Mark: Well today has been a long day already. Last night and this morning we were allowed to pull an all nighter if we felt like doing. I decided to fall asleep though. So I slept for about 3 hours. Then it was like Jesus was coming down from heaven and a bright light shone! I realized that it was not Jesus it was only our counselors flipping the lights on at 5:30 in the morning. We woke up ate breakfast, said some goodbyes, and circled up for announcements like the usual morning routine. After that we said some goodbyes again. We headed outside to get ready to leave and ended up saying goodbyes again. (I think we will all miss North Carolina and all the participants.) Then we left. So as I say goodbye to ASE and the servants of ASE I say goodbye to you. Thank you one last time and God Bless!
Nikki: 10:45am – We are currently driving through Tennessee on our trek home. As you might imagine, the final day at Servant Event is jam packed, and we neglected our journals yesterday. My job site, along with a few from other sites who didn’t want to go into Asheville, took the opportunity to go climb Mt. Pisgah yesterday. There are some pictures in the photo album, but it was about a 3.5 mile hike total, 2.0 up the mountain and 1.5 down, because we parked by the wrong trail head! Fortunately, there were a few who stayed back by the vans and we had left the keys with them, so we were able to call them and they moved the vans to the closer parking lot for us. It was a VERY exhausting hike up the mountain, but it was exhilarating to be on the peak.
It was a fitting final day activity for ASE 2010. Just as we climbed down off of the mountain yesterday, today we are coming back to the foothills of our busy everyday lives after the spiritual mountaintop experience of Servant Event. It is my personal prayer for all of the youth that they are able to retain some of this experience and carry it into their everyday life. To be sure, it is a challenge. We are moving from surrounding of constant prayer, study, and working and playing together in an environment of Christian love to the world, where we are pulled in many directions by worldly needs and if we are lucky we have a few prayer partners to share with freely and openly – if we are lucky. Even after four years, I do not fully understand how we are able to create the safe, no judgment atmosphere we have at Servant Event that encourages both youth and adult alike to examine themselves and their lives and freely share their hurts, concerns & shortcomings. I do know that is very powerful and something that you can not fully understand without experiencing it for yourself. It is definitely a God thing. His blessing is on this, sometimes in spite of us. I am grateful for the opportunity to be a part of this and hope to continue doing so for many years if it is God’s will. It is definitely a highlight in my year. It renews my spirit.
Rachael: Hmmm. I don’t know what to say. Today was the last day of ASE 2010. It was a great one. I will never forget the people I met, the memories I made, and how this event has changed my life. These people are the best group of kids ever. When you pull together a bunch of teenagers that are on fire for Christ, great things can happen, and they did. This morning was incredibly sad to leave. Not gonna lie, I had some issues stopping crying. But now I can look back and know that I had a great time, met a lot of people and learned a lot at ASE 2010. We are out to lunch now. Bye
Sarah: Yesterday was the all-nighter. After dinner, the kids played the game “Honey, I love you,” which was fun. I actually got a chance to go in the middle this time to try to make someone smile. Then we had community life, and afterward was the talent show. That was quite funny, and I took videos of most of the acts. Also, we revealed our Secret Servants. Mine was Steven from Minnesota; he said that he liked all of my gifts, which made me happy. Then we had spiritual life. The whole foot washing/communion part is one of the best parts of the whole trip. Rachel (NC) from last year was there for that part and we had sharing of the peace before communion. After spiritual life, we started the all-nighter. Nobody bothered watching the movies that were played because we were all too busy hanging our for the last few house that we had together. I spent the night hanging out with Heather (OH), Elizabeth (OH), Zach (N’ville), Tess (WI), Stephen (OH), and SeDell (MD). It was a good time. Eventually Heather & I fell asleep. I think that this was around 3am. This morning was super rough, though, as we all had to say our goodbyes. Basically every girl was crying (myself included) and some guys were also. It took forever to get out because we said goodbye for so long. WI, both MI vans and OH rode in a big convoy, and at our first rest stop we got to switch vans, so I rode to OH until we got to the Cracker Barrel in KY. After lunch, everyone parted ways and we are on our way home.
Adam: I had a wonderful time. I met many interesting people and had some great conversations. I look forward to continuing to serve in Michigan in my home, church, and community.
Seth: Yesterday was a fun free day where we got to go to Asheville, do the talent show, and have an all-nighter. Today was the last day, and I don’t think we would have ever left from the goodbyes. The goodbyes were very difficult. Overall though, the benefits of this trip far outweighed the sad goodbyes. I will really miss one kid in particular. I have mixed emotions. I want to stay, but I know I have to go back to my life in Michigan. I look forward to seeing my family. I’m determined to go back next year. It was one of the greatest trips I’ve ever had. I have learned so much. I don’t want to let it go, and I will try not to. It was a great trip.
Luke: I guess I have to write one more journal. Unfortunately, I’m writing on the way home, which is by far the worst part of the trip. I’m tired, depressed, and my poison ivy is driving me nuts. Saying goodbye was the hardest this year, because there’s no doubt this was the last year I will be going to ASE and also the last time I would see some really close friends. Just looking forward to college now.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Monday
Luke: Today we finished the worksite really fast. So after quick showers we all got in the van and made our way over to downtown Asheville to have lunch at the Mellow Mushroom. I love that place and am determined to build one into my mansion when I’m a billionaire. After that a group of us wandered around downtown for about two hours. We saw lots of really cool stuff, it’s like the whole of downtown Asheville is Hippy-themed. The highlight of our escapades was when we stopped in a bookstore. I originally didn’t really want to go in, but the girls we were with did. My sentiments quickly changed when I saw boxes of legit comic books. Jamie and I looked in those boxes for close to thirty minutes. Of course I bought a couple. It’s pretty sad though. Only 1 day of ASE left. Also I planned it out that this is my last journal. Nikki allows one missed journal the whole week so I saved mine for last. This way I won’t have to worry about writing stuff for the last day. So these are my final words. ASE 2010 has been an amazing experience and I wouldn’t have missed it for anything. Thank you for all your prayers and support and for reading all these journals. God Bless.
Mark: Today was a fairly easy and fast workday. All we had to do was fill in some holes with dirt and take some forms off of our cement job from last Friday. After that we went into downtown Asheville and ate lunch at the Mellow Mushroom. It was a really neat place. I had a cheese pizza that I split with someone else. After lunch we split into two different groups and went shopping in the hippy town called downtown Asheville. We went into some pretty cool stores. One was just like a general store another two were some t-shirt stores and we also went into an ice cream and fudge store. I cannot thank you Hartland for this amazing experience you have blessed me with! Not only have I had so much fun and felt so good about helping people but the friends I have made and the people I have met have made this the best trip I could have ever imagined! I along with Luke will not be journaling tomorrow night. So to all of you who read these may God richly bless you like he has blessed me through this experience! –Mark Calder
Seth: Today we finally finished our worksite. It was a surprise to us, but we did it. It took all day, and it ended with a pleasant goodbye to the Rice family. I am excited for my last day tomorrow, which will hopefully be a day off where we get to go into Asheville and have a lock in at the church. Love you mom and dad, good luck with work.
