Over the Hump

Hello from the Mission Team!

Wednesdays on Mission Trips are hard.  The initial excitement is over, and our backs and legs get really sore.  We are tired, but well.  The good thing was this was a day of accomplishments.

Allyson and Chris completed more doors and window trims around the buildings.  Chris even got to use power saws and drills to totally redo a sill that had completely rotted.

Here is the before/after shots of the main dining hall door that Allyson restored.  Pretty impressive, huh?

Rick and John finished staining the log cabin library and earned a well-deserved rest on the front  porch.

Chris, Allyson and John also finished painting a cinder block wall in front of the dining room.

Terry contiinues to be our chef extraordinaire, and then go off to the Wade Center, where kids run and greet her with hugs.  She comes back exhausted but grateful for being with these children.  They kept asking her if her friends were coming tomorrow and she kept assuring them we would.  We are due there for dinner time.  

A couple days ago, the director, Laura, mentioned that she wanted to get marigolds in front of the cinder block wall.  Apparently, they repel snakes (we are going all out to keep poisonous snakes away), plus they would make things look nice.  John picked up the marigolds yesterday and we finally got a truckful of topsoil to create a decent flower bed.  Rick and John spent the afternoon shoveling the dirt out, spreading it and planting the marigolds.  Things definitely are looking better.

Throughout the past days, we've had many conversations with Greg, the project manager here.  Greg must be in his forties and has a 10-year-old grandson.  He lives nearby in Bluefield, but when he is leading a project, he lives in a small shed-like building on the grounds.

Greg has been here for 4 years and is committed to the vision of this place.  He is totally energized when he works with youth.  He showed me a package of letters he got from one youth group thanking him and telling his what he meant to them.  He has many t-shirts from these groups with kids writing and signatures, which he treasures.  He told me that having this job means that he remains unemployed for 5 months out of the year, but the work, particularly with youth is so meaningful to him, he feels its worth the sacrifice in pay.  I cannot imagine a more Christ-like vocation.  He is a real inspiration.  Greg has long conversations and talks a lot to us.  At times, I feel as if I want to just walk away and get back to work.  But talking and listening to Greg is a big part of why we are here, and once I relax and listen, I feel blessed.

Today's scripture was Romans 12:1-2.  Paul writes that considering God's mercies, we should present our bodies as living sacrifices to God.  That seems just right.  Our bodies are feeling the aches and pains of sacrifice.  We gave up time and money to serve here.  We are offering ourselves to serve in any way needed.  We are putting muscle and grit and concentration in our work.  

Paul then tells us that we should not be conformed to the world, but be trasnformed by the renewing of our minds, that we might know the perfect will of God.  This is a call to be counter-cultural.  In a world that tells you to acquire, that celebrates greed even as it decries it, the whole notion of sacrificing goes against the tide.  But in the sacrifice, our hearts and minds are being transformed, renewed, we are finding God's will.  It may not be transparent as we are busy doing our duty, but somehow, the Spirit is working within us.  Mission does transform lives.

We look forward to tomorrow, where we will be meeting people in local communities who have been helped by the Folklife Center, as well as a homeless shelter that is being co-sponsored by the Center.  We then go to the Wade Center with Terry and meet all the kids she has been telling us about.  It should be an incredible day!

Thanks so much for all your prayers.  We send love and prayers to all of you.  Now it is time for bed.

Pastor John