A group of local women is getting a final helping hand as they prepare to embark on a trip of faith and volunteering.

Hector Cervantes, lead guitartist and vocals for the contemporary Christian rock group Casting Crowns, will perform at a Coffee and a Concert event Monday at First Presbyterian Church of Rome’s student ministries building, The Crossing.

All proceeds will go toward helping 10 women from the church go on a mission trip to Albania at the end of the month.

Tickets are $10 each and can be purchased at the church or at the door. Coffee and dessert will be served beginning at 6:15 p.m. with a concert of worship starting at 7 p.m.

“Hector very graciously agreed to donate his time to help us out,” Amy Monroe said. “We are so thankful for him.”

Monroe is one of the women leaving Sept. 30 to go to the capital city of Tirana, Albania. They will also visit the city of Berat before returning home Oct. 8.

“We’re excited but also a little nervous,” Monroe said. “We’ve done a lot of fundraisers over the last three to four months, and this concert is our final one before the trip.”

The basis of the trip stems from a focus on eliminating human trafficking that the Evangelical Presbyterian Church shifted to about two years ago, according to Monroe.

Many women’s ministries, incuding the one at First Presbyterian, have provided assistance and attended fundraising events in Atlanta to help women and girls find a way out of the tragic situation they are in.

The group, which is comprised of women from age 35 to around 60, will spend the first portion of their trip at the Eagle’s Wings Pilot Transitional Home for Girls in Tirana.

The home is run by two Americans who work to transition girls, through faith, out of the way of life that they have known and those at risk of trafficking.

While there, the women will work at the shelter with the girls as well as learn from the people who are there on a daily basis.

They will also have a women’s retreat where they will teach methods on body scrubs, present dental supplies provided by local dentists in Rome and show how to give breast self-examinations thanks to resources provided by Floyd Medical Center.

“The main reason of the trip is to not only help the people there but also learn about how we can help the people of Northwest Georgia when we return,” Monroe said.

After their time in Tirana, the group will travel to Berat, where they will be the guests of a local Evangelical Presbyterian Church and stay with church members.

They will attend church and visit with them as well as go on prayer walks.

Monroe said the process of planning the trip and bringing the women who are going together has been amazing.

“When we started putting the word out about this trip, we had exactly 10 women turn in applications,” Monroe said. “We’ve done a lot to learn about each other and it’s a really unique group that works well together.”

The other women going on the trip are Donna Chadwick, Amy Davis, Kim Groux, Dawn Hayes, Abby Holcombe, Karen Johnson, Sally Johnson, Robin Sorrow and Wendy Whitley.

For more information about the concert or the mission trip call First Presbyterian Church at 706-291-6033.