Adam: Today we finished the work at Cindy’s. She was all misty eyed as we said our goodbyes. I think that she was as thankful for our companionship as she was for the work we did. Afterwards we ate lunch at an all you can eat restaurant and then toured downtown Asheville. The town is a cross between Nashville, Ann Arbor and Royal Oak.
I miss you and love you Lisa and Hannah. See you in 48 hours.
Sarah: Today was a miracle. Our site wasn’t supposed to be finished until tomorrow noon at the earliest, but we did the whole thing today. In the house we had to put down carpet in Rachael’s living room and hallway, finish sealing the roof, and rebuild the landing and stairs for the deck to the front door (among other little things). I got a beautiful tan while I finished the roof, although it’s more like a slight burn. We pulled up two guys, Beau (MN) and Steven (MN), to work on the deck landing. The morning was very frustrating, because it poured. The house crew stayed in Rachael’s trailer during the storm and used the time to be productive and install carpet. It was actually Mike’s first time installing carpet by himself, and he was with three teenage girls who didn’t know anything about the subject, but it turned out pretty well. When I finished with the sealing of the roof (sorry that this journal entry is so unorganized), I hung out by the old septic tank with Meg (OH), Ryan (NC), Chloe (DE), and Kelsey (DE). Ryan had to go into the old tank because they were filling it up with gravel, as it is unusable; it was so funny seeing Ryan get in there, because he had to use his legs and a rake to push the gravel to the back of the tank. Seth went up to him and sniffed and said, “You smell like poop.” It was so funny. And right before we all left site one, Rachael came out to thank us. She and her family were so thankful for everything that we did, but I really feel that I’m the one who benefited. But she pulled me aside to talk to me privately in her kitchen and told me her story of how she got to her present state. It was really touching to know that she trusts me that much and wanted me to know private details about her life. We ended up leaving the site around 4:30, an hour after we usually leave; this meant that our group got back to the church from the YWCA about dinner time. Hartland had kitchen duty, and then the rest of the night passed as usual. PK (MN) really instilled in us the fact that ASE is just about over. It’s kind of depressing, because this is the end for me. I am so grateful that I’ve been able to experience the past three years down here. But now it’s time for bed, so I will hand the computer over to Rachael.
Rachael: Words cannot even describe what a great day today was. I have met people here that I know I will be friends with for a lifetime. It is amazing how closely you can grow with people in such a short time. On Sunday some of the other youth here gave testimonies up at the altar in front of Emmanuel Lutheran Church and a few words that really stuck with me were “I have made better friends here than I have in my whole life back at home” which is hard to imagine but it is so true. This trip is truly an amazing experience and I wish that I could go back again next year, but unfortunately since this is my second year and I have to give some other youth participants at my church a chance to experience the awesomeness of the Appalachian Servant Event. Tonight is the last night I will ever journal for this event, which to me is sort of sad in a way. I wish you all a blessed summer. Goodnight
Mark: Today was a fairly easy and fast workday. All we had to do was fill in some holes with dirt and take some forms off of our cement job from last Friday. After that we went into downtown Asheville and ate lunch at the Mellow Mushroom. It was a really neat place. I had a cheese pizza that I split with someone else. After lunch we split into two different groups and went shopping in the hippy town called downtown Asheville. We went into some pretty cool stores. One was just like a general store another two were some t-shirt stores and we also went into an ice cream and fudge store. I cannot thank you Hartland for this amazing experience you have blessed me with! Not only have I had so much fun and felt so good about helping people but the friends I have made and the people I have met have made this the best trip I could have ever imagined! I along with Luke will not be journaling tomorrow night. So to all of you who read these may God richly bless you like he has blessed me through this experience! –Mark Calder
Seth: Today we finally finished our worksite. It was a surprise to us, but we did it. It took all day, and it ended with a pleasant goodbye to the Rice family. I am excited for my last day tomorrow, which will hopefully be a day off where we get to go into Asheville and have a lock in at the church. Love you mom and dad, good luck with work.
Adam: Today we finished the work at Cindy’s. She was all misty eyed as we said our goodbyes. I think that she was as thankful for our companionship as she was for the work we did. Afterwards we ate lunch at an all you can eat restaurant and then toured downtown Asheville. The town is a cross between Nashville, Ann Arbor and Royal Oak.
I miss you and love you Lisa and Hannah. See you in 48 hours.
Sarah: Today was a miracle. Our site wasn’t supposed to be finished until tomorrow noon at the earliest, but we did the whole thing today. In the house we had to put down carpet in Rachael’s living room and hallway, finish sealing the roof, and rebuild the landing and stairs for the deck to the front door (among other little things). I got a beautiful tan while I finished the roof, although it’s more like a slight burn. We pulled up two guys, Beau (MN) and Steven (MN), to work on the deck landing. The morning was very frustrating, because it poured. The house crew stayed in Rachael’s trailer during the storm and used the time to be productive and install carpet. It was actually Mike’s first time installing carpet by himself, and he was with three teenage girls who didn’t know anything about the subject, but it turned out pretty well. When I finished with the sealing of the roof (sorry that this journal entry is so unorganized), I hung out by the old septic tank with Meg (OH), Ryan (NC), Chloe (DE), and Kelsey (DE). Ryan had to go into the old tank because they were filling it up with gravel, as it is unusable; it was so funny seeing Ryan get in there, because he had to use his legs and a rake to push the gravel to the back of the tank. Seth went up to him and sniffed and said, “You smell like poop.” It was so funny. And right before we all left site one, Rachael came out to thank us. She and her family were so thankful for everything that we did, but I really feel that I’m the one who benefited. But she pulled me aside to talk to me privately in her kitchen and told me her story of how she got to her present state. It was really touching to know that she trusts me that much and wanted me to know private details about her life. We ended up leaving the site around 4:30, an hour after we usually leave; this meant that our group got back to the church from the YWCA about dinner time. Hartland had kitchen duty, and then the rest of the night passed as usual. PK (MN) really instilled in us the fact that ASE is just about over. It’s kind of depressing, because this is the end for me. I am so grateful that I’ve been able to experience the past three years down here. But now it’s time for bed, so I will hand the computer over to Rachael.
