Invitation

Our team has been invited to share a presentation of our trip to the Senior Life Campers on Monday, August 20.  How exciting!  We will share our experiences like we did in church...show the video...read Cassie's blog that summarizes the trip...and, answer any questions they have.... Bring any other ideas you have.  (We only need to fill 1/2 hour to 45 min.)  Hope you all can make it!  We need to be there by 7 PM.  We will meet at the Zahora house for dinner and carpool from there.

Video

Click Here to watch a VIDEO of our trip!

"That’s the Way I Like It" - by Cassie Falk

Our team had our last meeting for the 2012 mission trip to Philippi, WV, on Monday, May 21. At the meeting, we discussed all the nitty-gritty, last-minute details necessary for the trip and reviewed our packing list, which included everything from flash-lights and bed sheets to long-suffering and servant’s hearts. As important as these details were, Sue reminded us of one of the most important aspects of a mission trip, and one that turned out to be our team motto: “it’s just the way I like it”. 

We had set our departure time for Friday, May 25, at 7:00 AM. Even for a college student like me, who is perfectly content rolling out of bed at 10:30, this early arrival and departure was just the way I liked it. Baylee and Alicia loaded everyone’s luggage into the back of the church bus before we joined hands and prayed for safety during the drive and for God to give us the patience, love, and whatever else we might need during our weekend of service. The bus ride was rather uneventful. Pastor Charlie was determined to spot a bear in the mountains, but unfortunately, the only bears we saw were black silhouette versions on road signs warning us that we might run into a bear. We were also lucky enough to not run into any traffic on the roads, but I think some of us may have preferred traffic to the tiny roadways we encountered in the West Virginia mountains. To help you understand our situation, I drive a very small red ’99 Volkswagen Jetta, and I would have been leery driving my car on those roads, let alone a bus. It’s not only that the roads were small, which would have been uncomfortable enough, but there was a two- or three-foot drop-off on either side. But we had prayed for safety for the trip, and God was faithful to provide. The Lord was also faithful to provide us with the correct pronunciation of Philippi, which turns out to be “fill-a-pea”, not “fill-a-pie”. And thanks to Pastor Charlie, we were all enlightened with the correct pronunciation of Smokey Ray’s, the restaurant where we ate lunch, which, surprisingly, turns out to be pronounced exactly as it is spelled. 

Friday afternoon we were lucky enough to get some work done after unloading the bus and meeting (or re-acquainting ourselves with) Bonnie and Dave, the couple who takes care of the Chestnut Ridge Community Center where we had come to work.  Several of us stayed at the community center to paint bedrooms or even brave the roof, on which lived several nests of wasps. Personally, I went with a group (Sarah, Baylee, Alicia, Pam, Carol, and myself) to Jeff and Lisa’s farm to do extremely demanding work like labor on our hands and knees “stapling” enormous black tarp-like sheets into the soil where the mum fields would be and cuddling puppies. After a long afternoon of work, we re-grouped at 6:30 for a wonderful dinner of scalloped potatoes with ham, salad, and pineapple upside-down cake cooked by Bonnie before collapsing into our beds, exhausted from the drive and puppy-cuddling…I mean, hard work. 

Breakfast was served on Saturday at 7:30. Bonnie and Pam worked together to make French toast for the team. Ed blessed us all with a morning devotional on loving others. Then we split up to the locations where we had worked the previous afternoon. Out at the farm, we finished laying out the tarps on the mum fields and then started assembling the irrigation system for the fields. It was tedious work, just the type of work we like to do! By the end of the work day, those of us on the farm had blisters all over our hands and had also consumed an unlawful amount of freezer pops. All-in-all, a very productive day! We spent the evening at Bonnie and Dave’s beautiful house in the mountains, an old hunting cabin, perfectly peaceful and surrounded by a beautiful mountain view on all sides. We had a small fire started, and Sarah wowed us all with her marshmallow-roasting finesse. 

