Final Day

We had a great final day with great weather! 

You'll find a wrap up of each job site below!
We will be getting up and we'll be out of here by 7 am tomorrow!

Its been a great week, but an exhausting week as well.  
We did not finish all of our jobs, but we had a few that were basically impossible to finish in a week.  The poverty level here is simply mind blowing. 
I believe all the youth have had a great week, but I think many of them are also ready to be home and back to their cell phones as well!

See you all soon!

Brian and Karen’s Group

Today was a very productive day; we completed our goal for the week, which was to finish siding on three sides of the house. Everybody worked really hard to try and get the work done. For our homeowner we gave her a picture frame of our picture in it and we all signed it. We noticed she had many pictures hanging up in her house so we thought that would be something special to her. We also took two pieces of wood and nailed them together to make a cross. We painted it blue and put all of our figure prints on it in white. We thought that would be a good way for her to remember us. We had a very good week full of working hard and having fun. We were very happy with what we completed and glad we got the chance to work on this house.

Tony and Kim’s Group

Today we arrived, tired out from our week’s toils, but ready to offer comfort to Mrs. Sarah and her two grandsons (Payton and Kenneth). We arrived, however, to find the boy’s other grandmother watching them while Mrs. Sarah visited her daughter WHO HAD ONLY A BROKEN TOE in the hospital. (Miracles of God!)  We started off our day with a devotion telling us to hang in there for the last day and to lean on God for our strength. Then we gave the grandsons their gifts, a football for 11 year old Kenneth and a Frisbee for 7 year old Payton. They immediately ran outside to play as the rest of us got to work cutting wood, caulking windows, and hammering nails. Payton and I finished making and painting a “table” for his mother, who ended up being able to come home that day! We were packed up; almost ready to go when their car pulled up and let Mrs. Sarah out. We hurried in and she loved our gifts as we presented them to her. She went on and on about how blessed she was and how blessed her daughter was to be as fortunate as they were. (Note: without iPods, cool phones, reliable Internet—she felt BLESSED! I almost wish I grew up like her!). We ended up with her crying for joy (Mya with her), before we all hugged her goodbye and headed off in the vans to Randy’s worksite where we moved some materials around and returned back to the settlement.

Randy and Liz’s Group

Today was our very last day at our work site. It was a very hard and productive day. Even though we did not finish we still worked really hard. We started off the day with barely any of the siding on the front finished and the back wasn’t even started. By the end of the day, we finished with most of the back and front completed. Today we also gave our homeowner a gift. We gave him a fruit basket, a picture, and a toy for his dog, Duke. He seemed overwhelmed, but you could really tell that he really appreciated all we were doing for him. Coming into this week, we didn’t really know the people in our group very well, but as the week progressed we really bonded and became a big family! We have had an amazing trip and we feel so blessed to have had this opportunity.

Rain Drops Keep Falling on my Head

Here is the update on the job sites from some of the youth.  You can tell by their writing that they are having fun and are getting a bit loopy as well.  :-)  We had a great day overall.  Our youth did an amazing job this morning leading the whole camp in devotions.  The group decided to sing "Come Thou Fount" and "Light the Fire"  It was great to be able to just be "in the crowd" and have the youth lead.  They came up with the whole devotion on their own.   Hank did a fantastic job imitating his Dad by giving the message!  

Tomorrow is the last work day!  We will not finish all the jobs, but the youth have worked very hard this week.  Unfortunately, the weather has not been on our side this week. 

Karen and Brian’s Group

            We worked. Hard. Really Hard. Like we were amazing. We put up two sections of siding and had a great, fun, and bonding experience. We didn’t see the homeowners, but hopefully we sent out a wave of passion and self-love. We turned the experience into one where great bonds were built by singing country music as we worked.   I love Alex!  We just decided her new nickname is merp.  Merp Merp Merpity Merp Merp Merp.   Kevin accidently cut the homeowners telephone wire but he was forgiven because that is what good Christians do.  We got a lot done and we are beyond excited to get as much work done as possible tomorrow.  We’ve had a ton of fun so far and we hope to reach our goals of getting the front of the house done.   

Kim and Tony’s Group

We are almost done with the windows. 