Rachael: Words cannot even describe what a great day today was. I have met people here that I know I will be friends with for a lifetime. It is amazing how closely you can grow with people in such a short time. On Sunday some of the other youth here gave testimonies up at the altar in front of Emmanuel Lutheran Church and a few words that really stuck with me were “I have made better friends here than I have in my whole life back at home” which is hard to imagine but it is so true. This trip is truly an amazing experience and I wish that I could go back again next year, but unfortunately since this is my second year and I have to give some other youth participants at my church a chance to experience the awesomeness of the Appalachian Servant Event. Tonight is the last night I will ever journal for this event, which to me is sort of sad in a way. I wish you all a blessed summer. Goodnight
Monday, July 19, 2010
Sunday
Adam: Today was our day of worship and rest. Kids from various groups spoke at each service and gave their “testimonies”. Also, it is very important that we remember all the kindness the Emanuel Lutheran Church has shown us here in North Carolina. They have fed us and housed us and have made this event possible. Their charity to us allows us to show charity to North Carolina.
Lisa and Hannah… I will be home soon. I have been praying for you both and our families back home have been in our prayers.
Seth: Today we got the opportunity to go to church. It was especially nice because we got to sing, now, one of my favorite songs God is Mighty to save and listen to testimonials from our group. We also received letters of encouragement from one another which was nice. Unfortunately Nick broke his ankle on the slip and slide. It is a good day of worship and rest. Love you mom and dad, good luck with work.
Rachael: We just ate dinner, we had a barbeque. It was amazinggg, hamburgers hotdogs and lots of yummy sides. I love the food here. It is so awesome that all the food we eat was either donated or someone was kind enough to pitch in and buy all 60 of us breakfast lunch and dinner for 10 days. It’s incredible. Tonight we are doing community life (playing games with everyone) and then spiritual life (pretty self explanatory). Tuesday we would usually go into Ashville and eat at the oh so famous Mellow Mushroom. But I am pretty sure that we won’t be able to this year because the family we are working for wants us to be there on Tuesday so that they can thank us. which is a blessing in itself. Well I am off to visit people!! Bye
Luke: Today was interesting. Got up early for church and ate breakfast and went to early service. After that service we had a bible study in the cafeteria and then sang for both the traditional and the contemporary service. We also got to listen to all the testimonials from different ASE members. It was pretty cool seeing friends go up there and talk about ASE and what it means to them. After all the church services we took pictures and then had a bunch of free time to do whatever we want. So of course we set up a slip and slide. Unfortunately someone broke their ankle after about thirty minutes in so we had to stop. It was pretty epic because the kid didn’t cry. He just sat there and took it and asked me for his Nintendo DS so he had something to do at the hospital. Tomorrow should be fun. Our group is splitting up and about six of us will be going to a little plumbing site while the rest stay to finish up around the church. We’ll finish the church early, so we’re planning on spending the rest of the day at Ashville AKA mellow mushroom. So hopefully it will be a lot of fun.
Mark; Well today we had church. We went to the early service and also the late praise and also traditional service. We sang at both of the later. After church we built a custom slip and slide! Which was a lot of fun. But during all the fun we unfortunately had someone break their ankle which required a hospital visit. Fortunately he is back at the church and spending the night here! That is all for tonight because I am really tired as it has been a long week! Goodnight everyone!
Sarah: This morning we went to the 8:30 service for church, and we wore our ASE t-shirts. There were also testimonies, and I was someone who gave one of these; I spoke at the 11:00 traditional service. I have been blessed with the opportunity to talk about the difference that ASE has made in my life for the past 2 years, and I’m really glad that I got to do it this year too. Heather was my speaking buddy. For lunch we had pizza, which was incredible, and after that we took pictures in our matching shirts, first as a whole group, and then as individual state groups. The rest of the day was ours to spend as we wished. One of our wishes was to make a slip ‘n’ slide with a giant tarp, but that ended as soon as Nick (Monroe, MI) broke his ankle and had to be taken to the hospital via ambulance. He was a trooper though, and he didn’t cry or whine or anything. In fact, what he really wanted was his Nintendo DS. Afterward, all of the girls who went on the slip ‘n’ slide took showers, because we were covered in grass and mud. Then I fell asleep on one of the couches. When I woke up, Zach (Northville) was sitting next to me, and he took Kelsey’s (DE) camera and just took random pictures and videos for awhile, so we had some fun doing that. Then we played with Meg’s (OH) Icy Hot, which was an adventure. Dinner was good, and Rachel (NC) from last year’s ASE was there again, so it was great to see her. Our routine after dinner was the same: state groups, community life, spiritual life, and chapel. I just love chapel. That’s all for tonight.
Nikki: I forgot to mention in yesterday’s journal that the man I spoke to at Marshall worked at the River Rouge factory for a time in his younger days. It is not uncommon here, when talking with older men, to find when you tell them you are from Michigan that at some point they lived in Michigan and worked in one of the factories. I also met a man at Marshall that worked at the GM factory on Bristol Road. Sometimes it is amazing to realize how small our world is.
Today was a relatively laid back day, with the exception of the broken ankle and hospital visit already mentioned by the others. Adam did his journal early in the day today, before this happened. The youth who broke his ankle was the only from his church, along with one adult leader. They rode down with MI Northville, so did not have a vehicle. Adam volunteered to take the counselor to the hospital and stayed with them, so he was there for about seven hours today.
Spiritual Life was very interesting tonight. Since our topic this year is questions people have about Christianity, and there are so many pastors here (5 in all) we had the opportunity to submit questions for a panel discussion on the questions we have. There was quite a variety, ranging from “Is kissing considered pre-marital sex?” to “What happens to babies who die before they are baptized?” to “Will we recognize each other in Heaven?” Overall, we had good discussion. Occasionally the responses got over the kids head, but they were quick to follow up with an additional question. I pray that the youth all were able to take something from the evening
Lisa and Hannah… I will be home soon. I have been praying for you both and our families back home have been in our prayers.
Seth: Today we got the opportunity to go to church. It was especially nice because we got to sing, now, one of my favorite songs God is Mighty to save and listen to testimonials from our group. We also received letters of encouragement from one another which was nice. Unfortunately Nick broke his ankle on the slip and slide. It is a good day of worship and rest. Love you mom and dad, good luck with work.
