2014 Mission Trip
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Friday, July 25, 2014
Today is our free day. We had a chance to say goodbye to Ashley who has been a wonderful spiritual and worksite leader from the Team Effort group this week. She has shown great energy through this seventh week of her mission trip summer. We loaded up the dirty clothes and tools and headed toward Nashville, Tennessee. Found a White Castle burger joint to give the younger generation a chance to explore a “slider”. Those that are familiar with White Castle know what I mean, and if you don’t you should join us on our mission trip next summer!
Some of our group toured Vanderbilt University, while others visited a full scale replica of the Parthenon that was originally built for Tennessee’s 1897 Centennial Exposition. This is a pretty amazing replica that included doors weighing 7.5 tons each (which we moved with ease after our muscle building week). Then it was to hotel for a brief period before heading off to Opryland Backstage Grill for supper. Next came the big treat as we scored tickets to the Grand Old Opry performance. The main liner tonight was Carrie Underwood, so even those who don’t usually go for the country music as their favorite, got a great show.
I am now very tired, and tomorrow will be a long drive home. We hope to arrive back at church between 4 or 5 depending on how many restroom breaks are required! See you tomorrow.
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Thursday, July 24, 2014
Sorry for the delay in the updating of the Mission Blog. We finished all our jobs, two of which were unplanned. The unsafe railing was removed and replaced with a stronger version, railing and porch are painted and safety strips applied, roof is sealed up completely, and the termite demolished floor at the back door has been rebuilt. Not bad for 3 ½ days with energetic but not so experienced labor! We wrapped up our session with Connie and her grandson Titus at noon with tears in our eyes and headed back to camp for a lunch and then on to the recreation activity.
The activity was the high ropes and challenge course. First step, haul yourself up about 20 feet. OK, that may not sound like a lot, but after spending several days on site and many of us (speaking for myself now) who push pencils more than weights, that climb is exhausting! Even more so when you know that to cross to the other side you have to walk a steel cable hanging on to nothing more than a swinging rope or your own safety line. Again, don’t shrug it off until you try it. It is not only the physical exertion, but the adrenaline from the fear of heights that wears one out.
On to devotion time where we have been exploring what we think our purpose in life is, or maybe what our God given gift is and where we might use that gift. And then it was on to our chapel time. The closing night is always tough. The theme this year has been how we are broken, and how we reach for redemption. Without going into details, this group which includes four people who have not experienced one of our mission trips, lay their hearts out in the open with each other and supports each other in Christian love. This is where the writer of the blog spent his evening, and therefore you get this a day late. It was worth the wait!!!
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Wednesday, July 23, 2014
With all the rain we have been having, we started breakfast with a foggy walk down to the dining hall to find chicken biscuits with gravy, frozen donuts and cereal waiting for us. Some of the crew has had to sneak through the line a second time to get enough fuel in them to make it through lunch. Today started sunny and hot. The roofing crew really had to be careful today with hydration and sun screen. They made good progress today and it looks like finishing tomorrow is definitely within reach.
The porch and railing is all painted and really looking good and feeling much more solid than when we started. With all those posts, the painting job is slow and meticulous but really makes the front of the house look nice as you walk up.
Now the termite report. We ended up with a 3 foot by 5 foot hole through the floor. We put in two support posts with concrete footings, new floor supports, and wood decking that will be covered by the floor covering tomorrow. Before sealing up the hole we mixed up some termite treatment and soaked the old wood, new wood and all the ground around the foundation. Each board of the decking was cut by a different person, signed with their favorite saying or scripture passage, and then fastened into place by them. Lots of memories will be permanently kept on that site.
Time to get going if I am going to get this sent off before the internet source is shut down. More tomorrow!
Good night!
Your Mission Team (submitted by Kerry Kerr)
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Tuesday, July 22, 2014
It was a blessed start of the day with few clouds and no rain until it was time to clean up. Great progress was made on Connie’s house where we are working this trip. The railing for the porch and the hand rails for the front steps are now complete and a good start was made on the painting of the rails of the porch. The steep side of the roof got stripped of shingles and the protective underlayment is mostly laid.
But I would have to say the biggest accomplishment of the day was not on our work site, but across the street. We have had an audience for most of our time working by Jimmy and Mike who have sat on their front porch enjoying the show since we got there yesterday morning. We have been invited in to use the kitchen to make our lunches, plug in battery chargers for our tools, offered lumber from the back shed, and generally been given complete access to them and their home. During our breaks many of our team has spent time learning the history of Copperhill, and their personal histories as well. They have made us feel wanted, appreciated, and truly blessed to have been assigned this particular work site.
I am sure you will be hearing more of this story on Sunday. Check back tomorrow for more and maybe we can tell you how our termite discovery of late today turns out! Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers as we continue our faith journey!
Your Mission Team (submitted by Kerry Kerr)
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Monday, July 21, 2014
We awoke to a very comfortable morning in the mountains of Tennessee,looking forward to the work ahead of us. As we ended our night last night we were informed that we would be working for a women,who we call Ms. Connie. As we arrived this morning, we began with a small devotional, one that discussed the different skills and talents that we all possess; yet each of us should use our talents and abilities to serve God. Using these different gifts that we each bring to the table, we shingles a roof, built a porch, and of course made a few friends along the way... even a few four legged ones as well. We ended our afternoon in the camp pond, as Rich Tincher bounced our youth off the big BLOB.
With Christ Peace and Joy.
The 2014 Mission Team (submitted by Amy Evans)
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It was indeed roofing and porch construction on our agenda today, right after a quick breakfast and a devotional to start our day on the work site. Did God want us working on this particular house on this particular day? I think so. We took one look at a railing that had been hurriedly placed on the final day of last week’s group and knew we had to make a change, as it just was not safe. So the day started by ripping a good size section of railing down, and then figuring out how to put it back up with the material on hand and make it safe. Still some work to do on that tomorrow and hopefully get started painting. Part of the crew was indeed up on the roof laying down row after row of shingles. They made good progress and at least from the ground view looks very professional. A few periods of light rain made the first half of the day pretty comfortable, but then the sun came out in the afternoon and it made for pretty warm conditions up on that roof. We will return to continue our work tomorrow, come back and check in on our progress!
FPC you have a lot to be proud of with this great group of young adults we have representing us in Tennessee this week!
The 2014 Mission Team (submitted by Kerry Kerr)
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Sunday, July 20, 2014
Good start today with a wonderful commissioning of the 2014 Mission Team before we hit the road. Uneventful travelling got us into the camp at a decent hour and we got to meet our leader for the week. Sounds like we will be working on a roofing project and working on a porch. We will give you more details tomorrow. We must take this opportunity to say thanks to our congregation, friends and family for all you support to enable this team to venture outside the four walls and explore and spread God’s love. Stay tuned for more . . . later. Good night from Copperhill, Tennessee.
The 2014 Mission Team
P.S. Only the Verizon phones work while we are in camp so the best contact would be Amy in the girls cabin and Rich in the boys cabin.
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 Prepping the Team |
.jpg) A Restful Journey |
.jpg) Orientation |