After breakfast, we had our first gathering for morning devotions. I talked about Jesus sending out 72 of his followers. He tells them to take nothing: no extra clothes, no food - just the shirts on their back. This is pretty early in the gospel, so this is an example of Jesus tossing them into the deep end to see if they could swim. That is often how it feels like on a mission trip: you don't feel equipped: physically, spiritually and otherwise. But you go anyway, and do what you are called to do. As St. Francis says, you start with what's necessary, then do what is possible, and suddenly you're doing the impossible.
After devotions we waited for Greg, our project manager to come and take us to the worksite. Roger said that he would take us on the "scenic route" and boy was it. The windiest roads going over mountains and through valleys, with only a guard rail between you and a steep drop. We went through tiny villages and towns - many with abandoned houses and buildings. It seemed like we would never get there until at last, we arrived in Wyco.
The first sighting of the church we were to work on was beautiful. A lovely white church with a steeple and a red door, sitting perched up on a hill. We met Geneva at the worksite. She is the daughter of Margaret, the amazing woman I talked about yesterday. Geneva graciously welcomed all of us to the site. She was obviously thrilled to have us.
The project at first seemed pretty straight forward: paint the sanctuary, strip the basement floor and put new flooring in, and do some painting down there. When we saw it and got into it, it became obvious more needed to be done. Thankfully we have master plumber Bob Pespisa with us, who patiently and steadily lead some team members in getting old equipment out and working on the pipes. Others came and stripped many layers of paint off the walls. Others of us painted a significant part of the sanctuary, often up on scaffolding. Pray it holds up!
I was so proud of how this group jumped into this worksite with energy and vision that exceeded what Greg or anyone else had.
Over lunch, Geneva explained that this is the last remaining black coalmining community church left in the county. The church for white coalminers is down the road. It is a clear reminder of the history of segregation. They are working on getting the church on the register of national historic sites, and I belief it definitely has its place.
This church is the not just a church, but the center of the community. As a small town, there is no town hall, no library, no town center. This is the center, where everybody meets.
After a long workday, we went to a Dairy Queen down the road for a much-deserved ice cream before heading back for a delicious dinner, prepared and frozen by Terry Gerrish. Thanks so much Terry - it was delicious and we were clearly thinking of you as we ate.
This evening was a real treat. Rick took a caravan of us to Princeton to the Riff Raff Music Center that our church supports through the Mission Festival and other events. It was Open Mike night at the stage, and we heard many very talented performers. But the best part was getting to see Laurie and Robert - two of the musicians that came up to play at our Mission Festival. They remain deeply grateful for our support and they welcomed us with open arms. It was wonderful to renew and deepen our relationship with them while enjoying some fine music.
Now, we are very tired, and will probably sleep very well. Thank you for all your prayers and your messages to me. It means a lot to be connected with all of you while we are here. Remember - you are all part of the Mission Team!
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