Rachael: We just ate dinner, we had a barbeque. It was amazinggg, hamburgers hotdogs and lots of yummy sides. I love the food here. It is so awesome that all the food we eat was either donated or someone was kind enough to pitch in and buy all 60 of us breakfast lunch and dinner for 10 days. It’s incredible. Tonight we are doing community life (playing games with everyone) and then spiritual life (pretty self explanatory). Tuesday we would usually go into Ashville and eat at the oh so famous Mellow Mushroom. But I am pretty sure that we won’t be able to this year because the family we are working for wants us to be there on Tuesday so that they can thank us. which is a blessing in itself. Well I am off to visit people!! Bye
Luke: Today was interesting. Got up early for church and ate breakfast and went to early service. After that service we had a bible study in the cafeteria and then sang for both the traditional and the contemporary service. We also got to listen to all the testimonials from different ASE members. It was pretty cool seeing friends go up there and talk about ASE and what it means to them. After all the church services we took pictures and then had a bunch of free time to do whatever we want. So of course we set up a slip and slide. Unfortunately someone broke their ankle after about thirty minutes in so we had to stop. It was pretty epic because the kid didn’t cry. He just sat there and took it and asked me for his Nintendo DS so he had something to do at the hospital. Tomorrow should be fun. Our group is splitting up and about six of us will be going to a little plumbing site while the rest stay to finish up around the church. We’ll finish the church early, so we’re planning on spending the rest of the day at Ashville AKA mellow mushroom. So hopefully it will be a lot of fun.
Mark; Well today we had church. We went to the early service and also the late praise and also traditional service. We sang at both of the later. After church we built a custom slip and slide! Which was a lot of fun. But during all the fun we unfortunately had someone break their ankle which required a hospital visit. Fortunately he is back at the church and spending the night here! That is all for tonight because I am really tired as it has been a long week! Goodnight everyone!
Sarah: This morning we went to the 8:30 service for church, and we wore our ASE t-shirts. There were also testimonies, and I was someone who gave one of these; I spoke at the 11:00 traditional service. I have been blessed with the opportunity to talk about the difference that ASE has made in my life for the past 2 years, and I’m really glad that I got to do it this year too. Heather was my speaking buddy. For lunch we had pizza, which was incredible, and after that we took pictures in our matching shirts, first as a whole group, and then as individual state groups. The rest of the day was ours to spend as we wished. One of our wishes was to make a slip ‘n’ slide with a giant tarp, but that ended as soon as Nick (Monroe, MI) broke his ankle and had to be taken to the hospital via ambulance. He was a trooper though, and he didn’t cry or whine or anything. In fact, what he really wanted was his Nintendo DS. Afterward, all of the girls who went on the slip ‘n’ slide took showers, because we were covered in grass and mud. Then I fell asleep on one of the couches. When I woke up, Zach (Northville) was sitting next to me, and he took Kelsey’s (DE) camera and just took random pictures and videos for awhile, so we had some fun doing that. Then we played with Meg’s (OH) Icy Hot, which was an adventure. Dinner was good, and Rachel (NC) from last year’s ASE was there again, so it was great to see her. Our routine after dinner was the same: state groups, community life, spiritual life, and chapel. I just love chapel. That’s all for tonight.
Nikki: I forgot to mention in yesterday’s journal that the man I spoke to at Marshall worked at the River Rouge factory for a time in his younger days. It is not uncommon here, when talking with older men, to find when you tell them you are from Michigan that at some point they lived in Michigan and worked in one of the factories. I also met a man at Marshall that worked at the GM factory on Bristol Road. Sometimes it is amazing to realize how small our world is.
Today was a relatively laid back day, with the exception of the broken ankle and hospital visit already mentioned by the others. Adam did his journal early in the day today, before this happened. The youth who broke his ankle was the only from his church, along with one adult leader. They rode down with MI Northville, so did not have a vehicle. Adam volunteered to take the counselor to the hospital and stayed with them, so he was there for about seven hours today.
Spiritual Life was very interesting tonight. Since our topic this year is questions people have about Christianity, and there are so many pastors here (5 in all) we had the opportunity to submit questions for a panel discussion on the questions we have. There was quite a variety, ranging from “Is kissing considered pre-marital sex?” to “What happens to babies who die before they are baptized?” to “Will we recognize each other in Heaven?” Overall, we had good discussion. Occasionally the responses got over the kids head, but they were quick to follow up with an additional question. I pray that the youth all were able to take something from the evening
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Saturday
Adam: Today we went white water rafting. It was a nice trip. We went down the French Broad river and it was cool. There were some challenging spots and one raft flipped and another got stuck. It was fun to be had by all. Afterward, the kids went to Sonic for ice cream.
Seth: Today we got to sleep in for a little bit and then went white water rafting. It was fun; a lot of people fell into the water. After raftin’ I ate ice cream at Sonic, and I am stuffed and really full. Love you mom and dad, good luck with work.
Luke: We got to sleep in today. 8:30 am… although come to think of it that’s about four hours earlier than I usually wake up in the summer. Rafting was today. This year the water was flowing at 1000 cubic feet per second, which was much faster than last year. It was really cool because right in the middle there was a heavy rain and the surface of the water looked amazing. I went in a raft with five other people from servant event instead of the individual ducky and that was a lot of fun. At one point we were in a calmer part of the river and played “king of the raft” and kept throwing each other off. After we got back from rafting we had snacks in the parking lot of the rafting center. I have poison ivy on my wrist and it’s really gross, I’ve been wrapping it up in athletic tape to keep it from itching and that seems to be working pretty well, but it’s annoying still. Tomorrow is church and then the ASE 2010 barbeque. I’m going to see if we can set up a slip n slide on the hill. Should be fun!
Sarah: Whitewater rafting was the order of the day today. I was in a raft with Kelsey (DE), Joey (MD), Sarah Frusti (Northville, MI), Chloe (DE), and Mark. It was a good time, even though our guide was kind of a party pooper. Jumping off the cliff into the deep part of the river was fantastic; we raft on the French Broad, just so that everyone knows. The water was much deeper this year than it’s been any other year that I’ve gone rafting here, so the rapids were much bigger and faster. There was even a bunch of rain, and we could hear thunder in the distance. I did not fall out of the raft, although I got close once or twice. The rest of today was a free day until community life; Nikki took us to Sonic, which was fun. For community life, we drew pictures on the sidewalk with chalk, and we were supposed to depict the meaning of servant event. In spiritual life, we continued to discuss questions that non-Christians ask of Christians. We always have very interesting discussions in our small groups. Also, we got our t-shirts tonight that we will wear tomorrow for church; I am doing a testimony for the third year in a row, and I am really looking forward to it. Plus, Heather (OH) will be doing hers at the same service, so I have a buddy when I get nervous. Now it’s time for bed.
