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Josh Meyer finds joy in being part of something that helps his community and in helping equip young people for the lives ahead of them. That’s why he considers being the new director of Mowtown Teen Lawn Care and Community Connections a good fit — especially with his background in playing Division 1 baseball, running a construction company, and being a young-adult pastor at nondenominational churches.
At Mowtown, Josh, 30, supervises two full-time adult crews of two people each, and 15 students between the ages of 15 and 18 doing a variety of yard work, landscape maintenance and cleanup. He seeks out jobs, puts together bids, makes sure the crews have all the tools they need, and more.
Besides working, the teenagers in Mowtown also get life-skills training, such as making a budget, setting goals, and learning their personality types and values.
Because of that emphasis, Josh sees them grow and find their strengths.
“One student was given the task of blowing the parking lot,” Josh said. “When he was done, there was not a pine needle on the ground. He was put in a position of using his strengths and gifts. He didn’t want to talk to anybody, he just wanted to do his thing. Not a needle on the ground.”
Another teen rarely talked. But when Josh and a group of kids went door-to-door telling people about Mowtown, the boy surprised Josh.
“Now he is the first one to go knock on doors and give the Mowtown pitch,” Josh said. “I don’t know if it’s because he sees ownership of this and the benefits of Mowtown, but he loves doing it.”
Josh also sees growth in teenagers as they reach out into the community in other ways, such as doing landscaping and cleanup for residents of Habitat for Humanity homes.
Mowtown crews recently did yard work for a refugee from a country in Africa whose government wanted him to kill civilians. Here in Clark County, the man didn’t have enough money for Mowtown to do work for him, so they agreed on a vastly reduced price.
“It’s just a really good picture of how the business model of ministry can open doors to doing good things,” Josh said. He started at Mowtown in April.
“The joys for me are being part of something that adds value to our community. I think if Mowtown ever left, the community would feel it. That’s a good thing,” he said. “And joy is helping young people be equipped for life.”
Article and interview by Bob Sisson
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