We made some great progress today, until something unexpected happened. The daughter of the lady we were working for was in a severe car accident. Someone hit her head on while driving on the highway. Her children were staying at their grandmother’s house (the lady we were working for.) The children were upset to the point of crying. We comforted and wept with them like Romans 12:15 says to do. But the response of the lady we working for was particularly inspiring. Her faith and trust were among the strongest we’ve ever seen. She was obviously upset but had complete trust that God would pull her through. She kept saying that everything would be all right and that it was in God’s hands. She even said if her daughter died that it would be ok because she knew her daughter would be with God. This woman has been through so much. She has lost her husband, lost her leg two years ago in a car accident with her own son, and now is going through this. A lot of people would take this and question God saying “Why me?” But she looks at it as even more reason to trust God. She says that when we go through tragedy, it’s all part of God’s plan, that it might have happened so someone else could know Jesus. She asks who else is there to pull us through it besides God?

Liz and Randy’s Group

Today we started putting up the siding, the weather wasn’t so nice but we dealt with it because we wanted to get our house done for our homeowner. We have been working on the house for almost a week and it has been very fun. Our homeowner Eric is a very nice man even though we don’t see him much. He has the cutest little dog named Duck; he is so cute. I didn’t think we were going to get done with the house in just 4 days but its really starting to come along. I think God put our group together on purpose because we all work well together and we still are ready every morning to go to Eric’s house. Today our group was ready and came prepared a long day of work (we had bandanas on with our names on them and we had put on some war paint under our eyes to make us look tough). I really hope that our group leave a huge impact on Eric’s life.

Day off

Mission Trip – Day Off

Brian and Karen’s Group

Today we went together to Wal-Mart, and we bought a picture frame for our family. We have been helping them with their home and fixing it. We ate at the original KFC and it was so fun and tasty. Then we went to the water park and it was very moist, we swam in nice cool water and had a lot of fun. There where two water slides a blue one and a yellow one. The yellow one oooh it was so slow and dark but that was okay. The blue one you had to use a tube it felt like you were going to fall but it was really fun you should really try it out.

Tony and Kim’s Group

The lady our group is working for revealed that her favorite Bible verse is John 3:16. So, today we went to Wal-Mart and bought her a picture frame with two picture slots. In one of them we’re going to put a picture of her with our group, and in the other will put a picture of a rainbow that we saw driving down the road today above John 3:16. She also has grandkids that are very important to her. Bubbles are a fun and inexpensive toy that can be enjoyed by kids of all ages. We thought it would be a great gift. One of the kids is named Kenith, is 11 years old, and proved to be very helpful on the worksite. He was extremely eager to help, and very talkative. He told us that he played football, and so we bought him a new football and a pump. Lastly, at our worksite yesterday we took two spare pieces of wood, and nailed them together into a cross. Tomorrow we will paint it and write on it all of our names.

Liz and Randy’s Group

Today, the day off it was fun but it was kinda strange not being at the work site and sleeping in. The day was filled with hours of really exhausting fun starting at our journey in Wal-Mart finding the gifts for our families from there we headed off for lunch at the historic and interesting Original KFC (Sanders Café,) from there with bellies full of delicious chicken and sides we ventured to the fun “small” water park where we played, swam, laughed, and so on till we were tired. After we went to dinner to the all known Taco Bell not all went some to Wendy’s, weirdoes. After that we went back to Henderson Settlement tired and full. On the way back we road through a rainbow and saw two others.  It was quite interesting as we went through it started to rain but it rained side ways . After the long ride back we all were strangely filled with more energy and took pictures for the families in the strangely bright orange shirts.  

Special Picture Update

There will be a written update in a little bit, but first I'm going to post some pictures from the last few days!  The youth are currently in their family group devotion times at the moment, and then some will be writing their updates for their family groups!

 Mission Biscuit Checking in to HS the first day.

 Randy and Liz's group project

 Mission Biscuit Helping out

 Enjoying the Jobsite

 Working Hard?!?!

 Mission Biscuit helping out at Karen and Brian's site

 Youth working hard

 Sanders Cafe (Original KFC)

 The chicken had odd effects on some youth.

 Enjoying the water park

 Pausing for a picture

 Group chat time!

 Fun in the wave pool

 Enjoying the lazy river

 Horsing around

 Our morning view during devotions

 One of the rainbows we saw (None of us had actually ever seen the "end of the rainbow", but we literally drove right through it)

 Liz and Randy's Group

 Karen and Brian's Group

 Tony and Kim's Group

 The whole clan

 Our group is leading the morning camp wide devotion tomorrow, so we were practicing the songs)

 Everyone, including Mission Biscuit resting after a hard day's work

 Tony and Kim's jobsite

 Walking to the store for a snack

Brian sitting with the Colonel 

Updates from the eyes of the youth in a few minutes.  Then its time to hit the bed (its already passed lights out)

Culture Clash

 Today was a gloomy "wet" day, but we were still able to get lots of work done.  One weather page said it was going to be clear early afternoon and rain the rest of the day.  Another weather page said it was going to rain early and be clear the rest of the day.  Luckily they were both right on parts and wrong on others.  It looked like it was going to rain all day, but only really rained before breakfast and during lunch.    