Rachael: Today was definitely my tired zombie day. It was hard to function because of the sleepiness. We went white water rafting today and it was a blast!! Tuesday is the big day, we go into town and shop and then later that night is the talent show and then the all nighter. My night officially just got better because my dear friend Sarah Frusti just got me Dorito’s. I would say that is a good ending to today’s journal. Night all
Nikki: Since I didn’t journal yesterday, I will share a little about my experience at Marshall. I spent awhile talking to an 84 year old local gentleman. After finding out a little about me and our group, he shared with me the wisdom of his years – take exercise, be good to your woman, refrain from drinking, etc. We had a very nice visit, which included us singing “You are My Sunshine” together. I also spent some time on the dance floor, both ‘slow’ dancing and clogging. Some of their slow songs are not exactly slow, but neither are they the fast paced songs of clogging, so they call them slow songs and couple dance accordingly.
Today was a pretty laid back day. We went rafting and I was in a boat for the first time instead of a ducky (inflatable kayak). I decided that I am just a ducky person and should probably stick to that in the future. We did get to hear some history of the area and the river in the boat, but I didn’t care for the amount of time we spent going backwards or sideways. At least now I can say I’ve tried it. We had every kind of wheather on the trip - overcast, pouring rain, drizzle, and then sunshine.
Mark: Whitewater rafting was the main part of the day today! It was so much fun and Sarah has already told you who was in our raft I wont bother renaming the people. When we first got put into the water we could not paddle together at all! I thought we were not even going to be able to complete the rapids! After some instruction however our guide told us that by the end he could have us ready for class 5 rapids. (we were on class 2 and 3) …I think he lied to us though. By the end we weren’t ready for class 5 rapids but we definitely had gotten a lot better and learned to row together! As it turned out we were one of the best groups that were going down the river that trip! After rafting we came back to Emmanuel and had some free time which some of us went to Sonic and some just laid back and relaxed. (I choose to go to Sonic) (We definitely need more of them in Michigan!!!) It is time for my departure from the computer now though so bye all!
Seth: Today we got to sleep in for a little bit and then went white water rafting. It was fun; a lot of people fell into the water. After raftin’ I ate ice cream at Sonic, and I am stuffed and really full. Love you mom and dad, good luck with work.
Luke: We got to sleep in today. 8:30 am… although come to think of it that’s about four hours earlier than I usually wake up in the summer. Rafting was today. This year the water was flowing at 1000 cubic feet per second, which was much faster than last year. It was really cool because right in the middle there was a heavy rain and the surface of the water looked amazing. I went in a raft with five other people from servant event instead of the individual ducky and that was a lot of fun. At one point we were in a calmer part of the river and played “king of the raft” and kept throwing each other off. After we got back from rafting we had snacks in the parking lot of the rafting center. I have poison ivy on my wrist and it’s really gross, I’ve been wrapping it up in athletic tape to keep it from itching and that seems to be working pretty well, but it’s annoying still. Tomorrow is church and then the ASE 2010 barbeque. I’m going to see if we can set up a slip n slide on the hill. Should be fun!
Sarah: Whitewater rafting was the order of the day today. I was in a raft with Kelsey (DE), Joey (MD), Sarah Frusti (Northville, MI), Chloe (DE), and Mark. It was a good time, even though our guide was kind of a party pooper. Jumping off the cliff into the deep part of the river was fantastic; we raft on the French Broad, just so that everyone knows. The water was much deeper this year than it’s been any other year that I’ve gone rafting here, so the rapids were much bigger and faster. There was even a bunch of rain, and we could hear thunder in the distance. I did not fall out of the raft, although I got close once or twice. The rest of today was a free day until community life; Nikki took us to Sonic, which was fun. For community life, we drew pictures on the sidewalk with chalk, and we were supposed to depict the meaning of servant event. In spiritual life, we continued to discuss questions that non-Christians ask of Christians. We always have very interesting discussions in our small groups. Also, we got our t-shirts tonight that we will wear tomorrow for church; I am doing a testimony for the third year in a row, and I am really looking forward to it. Plus, Heather (OH) will be doing hers at the same service, so I have a buddy when I get nervous. Now it’s time for bed.
Rachael: Today was definitely my tired zombie day. It was hard to function because of the sleepiness. We went white water rafting today and it was a blast!! Tuesday is the big day, we go into town and shop and then later that night is the talent show and then the all nighter. My night officially just got better because my dear friend Sarah Frusti just got me Dorito’s. I would say that is a good ending to today’s journal. Night all
Nikki: Since I didn’t journal yesterday, I will share a little about my experience at Marshall. I spent awhile talking to an 84 year old local gentleman. After finding out a little about me and our group, he shared with me the wisdom of his years – take exercise, be good to your woman, refrain from drinking, etc. We had a very nice visit, which included us singing “You are My Sunshine” together. I also spent some time on the dance floor, both ‘slow’ dancing and clogging. Some of their slow songs are not exactly slow, but neither are they the fast paced songs of clogging, so they call them slow songs and couple dance accordingly.
Today was a pretty laid back day. We went rafting and I was in a boat for the first time instead of a ducky (inflatable kayak). I decided that I am just a ducky person and should probably stick to that in the future. We did get to hear some history of the area and the river in the boat, but I didn’t care for the amount of time we spent going backwards or sideways. At least now I can say I’ve tried it. We had every kind of wheather on the trip - overcast, pouring rain, drizzle, and then sunshine.
Mark: Whitewater rafting was the main part of the day today! It was so much fun and Sarah has already told you who was in our raft I wont bother renaming the people. When we first got put into the water we could not paddle together at all! I thought we were not even going to be able to complete the rapids! After some instruction however our guide told us that by the end he could have us ready for class 5 rapids. (we were on class 2 and 3) …I think he lied to us though. By the end we weren’t ready for class 5 rapids but we definitely had gotten a lot better and learned to row together! As it turned out we were one of the best groups that were going down the river that trip! After rafting we came back to Emmanuel and had some free time which some of us went to Sonic and some just laid back and relaxed. (I choose to go to Sonic) (We definitely need more of them in Michigan!!!) It is time for my departure from the computer now though so bye all!
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Friday
Adam: We worked at covering trenches today and knocked off early and toured a local town. I bought and quickly ate a jar of homemade dill pickles. Also, Pastor Chris took the crew out for ice cream. In the course of a week the site #2 group has really grown. They are not only working as a team better but I think they are really considering some of the spiritual questions that are being asked of them. One boy in the group had mentioned that he was discerning a call to the ministry.
Please keep my wife Lisa and daughter in your prayers. While I am here they are serving by letting me go.
Hugs Lisa. Hugs Hannah.
