Wherry is an abandoned neighborhood adjacent to what was once an Air Force base in Smyrna, TN. The airfield has become the city airport, but the neighborhood of ranch houses and duplexes built for the families of the enlisted were simply left to fall apart when the base closed. 
Imagine... a half-mile of tree- lined, paved streets with solid brick homes... left to rot! The few residents who have lived there over the years have either trashed it or have been too poor to fix it up. Most of the homes have become unsafe or uninhabitable. Bruce Coble is the mission pastor of Smyrna Assembly Church who has done mission work all over the world. He got the idea of just fixing up one home in Wherry to use to house families in transition or those with simply no place left to go. 
I can't wait to tell you the long version of the story, but the short of it is that the community's board of director's has given Bruce free-reign to continue renovating the neighborhood with his volunteers as long as he can. The desire of this ministry is to be able to show the love of Chirst to those who have no one to help them (Ps. 72:12). It's just a place to work and help people, and Bruce has so impressed the folks there over the last eight years that volunteers are welcome in the community by virture of this hard-fought credibility. 
All in all, it is an amazing story and an incredibly effective ministry. The work is mostly the interior demolition of abandoned homes and the exterior painting of remodeled homes. There are countless other jobs to do, including tearing up or putting down shingles, mowing/yard work, wiring (without electricity!), dumpster-filling, and some construction, like dry-walling. The options for how much your group can contribute to the work at Wherry are unlimited. 
If you can bring work gloves, hammers, hard-soled shoes, paint brushes and buckets, you can do lots of good for free. But if you have raised any extra money, this would be the place to put it. You can buy 5 gallons of paint for $75, for example, or you can get a dumpster brought to the site for $375 and then try to fill it. Anything you can contribute will be spent to facilitate the work you do. The Mission Center where your group can stay is one of the first places they renovated in the neighborhood. It is not luxurious - but it is perfectly adequate for your needs. I can't wait to introduce you to this unique opportunity!
Contact Info:
- Bruce Coble: church: 615-459-3421
- John Key: 615-220-6350
- Smyrna Assembly, PO Box 896, 14119 Old Nashville Hwy, Smyrna, TN, 37167
- www.communityservants.org
After you have made arrangements with Bruce Coble, if you would like to request Kyle to share devotionals with your group, click to fill out a Wherry Request.