Each team is progressing nicely and working hard.  We may not be able to finish all of the projects we came to start, but it is clear the youth can tell that God is using them to bless the families we are working alongside.  

Brian and Karen's Group

Today was quite interesting.  We got there in the morning and got right to it. We got a lot of work done in the limited time we had before lunch.  We were worried that we might not be able to go back after lunch but God cleared up the weather for us to be able to make it and get even more work done.  We were very proud of what we accomplished. The job we had was putting insulation and siding on.  Hunter, Jacob, and Austin took ownership of the back of the house and are determined to finish it on their on by the end of the week. 

Kim and Tony's Group

Today went real well. We got lots of work done. Today my group replaced three more windows, and we painted four. The gentlemen work hard hard and installing the windows, and worked at finishing the windows (trimming, painting, caulking). The girls also played a lot with the babies!  The babies were so cute.  There is also a "pet goat" that hangs around our site!  Max and Andrew W. basically took on a window all on their own and installed a window completely by themselves!  Our group may be done Thursday afternoon and get to go help another group finish up their project! 

Liz and Randy's Group

Today we have started to build parts for the house, the siding mostly.  There was a killer load of hornets. I think we are slowly impacting and changing the homeowners’ lives with every small action at a time. Our group has become more connected, we’ve even given each other nicknames and a team name. Elijah is buzz, Alex is ladder trauma, LT for short, Andrew is baby face, Paige is pip, Justin is blue, Destiny is biggy smalls, Ja’Niya is squeaky, Randy is superman, and Liz is named lucky. WE ARE THE WASP WARRIORS!!!!!!

 

 Tonight we had a bit of a culture clash.  There was a local bluegrass/gospel band that played for the camp.  They played "old time" bluegrass and there were lots of blank stares from our youth! :-)  They were very talented musicians...but in the opinions of most of the youth, many songs "sounded the same".   It was a good "cultural" experience for our group.  

It's a short post tonight because we are all tired!  

We'll check in tomorrow!  Depending on the weather, we'll either be bowling or at the water park!

What would you cut out?

What a great day!  A hot day, but a great one!  Monday's are usually a bit slow on mission trips as the groups are "figuring out their projects".  There is usually a bit of sitting around and a good bit of scratching of our heads.  The youth all did a great job today and were very patient in waiting to really get started on their jobs.  Below, some youth from each group (please refer to yesterday's blog to see who is in each group) gave a synopsis of their day and their job! 

Family Group 1 - Brian and Karen's Group

            Today we started our adventure!!  We met our homeowners, a mom, her brother, her two sons, her daughter, and her grandson.  We made evaluations on what we had to do and what our goals would be.  Besides cleaning up, our BIG job was to install insulation and siding.  We started with the back wall. While covered in sweat and dirt we made it through the day with getting done more than we expected. Everyone worked together and helped each other out, this way we were able to get a lot done. We managed to keep our smiles, while stepping around the sewage. It was a great day!

Family Group 2 - Tony and Kim's Group

            Starting off our day was very exciting for all of us. As we knew that helping others is very important and honoring our commitment to God. We did our very best to be humble, kind, and patient. Our mission is to replace windows, and we got a decent amount done. We did a lot more than replace windows though, we made a bond. We made a bond with Mrs. Sarah as she told us about her trials and tribulations and other moments in her life. Mrs. Sarah (the women we helped) was a nice woman who loved the Lord and her words were very heartfelt when she talked about the Lord. She told us about how the Lord blessed her and brought her through the toughest times in her life. She inspired us to continue to seek God in our lives and to trust in him when adversities arise. Lastly, if Mrs. Sarah can make it through tough times then we can too!