Sarah: My chaperone Mr. Adam is the best. This morning Sarah (MD) and I finished working on the main bathroom with its new linoleum. If I ever put down linoleum again, it’s going to be in a very long time. I am sick of it. It’s okay as long as you can just put down entire squares, but when you have to start measuring small corners and cutting the pieces to fit around pipes, it becomes a pain in the butt. I also got to seal the roof of Rachael’s trailer, which was neat. Rachael Asher was my spotter, since she was sick of digging, and when I finished for the day, she put two handprints of sealer on me. Even with a longer shower, I was unable to get it all off. The problem with sealing the roof is that it’s a trailer. I can’t go towards the middle by more than a yard from the edge, so I have two brushes of different lengths. The benefit of this job is that I should get a nice tan; I haven’t seen much sun action all week. Around 7:00 pm we left for the Marshall dance hall, which was great. I love going to Marshall so much; it is all bluegrass music sung by local musicians, and all of the people there love seeing us ASE kids when we come. Mark really impressed me with his dancing skills. Seth really made my day though, because when he and I danced together, he randomly said, “So did you hear about the cookies we get after the dance?” And I was really confused and said, “I’ve never had cookies here before in my life.” Then he was confused and said that someone had told him that we got cookies. It was just fantastic, partly because it was kind of ridiculous and partly because it was so random. Tonight was a good night, and I am exhausted, so I am going to hit the hay.
Seth: Today we put the septic system in, filled in the trenches, and put the pipes in the new trenches at the worksite. After we got back, we went to Marshall and danced. It was a lot of fun. I get to stay up to twelve, after chapel. Love you mom and dad.
Luke: Today we worked at the church since we finished our worksite. We got to landscape a better drainage system and some stairs and that project took most of the day. It also involved cement, and before it dried we wrote ASE 2010 in the wet concrete. I thought that was really cool as this is probably the last ASE I’m ever going to attend and it makes me feel good that I left my mark at the place I’ve spent my summer at for the last three years. We went to Marshall again today for the hoedown. That was really fun and I was pumped about it for a while afterward… so much so that Seth and I freestyled in the car on the way home. Until tomorrow.
Mark: Since we finished work at our site yesterday we worked on the church grounds today and fixed up some of their pipes. Somehow that took the whole day! We managed to finish up though and we might get a partial project site to work on for next Monday. Today after dinner we all went to the little town of Marshall again. This time however we went to their old train depot which they turned into a little country song and dance station. That was so much fun! However it is midnight and that is the curfew for tonight. So goodnight to all and to all a very good night!
Rachael: Today was a very exhausting day. I have to admit I was really lazy at the worksite. Instead of digging I decided to go work on the house so I assisted in putting in some linolium floors, and I spotted Sarah when she climbed the ladder to the top of the house. It was probably the easiest job ever and I loved it. Today was also marshall dance. That was great, I clogged a little. I don’t think I did it right though. It’s getting late though, it is 12:17am. But the good part is that I get to sleep in till 8:30am tomorrow:D We have white water rafting tomorrow and I am so excited!! Last years was a blast well I am pretty tired. Goodnight.
Please keep my wife Lisa and daughter in your prayers. While I am here they are serving by letting me go.
Hugs Lisa. Hugs Hannah.
Sarah: My chaperone Mr. Adam is the best. This morning Sarah (MD) and I finished working on the main bathroom with its new linoleum. If I ever put down linoleum again, it’s going to be in a very long time. I am sick of it. It’s okay as long as you can just put down entire squares, but when you have to start measuring small corners and cutting the pieces to fit around pipes, it becomes a pain in the butt. I also got to seal the roof of Rachael’s trailer, which was neat. Rachael Asher was my spotter, since she was sick of digging, and when I finished for the day, she put two handprints of sealer on me. Even with a longer shower, I was unable to get it all off. The problem with sealing the roof is that it’s a trailer. I can’t go towards the middle by more than a yard from the edge, so I have two brushes of different lengths. The benefit of this job is that I should get a nice tan; I haven’t seen much sun action all week. Around 7:00 pm we left for the Marshall dance hall, which was great. I love going to Marshall so much; it is all bluegrass music sung by local musicians, and all of the people there love seeing us ASE kids when we come. Mark really impressed me with his dancing skills. Seth really made my day though, because when he and I danced together, he randomly said, “So did you hear about the cookies we get after the dance?” And I was really confused and said, “I’ve never had cookies here before in my life.” Then he was confused and said that someone had told him that we got cookies. It was just fantastic, partly because it was kind of ridiculous and partly because it was so random. Tonight was a good night, and I am exhausted, so I am going to hit the hay.
Seth: Today we put the septic system in, filled in the trenches, and put the pipes in the new trenches at the worksite. After we got back, we went to Marshall and danced. It was a lot of fun. I get to stay up to twelve, after chapel. Love you mom and dad.
Luke: Today we worked at the church since we finished our worksite. We got to landscape a better drainage system and some stairs and that project took most of the day. It also involved cement, and before it dried we wrote ASE 2010 in the wet concrete. I thought that was really cool as this is probably the last ASE I’m ever going to attend and it makes me feel good that I left my mark at the place I’ve spent my summer at for the last three years. We went to Marshall again today for the hoedown. That was really fun and I was pumped about it for a while afterward… so much so that Seth and I freestyled in the car on the way home. Until tomorrow.
Mark: Since we finished work at our site yesterday we worked on the church grounds today and fixed up some of their pipes. Somehow that took the whole day! We managed to finish up though and we might get a partial project site to work on for next Monday. Today after dinner we all went to the little town of Marshall again. This time however we went to their old train depot which they turned into a little country song and dance station. That was so much fun! However it is midnight and that is the curfew for tonight. So goodnight to all and to all a very good night!
Rachael: Today was a very exhausting day. I have to admit I was really lazy at the worksite. Instead of digging I decided to go work on the house so I assisted in putting in some linolium floors, and I spotted Sarah when she climbed the ladder to the top of the house. It was probably the easiest job ever and I loved it. Today was also marshall dance. That was great, I clogged a little. I don’t think I did it right though. It’s getting late though, it is 12:17am. But the good part is that I get to sleep in till 8:30am tomorrow:D We have white water rafting tomorrow and I am so excited!! Last years was a blast well I am pretty tired. Goodnight.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Getting 'er done
Adam: Today things started pulling together at site #2. We laid the tile pipe in the French drain, added gravel, and even had two runs covered by the time we knocked off for the day. Hopefully, Ms. Cindy’s basement and yard are improved by the work we are doing. We got to know more about Cindy as well. She has a chronic disease that causes her veins and arteries to curl. We looked it up online and apparently many people have their hands/feet amputated as a result of the disease. She is also the survivor of domestic violence. She had a previous boyfriend stab her and break her neck. Cindy definitely needs our help and our prayers.
