More than 80 teenagers and adults from area churches let actions speak louder than words by participating in mission projects at 12 locations around Franklin and Southampton County.

They did more than 3,000 hours of work and received cash and materials valued at more than $7,000 from residents and businesses.

The volunteers represented Courtland, Black Creek and Smithfield Baptist churches as well as Kingdom Life Ministries, Sharon United Methodist Church, Franklin’s Rock Church and Westminster Presbyterian Church.

One project involved six teens who worked three days to replace the roof on a Boykins home. They also removed six dump-truck loads of stuff from another home in Boykins.

We applaud these volunteers for showing what it truly means to be Christians. Many of us go to church once a week, but watching this group do positive work around the community in addition to that is certainly inspiring.