A Full First Day

It seems like a whole week was put into one day.  We started early in the morning with a couple of us having a time of meditation outside.  It was an amazing experience with a symphony of birds serenading us.

The Center's Chapel with a foggy morning background

After breakfast, (thanks to the wonderful soul that made the delicious bundt coffee cake), we started with our first round of devotions.  We talked a lot about faith.  Hebrews says that faith is the "assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things unseen."  Faith is an essential part of a mission trip.  When you come to an area of deep need, you often feel like your efforts are a drop in the bucket.  It takes a lot of faith to know what you do matters. 

Then after a group photo in our new t-shirts, it was off to the work site.

After a 45 minute trip, we arrived in Glenwood, right outside of Bluefield.  We met Estel Proffit, a quite yet resourceful man who has found a way to survive in a trailer with no running water and 12 volt electric supply coming from a generator he rigged up from old auto parts.  For water, he relies on a 25 gallon tank to collect rainwater.

Estel Proffit

Edsel's current trailer

The Front porch of Estel's current trailer

Estel managed to find another trailer that would work better for him, yet it needed a lot of work.  The two work crews that came before us did major work of putting in new outside walls and a floor (yes, the trailer's floor totally fell apart - they had to start from scratch).  Our job is to finish the project.

Getting sheetrock into the new trailer

We started by dividing jobs.  Some were painting, some were putting up sheetrock walls, some were taring out old walls and removing the old, moldy insulation, some were re-doing the deck.

Throughout our work day, we got to know Estel better.  We look forward to having more conversations with him.

Late afternoon, we left the worksite in order to get ready to go to Princeton.  The plan is to go shopping at the Riff Raff arts and crafts store, then dinner at the "Bucha Brewery."   Don't worry - they don't sell anything alcholic - the "bucha" refers to the Kabucha that they make.  We enjoyed panini's and various beverages (some of us were brave enough to try the kabucha). 

We couldn't help but be impressed with what is happening in downtown Princeton.  New stores, restaurants, a brew pub and a coffee house.  Most of this is happening because of the hard work and dedication of Laurie McKinney, her husband Rob (who played at our first Mission Festival) and her sister Melissa, who runs the Stages Music School  Once again, we had the privilege of handing out checks from the proceeds of the Mission Festival.  They were so deeply grateful.

Laurie and Rob performing at Open Mike Night

Then it was on to Riff Raff's concert room called "The Upper Room" for Open Mike Night.  The real surprise we had for the evening was a version of Pharrel Williams' "Happy."  Alison Weaver was the prime instigator behind this performance.  She arranged a version we could sing, got us sold on doing it and led a few rehearsals before going on stage and doing it.  We do have a video of this "extraordinary" performance, but unfortunately it's too large to upload onto this blog, so you'll have to wait!

At the end, we sang another "happy" song - "Happy Birthday" to Nicholas Guetersloh, who turned 15 today.  I am so impressed that Nicholas chose to go on a mission trip for his birthday.  We did reward him, though - Alison Weaver got a local baker to make two cakes, delivered to open mike night.  To say the least, Nicholas was surprised and totally embarrassed to have everyone at Riff Raff singing "Happy Birthday" to him while he was up on stage.

One last story.  While we were in the Riff Raff store, we met a local man named Sean.  Sean was a Marine Vet with traumatic brain injury.  He obviously needed an ear to listen to as well as a cup of coffee to drink.  I took him to the new local coffee house across the street.  He talked about his injuries, his struggles but also his faith that has been getting him through these hard times.  He went with me to the Bucha Brewery where he talked to a few other members of the team.  Mission trip opportunities do come: God puts people in our path and we hope and pray that we will be a blessing and be blessed by them.  Then, as the last act of the evening, Sean gets up on stage at Open Mike and starts playing guitar like a madman.  Go figure!

We are going to bed totally tired but totally grateful for God placing us here to encounter all sorts of people: old friends, strangers that are quickly turned into friends.  And we have three more days of work to go! 

Mission trips can be life intensified, where your faith comes alive in so many ways, most of them unexpected.  It takes a lot of faith, but the rewards are amazing.

Good night - keep praying for us!  We have a full day of work ahead of us tomorrow.