Last night in spiritual life we discussed why God allows some to suffer. It was a very emotional conversation and many of the kids and adults were moved to tears. The pastor leading the discussion is definitely challenging the kids with the “big questions” of faith.
Hannah and Lisa, I am missing you more and more.
Mark: Well we finished the work at the site today! So we decided to head into a small town called Marshall I don’t think they even have one stoplight in the town!!! While we were there we walked up and down the streets and went into 2 stores. The first being a little store that had a bunch of candy bars and drinks and it was basically a 2 aisle Meijer! The second was a coffee shop where our leaders rewarded us for working so hard with a drink! It was so nice of them! Today is laundry day! So we are at Coin Laundry doing our loads! I think mine is done, and I unfortunately don’t have anything else to write about. So goodnight and bye!!!
Sarah: Today at the work site, I worked a lot in the bathroom of the main house. First, Nancy (Northville, MI) and I had to go in and make sure that there were no nails sticking up, because nail heads that are not flat with the floor will cause the linoleum to be uneven. The floor had terrible dry rot, so the already substantial holes were made even bigger as we got rid of the loose debris in them so that the putty would stick. We swept it multiple times, and then we put putty in the holes to make them flat. After they were dry, Mike put me in charge of sanding the floor to make everything smooth. I was pleasantly surprised to hear that he thought the sanding had been done quite well. Then Sarah Mullen (MD) and I started laying the linoleum. Also, Mike picked up a handicapped toilet last night at Lowe’s, so we will install that tomorrow after Sarah and I finish the floor. We started installing the carpet in Rachael’s house too, and tomorrow we will finish that. All of the stuff for the septic system arrived today, so two of the trenches are finished, I think. The Rices are so grateful and happy to have a new septic system and for Rachael’s house to get fixed up. Besides the carpet, we also installed a new door for her trailer. At the moment, we are at Fiesta Laundries as we clean our clothes. Our state group went to the Family Dollar as our clothes washed and bought some stuff for our Secret Servants. Overall, today has been an excellent day, and I cannot wait for tonight’s spiritual life and chapel afterwards.
Luke: We tried tricking all the other groups into thinking we had a lot more work to do still by saying that our septic tank exploded. However, they didn’t buy it and now everyone knows that the group from site three is completely done with their worksite. BTW they didn’t let me help out with site one like I had asked. Instead, we got there late today because we needed gas, and then got finished in the first hour. Then we got to hang out at Marshall. Don’t get me wrong… messing around at Marshall was no picnic (actually we kinda did have a picnic at the park), but I couldn’t sit back and relax because the people in our group were caught up in a giant nerf gun war. The Marshall park was an epic battlefield. After that we wandered around the town and then met up for some coffee at the local coffee place. I was really tired so I got something with a lot of espresso in it, but it only made me more exhausted. When we had gotten back from the Y I passed out on my cot and slept til dinner, and now I’m sitting waiting for my clothes to get out of the dryer. Busy days at ASE. Looking forward to slacking off some more tomorrow.
Seth: Today we woke up, and finished the extra twenty feet of the trenches. Then the truck arrived and we unloaded the whole septic system and put some of it in. At the end of the day we filled in the trenches and went home. We did laundry today; I am excited for tomorrow. Love you mom and dad, good luck with work.
Rachael: It gets harder to do work at the work site every day. But yet we got 95% done with the septic stuff!!!! :D this week has been so amazing. I’m so sad that this is the last year I can go on this trip. There is just so much you learn that you can’t learn any other way than experiencing it. The people we work for are amazing. And to see how thankful they are is such a great feeling. Now one girl named Rachel might come to church Sunday which is soooo awesome!!! I hope she does. But my laundry is now done so I have to go fold! Bye
Nikki: I have very mixed emotions about the work being finished at our site so early. We had some great fellowship time hanging out in Marshal today, but I can’t help feeling that I should still be working on a project. Tomorrow our group will be working here at the church on a few landscaping things, but it doesn’t sound like there is a full days work. There is still Monday and typically a half day of Tuesday for work days too. I hate the thought of frittering them away when we have all come here to serve. On the plus side, I feel like I am connecting a lot more with the kids this year than I have in the past. Maybe it is because James is approaching this age and I have learned to have fun with him and his class. I hope that he will want to come to ASE next year. This event is a great fit for his personality and skills.
Last night in spiritual life we discussed why God allows some to suffer. It was a very emotional conversation and many of the kids and adults were moved to tears. The pastor leading the discussion is definitely challenging the kids with the “big questions” of faith.
Hannah and Lisa, I am missing you more and more.
Mark: Well we finished the work at the site today! So we decided to head into a small town called Marshall I don’t think they even have one stoplight in the town!!! While we were there we walked up and down the streets and went into 2 stores. The first being a little store that had a bunch of candy bars and drinks and it was basically a 2 aisle Meijer! The second was a coffee shop where our leaders rewarded us for working so hard with a drink! It was so nice of them! Today is laundry day! So we are at Coin Laundry doing our loads! I think mine is done, and I unfortunately don’t have anything else to write about. So goodnight and bye!!!
Sarah: Today at the work site, I worked a lot in the bathroom of the main house. First, Nancy (Northville, MI) and I had to go in and make sure that there were no nails sticking up, because nail heads that are not flat with the floor will cause the linoleum to be uneven. The floor had terrible dry rot, so the already substantial holes were made even bigger as we got rid of the loose debris in them so that the putty would stick. We swept it multiple times, and then we put putty in the holes to make them flat. After they were dry, Mike put me in charge of sanding the floor to make everything smooth. I was pleasantly surprised to hear that he thought the sanding had been done quite well. Then Sarah Mullen (MD) and I started laying the linoleum. Also, Mike picked up a handicapped toilet last night at Lowe’s, so we will install that tomorrow after Sarah and I finish the floor. We started installing the carpet in Rachael’s house too, and tomorrow we will finish that. All of the stuff for the septic system arrived today, so two of the trenches are finished, I think. The Rices are so grateful and happy to have a new septic system and for Rachael’s house to get fixed up. Besides the carpet, we also installed a new door for her trailer. At the moment, we are at Fiesta Laundries as we clean our clothes. Our state group went to the Family Dollar as our clothes washed and bought some stuff for our Secret Servants. Overall, today has been an excellent day, and I cannot wait for tonight’s spiritual life and chapel afterwards.