Sunday was our day of rest and fun, but God was definitely at work in our hearts. We were blessed to attend church at the People’s Chapel down the road from the Community Center. At Sunday school, we learned about green energy and team work from Pastor Rustin. I found the service to be interesting in its differences from our usual contemporary service. For example, instead of focusing on one Bible verse and the issues presented in that verse, Pastor Rustin seemed to focus on a theme and then choose multiple verses to back up that theme. The People’s Chapel was also a lot smaller than our church. The most significant similarity between our churches was that God is definitely present and at work in both. What God can do will never fail to amaze me. This thought was definitely playing in my head at the baptism we attended after the service. It was such an honor to be invited to such a beautiful event. An older man who had lost his wife last year had recently accepted Christ. Weakened by cancer, it was his wish to be baptized before he died. On Sunday, he was walked down the hill and knelt by the water of the creek, where he was baptized in the name of the Lord. It was such an incredible blessing to see someone who had been through so much in his lifetime, someone who could have felt he had a reason to feel bitter toward God, humbly kneeling down and accepting the free gift of Salvation through Christ Jesus our Lord. 

After the baptism, we drove back to the church for a lunch of spaghetti, garlic bread, and fruit cake before heading back out for an afternoon of fellowship and just enjoying each other’s company. We chose “Party Rock” at the Tygart River. After no less than 15 drives up and down the river trying the actually locate the rock, we parked the bus and got out to enjoy the hot sun, the powerful waterfalls gushing out from beneath the rocks, and each other’s company. When we were done at the rock, we stopped at the Dairy King for some ice cream. The rest of the evening was spent back at the Community Center. The teenagers watched a movie, and a group of us sat around a table to play the word association game, a creation of Pastor Charlie’s.

Monday was departure day. Baylee, Alicia, and Coral lead us through a devotional on facing our fears. The girls really challenged us to give our fears over to God. After the wonderful devotional, we were lucky enough to be able to do a few hours of work before lunch. We decided to split into different areas for our last day. I volunteered to get up on the scaffolding to paint the side of the building with Charlie and Coral. The three of us made a good team; we were able to get two coats of paint on the section of the building we were working on. However, although we were only about ten feet in the air, the scaffolding was still a little bit scary. Every time one of us moved, it would shake. That is not to mention the occasional wasp that flew by, creating an internal struggle between the part of me that wanted to freak out and run from the wasp and the part that would really prefer not to fall off the scaffolding. Despite the possible challenges presented by our final tasks, none of us were hurt. We enjoyed one last meal with Bonnie and Dave (leftovers from the weekend), swept and mopped the Community Center, and loaded our things onto the bus.  We said our final good-byes and took lots of pictures before departure. 

Driving through the picturesque mountains of West Virginia, homeward-bound, many of us fell asleep, exhausted from the last four days of serving God and loving others. Each of us had been presented with challenging work, both physically and spiritually. We were asked to do not only the physical work asked of us by our hosts, but we were also asked by God to do it without complaint. As Christians, all of us are asked to follow Jesus’ example and serve faithfully and joyfully in whatever circumstance we are placed, whether we are on a mission trip or in our own homes. I am so proud of our mission team for the work we did and for consistently adopting the attitude that every detail of our trip was just the way we liked it.

Saturday PM

Blog 2

Saturday night …approx. 10:30 pm.

So sorry we couldn’t get an internet connection and were not able to post blogs during our trip.

It is now Saturday night and we just returned from dinner at Bonnie & Dave DeRouchie’s house.  We had a long 2 days so far.  We all worked hard on various projects.  We arrived Friday around Noon and after lunch at “Smokey Rays”, we settled in the community center.  We were then assigned projects and worked until 6 pm.  After dinner, we all cleaned up and had a fun evening resting and playing games.

