Our last workday!

Friday was our last day at the worksites! What amazing work and friendships were made this trip!  In addition, it was inspirational to see the changes that happened in our group in just a few short days: we witnessed the incoming freshmen (freshwomen, actually) become enveloped into the community as the outgoing seniors are beginning to say their goodbyes.

The order of the evening was a thorough house cleaning, a hearty meal, a warm send-off by our hosts Carl and Dove, rookie skit (one of the best in years!!) and, finally, a very sweet and personal worship service.  Lots of tears and hugs and laughter are typical at this point in any mission trip and we’re spot-on schedule this year.

Tomorrow morning we’ll wake early for a light breakfast, pack-up and a final once-over and off we’ll head for our whitewater rafting adventure! 

"Our first task in approaching another people, another culture, another religion is to take off our shoes, for the place we are approaching is holy. Else we may find ourselves treading on men's dreams. More serious still, we may forget that God was here before our arrival”

 Max Warren

 

Work & Play & Learning

Pinnacle Rock State Park

We called it our “short day” because it consisted of just four hours of hard work but it’s currently 10:30 pm and we’re just winding down!

After cleaning up and packing up, our Community drove the short distance into Virginia to tour the country’s first exhibition mine.  Raymond met us at the mouth of the Pocahontas Exhibition Coal Mine where he took us on a tour of a formerly active site.  As a 40-year veteran of the shafts, Raymond was able to give a first-hand account of the life of a miner where a man was paid 34 cents per ton of coal before unions and technology were the industry norm.

Pinnacle Rock State Park was our next stop where we were treated to an amazing vista of the area.  It’s impossible to comprehend the awesome magnitude of this mountain range without a birds’ eye view.

Lastly we were blown away by, Marquella, our hostess atYa’Sou, where we were treated to a delicious, authentic Greek dinner.  Marquella was generous enough to share her personal story of the back-to-back floods that ravaged MacDowell County in 2000 and 2001.  Marquella’s remarkable story-telling gift kept the group engaged for over two hours as she recounted the terror, hope and amazing people who helped her rebuild her family’s life...twice!

We are tired, giddy, grateful, and awed by the human and natural beauty that we’ve encountered and well aware of how blessed we are for our remarkable Youth Community and for our lives at home.

Tomorrow we finish up work in MacDowell County and return to the SWAP House to conclude our evening in Worship.  

Our Seniors

Marquella

Hump Day! More loving and learning in Appalachia –

Went to bed Tuesday with the music of Cathead Johnston playing in our heads – (please see the photos on today’s blog) – and woke today ready to go!

Despite the forecast and some ominous clouds, the weather held and we all put in a full day of work. Two groups continued to prepare a HUD apartment complex for an inspection next week. These 14 folks painted, weeded and power washed 20 townhouses and had many opportunities to visit with the grateful and colorful residents throughout the day.

Another group continued work on a major flooring project. This hard working bunch is determined to win the battle against the many layers of linoleum, even breaking a wonderbar (!!) in the process.

Group four had a new project that involved preparing a much-abused rental home for new tenants. This group really earned the showers and hearty dinner waiting for them when they returned to SWAP headquarters in Elkhorn.

Many insights and laughs were had this evening as we explored our personality types and how this translates in how we operate as a community. Be sure to ask your Youth what color they are and how the family reunion planning went!

Tomorrow is our half-day of work. We’ll spend the afternoon touring a local coalmine and then enjoying a meal at YaSou Restaurant run by a West Virginia native named Marquella. She’ll share her family’s history with us while we enjoy both Greek and local cuisine.

Off to mandatory 10 pm lights out – God Bless, Ya’ll!