News from WV: Thursday Afternoon

Jimmy Garner wants to let people know...

Having an amazing week, being challenged in my faith as well as physically, which I love. I would just like to thank God for giving me this opportunity to be with these people this week.


John Hoey wants to let people know...

It's Thursday morning. It's been a wonderful week; hot, but wonderful. My crew comes from Virginia, Massachusetts, Indiana, Michigan and New York. One of my biggest fears this week was that my resident wouldn't want us, and the first day she was reluctant and wasn't there at all. We ended up helping another crew down the road who really needed help. By that afternoon we were back at our site, and everything's been great since. The resident has been gracious and generous, and my crew gets along great. Thank you for all of your prayers; they've worked wonders.

Kevin Brown wants to let people know...

So what do I think about Group Workcamp so far? Well, that's hard to say. I'll start out by saying that since the first workcamp that the Youth Group went on I was very unsure of whether or not it is actually worth it. This year Rob told me I was going to go. This was a great thing because chances are that I wouldn't have gone. I never thought it was worth it to give up a week of my summer to "help" people that I don't even know. After two days I realized that this is one of the best experiences ever. I get to spend a week removed from my life and just serve God. I left all my worries and troubles behind and I am all here to do whatever need be. I can completely focus on the job at hand and I know that nothing can interfere. These few days have been some of the most meaningful days of my life and for once I realize what devoting all your time to serving God and the less fortunate truly means! Even through I may not show it, deep down I know that I am truly blessed to be able to go on this trip and take part in this great experience.

Rob wants to let people know...

It's really hard to believe that there is only one day of work left. It's already Thursday afternoon. The week has been so busy, but things are going well. As we were arriving back at school today, some people were reporting that they have finished with their assignments while others are concerned that they won't be able to finish tomorrow. Painting seems to be the job that is hardest to finish. Many of the sites have exterior painting work that is slowed by lack of ladders and the occasional passing cloud burst. Despite short spells of rain, the work days have been good.

My crew is from all over. We have been building a porch and a wheelchair ramp for our residents, Shirley and James. Shirley has been with us every day, but James works as a truck driver and has been away all week. She is very enthusiastic, and has spent a great deal of her time, talking with us. Today she made us lunch: grilled beef sausage, corn on the cob and baked potatoes. Yum!

My crew is very good, and very hard working. They never sit. There are no "slackers," and they have managed to work out the plans for the porch and the ramp without too much input from me. It's actually been quite impressive. We expect to have no problem finishing our work tomorrow. I'm assuming that the weather will be like today. A day of rain would really complicate things for many groups.

Our Youth Group is doing wonderfully. We love being together, and there have been great times of hanging out, playing cards or Frisbee, and just laughing together. The highlight for me, once again, is the youth group devotion times. We seem to grow so close through this time. We sing and pray, and Kevin Capel, our chaplain, leads us through a session that is prepared by Group for us. These times have been so meaningful and it's great to see and hear what God is doing in this situation with these kids.

Thank you for your prayers and love. We are so grateful for BRC, our families and our friends. God has really blessed us, and this experience has only increased my sense of that blessing.

Kevin Would Like People to Know..

It's Thursday afternoon and things are just settling down for the day. I just arrived back from working hard all day on my residents house. The good news is that we finished. The garage, the house and the auxiliary building have all been scraped and painted. The week has been very good, and my role as Chaplain has become consistently easier for me. Green and gray paint all over my clothes may not be the most exciting thing, but it certainly suggests that our crew has had a good time. Walmart and Dairy Queen have never looked so good before. We went there today after completing our duties at the resident's house and picked her up a gift. The flowers (and possibly still coming door mat) will be given to her tomorrow. My crew will then be reassigned to another site to help out the others. West Virginia's vast hills and mountains may make us feel enclosed and surrounded, but that's surely not how I feel here at camp. However, it can still feel like I'm surrounded when Eric is running across the room to play a card in nertz. He can be the most towering mountain of all sometimes.

Mission Trip Update -- Tuesday Morning

So far the weather has been decent. It's been hot, but no rain during our working hours. (There was a great storm during our devotions last night.) The different anxieties people had going into the week seem to have been relieved. Everyone seems comfortable with the situation and a sense of excitement is building. A couple of the members of our group were disappointed that the people whose houses they were working on weren't there. But that may change later in the week. Overall things are going very well. The group is really jelling and some good interactions are happening during group devotion times.

Thank you for your prayers. God is clearly responding to all the questions and concerns we had going into the week.

E-mail a camper.