Saturday breakfast was at 7:30 am, followed by devotions.  We all headed to our work sites by 8:30 am.  Glen & Tylor worked on putting up/repairing soffit and framed out and installed a new T1-11 door in the lower level of the office building.  Ed & Sue volunteered to paint ceilings in the new bedrooms of the community center.  Kay, Barb, and Coral volunteered to paint a deck off the back of the community center.  Sarah, Baylee, Alicia, Pam, Carol, and Cassie went to the farm to help with projects there.  Some of their time was spent laying rolls of plastic for the mums.  I wasn’t there and can’t tell you much about it, so ask them when they get back.  The farm is a really neat place.  We had lunch there today.

Charlie, Logan, and myself (believe it or not) ended up working on another roofing project.  It was just a little awning overhanging the office building, but took us until 4:30 today to finish due to a wasp infestation and a couple delays due to tools.

As I type this, some are still up chatting at a table, some are in bed or getting ready for bed, and Logan & Tylor are lounging on the couches watching the movie “Twister”.

We had a really nice evening at Bonnie & Dave’s house this evening.  They fed us supper….very delicious! …Chicken, baked beans, sweet corn, etc.  and we later made a fire and made S’mores.  There house sits on top of a mountain and has spectacular views from all sides!  Cattle roam, a windmill farm is visible, and the house itself looks like a beautiful mountain retreat cabin.  Pictures of their house will be included in the powerpoint on June 3.

Tomorrow we will attend church with Bonnie & Dave at People’s Chapel.  Since so many of our praise team members are here, we are providing the music during the offering and again for special music.  Then in the afternoon they are having a special baptism down at the creek that we have been invited to.  The man, Johnny Mayle is an older gentleman and a fairly new Christian.  He lost his wife about a year ago and now has terminal Cancer himself.  Please keep Johnny in your prayers.

Remember also to pray for each one of us.  As a “worry wort” there were so many times I thought to myself that something could have harmed or hindered one of us, but God protected us.  Then I remember our church family and the prayers they must be sending up.  We really appreciate our loving family back home.  Thank you!!

Sorry

So sorry!....I was not able to connect to the internet on our trip.... down side to being in the mountains of West Virginia, I guess.  I did type a post on Saturday night planning to add it when we got home.  However, it is on my son's computer and I haven't had access to it.  Since Pastor Charlie's computer was broken, he has been using Logan's laptop and tonight Logan finally got it back.  Unfortunately, he is asleep and I don't want to sneak in his room and wake him since he has school tomorrow.  Hopefully, I can post it tomorrow.

I also asked Cassy to write about her mission trip experience.....so check back in a day or two!

PTL for safety and a good trip!

Gearing up to "GO!"

Well....we are gearing up for another trip to Philippi, West Virginia!  A team of 11 adults and 5 teens will leave this Friday (May 25) for the 4-day mission trip.

Please be in prayer for our entire team over the Memorial Day weekend:  Sue & Glen Sansom, Charlie, Marilyn & Logan Zahora, Barb & Baylee Jenkins, Ed & Kay Pickel, Sarah Pickel, Alicia Dougherty, Coral & Tylor Coulson, Cassie Falk, Cassie's Gramma Pam, and Pam's friend Carol.

We are excited to see what experiences God has in store for us, as well as sharing the love of Christ to those we will be serving.

A big "Thank You" to our church family at New Cumberland First Church of God for your support!  We hope to share a few testimonies about our trip in church on Sunday, June 3.  Don't miss it!

Love & blessings,
Marilyn

A message from Bonnie

Dear Sue and team,  This morning was an unbelievable blessing  in  church!  During the service our Michigan team was able to share how God opened doors for us while we were gone and how He allowed us to minister there.  We immediately were able  to  share how you and the Sicklerville team blessed us here.  Then I took the kids down stairs and gave them their  backpacks.  I really wish you could have seen their faces!  They were overjoyed.  Then one little 7 year old boy said, "We need to stop right now and thank God for sending this church to us.  And we need to pray for them ,too." Another asked, What is the name of the church?"  When I answered,"The Church of God.",  little Elizabeth said,  "Boy, they sure named that one right"..  You touched more lives than you imagined.  Thanks for being obedient to His Word.  Bonnie