By Stan Friedman

WAUSA, NE (April 1, 2014) — A 1951 John Deere “A” tractor restored over the course of two years sold for $4,000 as part of Wausa Covenant Church’s annual camp auction on Sunday.

The event raised a total of $17,856 for the Every Kid A Camper (EKAC) fund, which will pay for 93 young people to attend Covenant Cedars Bible Camp this summer, said Pastor Matt Norlen. The community has an official population of 634.

A family from the congregation donated the tractor in 2012, and the men began the painstaking job of renovating the rusted tractor that had long sat outside. “Their goal was to rebuild it from the ground up and make it look and run new again,” Norlen said.

“The tractor needed engine work and other things like brakes, gaskets, and new tires—and a whole lot of green paint,” Norlen said.

After numerous nights of working on the project, the group finished the tractor this past February. Carlson Home and Auto of Wausa contributed tires, and the men working on the tractor donated most of the other parts and expenses.

This is the second tractor restoration project by men from the church. “The idea behind both endeavors was to develop a fellowship around a mission and to get a wide range of believers, the un-churched, and the under-churched involved in the process,” Norlen said. “In fact, many men from varying Christian denominations joined the crew at differing points of the process.”