sent to Hanover is called their “Builders For Christ.”

“Builders for Christ will go whenever there’s something that needs to get built,” Cornutt said.  “They also do disaster relief. So, whenever a hurricane hits like New Orleans or Florida or even with tornadoes in Alabama, they go and help.”

Along with the church’s mission work in the United States, North Shelby Baptist plans to send several trips abroad. On Thursday, July 20, a group of high school and college students will be leaving on a trip to Guatemala to build homes and to minister to children.

“We have these home kits that cost $850, and we go to the village there, and we use them to build homes for families in need,” Cornutt said. “We originally asked the church to give money to build two homes which would have $1,700. We wound up raising almost $10,000.”

After the trip to Guatemala, the church is planning a mission trip to the country of Georgia and working to revitalize the Hargis Christian Camp here in Shelby County.

“We do a lot,” Cornutt said.