"....whatever you did for the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me"
2010 Mission Project
"Our church has been involved with mission trips for many years. We have sponsored, prayed for and attended several trips throughout the years. This past year in 2010 we traveled to Oak Hill, West Virginia fo a week long mission trip with a group of 13 people including adults, young adults and teens. When we arrived we were welcomed warmly and enjoyed a tour of the well maintained facility. We stayed at the Lewis Community Christian Center where we enjoyed our meals prepared in the state-of-the-art kitchen by our team members and the team members of the church who stayed with us from Wisconsin, Morning devotions, evening free time and fellowship with our team members.
During our trip we had the amazing opportunity to create a relationship with the family whose house we worked on during the week, complete many tasks in the home which put a smile on the family's face and tears in their eyes and created relationships and bonded with our team members during the week.
We will be attended the same mission trip this year and returning to Oak Hill, WV.
This is a great opportunity for youth and adults alike.
Our team always has a great time in many different perspectives. We laugh and cry for all of the right reasons and we create lasting relationships with the families we work for and work with."
This is the 2010 Mission trip story:
The mission group photo at departure from our church parking lot just after Sunday worship service.
Note: Pastor Ed insisted on wearing the properly colored Carolina-blue tee shirts to help instill a winning attitude with all the team members...be sure to ask him about that when you see him...
On the way down, we typically stop at a restaurant for lunch and dinner.
Whether it's on the menu or not, there is usually some ham involved.
The excellent, clean and secure facility at Oak Hill WV. This place is top notch and extremely appropriate as a staging ground for the work.
We rent high quality, dependable passenger vans for the trip down. Look closely and see that Kevin uses every opportunity to practice his shadow puppet skills....
The host church uses their members as support sponsors..In this case Aubrey (in middle) was our contact. The local sponsors help with equipment and supplies that are needed on site.
Project house prior to work.
Scraping and prep work galore.
Gutter cleaning.
Dawn scrapes by...
One of the most important facets of the trip is the interaction with the family from the project house. The repairs to the house are temporary...people are eternal...
Part of staying at the dorm facility is cooking supper a few of the nights.
Chocolate Souffle? Probably not...but something good...
Different members of the team would volunteer to lead daily devotions in the morning before work started. The time spent getting to know the other members in the morning and evening is a big benefit of the trip.
The host family loved the border that was added in the living room
Interior painting was a big part of the renovations.
Chair balancing skills on display....
Chloie does some face painting...
A very cool mural was part of the interior decorating.....
Obviously some strong stain.....
Joy stains interior woodwork for the new windows that Steve and Ed installed...
Steve trims some facia boards for the exterior.
Jim uses gravity to cool down in late afternoon down at the river....Evenings are typically free to allow team members to enjoy some of the local attractions...
The vaunted Grace Synchronized Sweeping team at work....Part of our duties at the dorm facitilty is to keep the basic cleaning up.
Team members use icecream to cool off in the evening. The icecream shop is just down the street from dorm complex.
The final result was spectacular....and brightened the lives of a wonderful family.
The before.....
The after.....
On the way home Kevin and Jim scout for future painting projects..... the sight seeing available locally...in this case the New River Gorge Bridge....is truly spectacular.
Photos from past mission projects.....
"and I will make you fishers of men....."
Mission Projects: Appalachian Service Project. For several years, every summer Grace has sent a mission group to participate in the service of others in Appalacia by helping to provide better housing to those in need.
Photos from ASP projects
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