Family Group 3 - Randy and Liz's Group

            Today was a very productive day for our group! When we first got to our worksite, we met only one of our homeowners, Eric Partin. His wife and children were not present today. Although he was not very social, he was still very thankful for our work. Our main job today was taking down all the old siding and insulation from the house. It took us mostly all day. We took turns on the ladders and pulling out the nails. When we weren’t pulling nails we were taking the old scraps out back. Even though we were having a great workday, we still had a very major problem. WASPS! Almost every time we pulled away the siding we saw wasps. Randy was our hero today and killed all the nests. We went through 5 cans of wasp killers, but it still didn’t keep one of our fellow leaders safe. Liz Snyder got stung on our site today, but she was strong and made it through! Since there were so many wasps, we came up with a group name called the WASPS WARRIORS!! We had a little slogan to go along with it too: “Who are we? WASPS WARRIORS! What do we do? CALL RANDY!!” We had a lot of fun today! We finished pulling down all the siding and hope to put up the new siding tomorrow. Lastly, I want to say thank you to our nail collectors, Ja’Niya and Liz!!! WE ARE HAVING SOOOO MUCH FUN! 

From my seat, there are a lot of tired youth and leaders today, but they have what I call that "mission trip glow".  Though their muscles ache and they are dragging a bit, you can still see the excitement in each of them from encountering God through service to others.

I was on the job site with Family Group 2 today and Mrs. Sarah is a very inspiring person.  She was in a car accident a few years ago and had to have part of her leg removed.  She was also born with Spina Bifida (as she said, at a time when they couldn't "fix it" with surgery).  She was also told she would never have children.  And yet, she had one of the most positive outlooks on life that I've seen.  She had a deep faith in God and truly keeps her eyes fixed on God.  It was very cool hearing her tell her story to the youth and leaders of Family Group 2.  It was a reminder that our "work" here has more to do than simply helping someone, but part of our job as well is to build relationships and be open to learning from the lovely people of Frakes, KY.

One last interesting thought for you.  Jerry (the work camp director) shared with us that the average income of the families that we are all working with (all summer long for Henderson Settlement) is barely over $13,000 per household.  This average includes their food stamps they collect.  The unemployment rate in Frakes, Ky is said to be a little over 50%.  Poverty reaches a new level.  They showed a very powerful video that helped us see a different side of poverty.  The main point of the video was to get us thinking about "what would we cut out?"  If your family only brought in $13,000 a year.  What would you cut out of your budget?

Housing?

Food?

Health Care?

Child Care?

Utilities?

Transportation?

Luckily, most of us do not have to make these decisions...but that does not get us off the hook.  It is our job as the church to work toward making sure others do not have to make those decisions either. 

As I heard one pastor say a few years ago...if we are living in excess, it should not be considered waste... We are literally "stealing from the poor."  It changes my perspective when I'm here and stand face to face with poverty.  It is easy to put it out of my mind in my comfortable home back in NC.  It is hard to not feel responsible when its staring me in the face.  

This mornings devotion challenged us to "be pushed outside of our comfort zone."  For me, that discomfort came from thinking about all the "excess" that I live with.  I hate feeling like a thief. 

Safe and Sound

St. Andrew's UMC youth have arrived to Kentucky safe and sound.  We pulled into Henderson Settlement about 5:15 and got settled into our rooms.  We are on the top floor of the mission dorm and are sharing a room with several other churches. 
Thankfully, we had an uneventful trip up here (its never good to have an eventful "travel day")!
We stopped in Shelby as planned for lunch.  So folks ate at Burger King, some at Arby's, some at Sonic, and some at Wendy's.  Luckily, all 4 were right there together. 
There are a little over 200 work campers here this week, so it is a "tight" week.  Because of the large group, we'll be eating in two shifts.  We will eat first shift Monday thru Wednesday (7:30 am, 11:00 am and 5:00 pm).  Thursday and Friday we'll have second shift meals (8:00 am, 11:30 am, 5:30 pm).

Tomorrow we'll all go see our job sites and begin our work!  Luckily, it is supposed to cool off as the week goes on! 

Tomorrow night, we'll post a synopsis of each job site and what the homes are like that we are working on! 

Below, you'll see the work teams!
Pray for each team and the work they'll be doing this week!
We'll all be getting up around 6:00 am!  I know the youth are going to love that!

Liz and Randy's Group
Alex G.
Paige S.
Ja'Niya R.
Destiny R.
Andrew G.
Justin M.
Elijah H.

Kim and Tony's Group
Max S.
Hank H.
Andrew W.
Mya I.
Mackenzie S.
Danisha F.
Shaniya I.
A'Jaya C.

Karen and Brian's Group
Jacob P.
Hunter B.
Austin S.
Zoey I.
Rachel G.
Haley B.
Ashley P
Kayla M.