To your right is a link that says "E-mail a camper". Well to e-mail a camper click on the link. Simple, huh!
Once you're there, select the "Oak Hill WV" on the workcamp list.
It is toward the bottom of the list. Then just fill out the form and click "Submit" and your done!

T-Shirt update

Well, I don't know what everybody else is going to think but the t-shirts turned out really cool. A little different than I expected but still cool. I am counting down the days until I get to wear mine.
Thank you to Laura for helping me!

Commissioning

On Sunday evening, we gathered in the Sanctuary at BRC with about 50 of our supporters for our Commissioning Service. Rich, the pastor or BRC, placed his hands on each of us, and prayed this prayer...

As you embark on this journey,
may you be blessed by the Father's immense love for you;
may you allow yourself to be taught by all that Jesus, your Master and Teacher, has prepared for you to learn;
and may you experience the thrill of being led by the Holy Spirit, as you obey his voice. Amen.

It was great to hear each person on the team spoken to by name as Rich gave them their blessing. I am already grateful for what God is doing for each of us on this team. I'm looking forward expectantly to seeing how all of the elements that Rich spoke of in this blessing will be fulfilled.

Jon would like prayers for...

• Growth Pray that I can grow in the faith.
• A good time Pray that I can have a good time while helping those in need.

Our Prayer Request

This prayer request comes from the Brown family. I guess if we travel together, we should blog together or something like that.

1. Our first prayer request is for the safety of all the groups who will be traveling from all over the country. Also for safety on our sites.
2. Please pray for the families that we will be assisting in Oak Hill. Let us be God's hands and feet and show them your loving and caring ways.
3. Pray for the friendships that will be formed within the work groups and let us work together in the most effective ways on our sites.
4. Pray for the leaders of the workcamp who have been preparing the way for us and the worksites.

T-shirts

T-shirts are on the way. So far the marbled pattern is winning by 4 votes. We will be meeting on Thursday to start transforming the homely white shirts into psychedelic creations.

This is the pattern we are using, but ours will be blue and yellow.

God Walk

So all you do is "God Talk"
Where does that get you?
If all we do is see wrong and do nothing
We are getting nowhere on our "God Walk"

There is a man on the street
He is hungry and cold
As we walk by we exclaim
"May God be with you" How bold!

I ask you this;
Can you tell me you love me
And never give me one kiss?
Can you tell me you love me
But never show me a single moment or true bliss?

So how can you tell me
That you are a Godly man
But never once, not even a single time
Do something with your bare hands?

Meeting 6/13

Besides learning not how to nail your finger to a board, the group went over how to use many of the tools that are going to be used on the trip this evening. Ladders were hoisted to the top of buildings and boards received more than one puncture wound. Now that we know a little more about everything we are going to use, it's helpful to label things. So, that's what we did next. Although the basement is smothered in tools (that's a good thing), everyone managed to get what they brought labeled and together. T-shirts are on there way and the cross is (almost) finished. There's only one meeting left, and that's the commissioning service.

Meeting 6/7

Walking in to find a heaping pile of old smelly shoes may not be the most inviting way to sit down for a workcamp meeting, but it certainly suggests progress in an odd but positive way. Although one may not find a whole lot of significance in used rubber, that pile of shoes will eventually become something that represents the cornerstone of Christianity (hard to believe , huh?). After trekking through some devotions and business, we got to the commissioning service. Jimmy, Josh, Rob will be responsible for the service, but other kids will be responsible for various parts of the service such as a greeting, scripture reading, or prayer. After going through all of that and the service tasks, postcards were then handed out and sorted so they could be sent. Next week will be a skills and safety meeting so we will all know how to use the tools, and also to decrease the likeliness of someone getting hurt. No no needs that.

My Prayer request:

I want to go on this workcamp to help out all the people who need help.
Pray that I get good expierences at helping others.

Prayer Requests

• Safety, that nobody gets injured or sick.
• That we may all work to the best of our abilities to make the houses lok better and bless the people that we are helping.
• That everyone will trust that God will work things out.

5/31 Meeting

Tonight's meeting addressed several issues that are going to be prevalent throughout the trip. After going over the usual sponsor tasks, it was time to dive into the realm of tools. As the group prepares for the trip, each youth, adult, and youth group will be responsible for bringing several items that will aid the group and workers throughout the week. Tonight's meeting over viewed the packing and tool list. As things start to progress to a point where we can hear the sound of hammers and power sanders in the back ground, you know the trip can't be too far away. Let's just be sure not to use a ladder and power sander at the same time.

The trip is approaching, and approaching fast. Tonight's meeting led me to realize that.