Luke: We tried tricking all the other groups into thinking we had a lot more work to do still by saying that our septic tank exploded. However, they didn’t buy it and now everyone knows that the group from site three is completely done with their worksite. BTW they didn’t let me help out with site one like I had asked. Instead, we got there late today because we needed gas, and then got finished in the first hour. Then we got to hang out at Marshall. Don’t get me wrong… messing around at Marshall was no picnic (actually we kinda did have a picnic at the park), but I couldn’t sit back and relax because the people in our group were caught up in a giant nerf gun war. The Marshall park was an epic battlefield. After that we wandered around the town and then met up for some coffee at the local coffee place. I was really tired so I got something with a lot of espresso in it, but it only made me more exhausted. When we had gotten back from the Y I passed out on my cot and slept til dinner, and now I’m sitting waiting for my clothes to get out of the dryer. Busy days at ASE. Looking forward to slacking off some more tomorrow.
Seth: Today we woke up, and finished the extra twenty feet of the trenches. Then the truck arrived and we unloaded the whole septic system and put some of it in. At the end of the day we filled in the trenches and went home. We did laundry today; I am excited for tomorrow. Love you mom and dad, good luck with work.
Rachael: It gets harder to do work at the work site every day. But yet we got 95% done with the septic stuff!!!! :D this week has been so amazing. I’m so sad that this is the last year I can go on this trip. There is just so much you learn that you can’t learn any other way than experiencing it. The people we work for are amazing. And to see how thankful they are is such a great feeling. Now one girl named Rachel might come to church Sunday which is soooo awesome!!! I hope she does. But my laundry is now done so I have to go fold! Bye
Nikki: I have very mixed emotions about the work being finished at our site so early. We had some great fellowship time hanging out in Marshal today, but I can’t help feeling that I should still be working on a project. Tomorrow our group will be working here at the church on a few landscaping things, but it doesn’t sound like there is a full days work. There is still Monday and typically a half day of Tuesday for work days too. I hate the thought of frittering them away when we have all come here to serve. On the plus side, I feel like I am connecting a lot more with the kids this year than I have in the past. Maybe it is because James is approaching this age and I have learned to have fun with him and his class. I hope that he will want to come to ASE next year. This event is a great fit for his personality and skills.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Wednesday
Sarah: Today was yet another day working on the house. It is kind of slow, because it’s all repair work, so we can’t just go in and do something. Whatever we are fixing must be examined, taken apart, fixed, and then if it goes smoothly, we can put it back together. Many times, there is something else wrong for which we must compensate, such as the house not being plumb or things not being measured or cut correctly. Sometimes we have to go get extra parts to finish what we’ve started. It can be a long process. Today we finished Rachael’s windows; we put in the last part, since they’re storm windows. We also finished her kitchen floor, which was neat. We laid the rest of the plywood and paper, and then we got to work laying the linoleum squares. I had to measure and cut many of the squares that needed to go in places where a 1’ by 1’ piece wouldn’t fit. PK started working on putting in a new window in Rachael’s bathroom. Her original window was the same size as the rest of the windows, but her shower covered up most of it; besides that, it was in bad shape. So he took that out and replaced much of the area where the window had been with wood; this means that we need to get some metal to replace the side of the house that now does not have a window. We’ll be using the extra linoleum flooring to redo the bathroom floor of the main house. We did not get a handicapped toilet today, and I have no idea when it will be coming. I feel like I am not helping much, though, because there is so much time in between jobs on this house, and not enough shovels for me to go down to the trenches and dig. An inspector came today and brought us some unpleasant news. Since the trenches were being dug around the water line, the digging crew had to cover up the twenty feet on the side where the pipe was and re-dig another twenty feet on the other side of the trenches. Everyone was so angry, especially PD (DE). He is very intense about his site, which is basically always a septic site. Usually more on the site is finished at this point in time than what we have done. But we did have a pleasant surprise for lunch. The Rice family bought us about eight Hot ‘n’ Ready pizzas, and we were so excited and happy. Then we had a massage train going, which felt wonderful. To break in her new kitchen floor, Rachael taught those of us who are working on her site how to salsa. It was so much fun, and Chloe (DE) filmed the whole thing on my camera. She and I had so much fun together, and I sang “A Whole New World” from the movie Aladdin to her. It was fantastic. We have done a lot of bonding since ASE began, even though we didn’t talk that much last year. And Mike put me in charge of the linoleum process, which was super neat. I think that it’s really cool that he trusts me that much to be in charge of a huge part of our job site. And then we came home and I hung out with Heather (OH), who is the coolest person in the world! We are best ASE buddies. That’s basically it for tonight. Off to state meetings.
Luke: Wednesday… its getting harder and harder to get up in the morning and I’m getting more and more sore. We really didn’t have all that much to do today but it turned out that we didn’t have all the materials we needed so Nikki ran back and forth from Lowes like fifty times while Jamie and I sunbathed on the roof of the house we’re working at. I got a little burnt around the shoulders. Tomorrow I’m seeing if I and a couple other people can transfer over to site one to do some heavy digging. Site three is basically done… and if we go there tomorrow we’ll just finish in the first hour and sit around doing nothing until we go back. I finally got around to playing basketball on my free time today. Either other stuff that I wanna do is going on or something else is being held in the gym, but I finally got in there and taught everybody how to play one bounce. Servant Event is going great and I can’t wait until tomorrow.
Adam: Sorry I forgot to journal yesterday, I was swept up with the business of servant event. Today went well at site 2. We moved rock, dug, burned a huge brush pile all morning, and even went water moccasin hunting with Ms. Cindy. She has a couple of ponds and sells her coy fish on craigslist. She said the water snake was hurting business. In the end, Cindy won and the snake sleeps with the fishes.
The kids at my site are awesome. They are good kids, hardworking, etc…we have some interesting conversations in the trenches. The girls at the site dance and sing in the van on the way back and the boys, or most of them sleep… Moral of the story: the girls are tougher.
Love you Lisa. Love you Hannah.
Rachael: Today was an adventure. We figured out that where we tried to dig our trenches was over the main water line and that is “against code” so we had to close in the trench over 30 feet!!! And rebuild it it was not good news but we did it and had fun! I have so much fun with everybody here, I’m dreading leaving!! I was so incredibly sore today when I woke up. I just hope tomorrow is better. I am looking forward to this weekend going to Marshall and white water rafting. But I have to go now! Buhbye
Mark: Well I have to hurry up because I only have about 6 minutes but today was really good! I know I said that we should get all our work done easily by today but we had a couple setbacks and we have to go back tomorrow to finish it up! I went under a crawlspace while we had to do some plumbing work. We are moving along really well and this time we should be done by the morning. I have to go now though so bye.
Seth: Today was fun. We started the day off by doing the same thing, digging. Unfortunately, we learned that we had to dig an extra twenty feet on each ditch because of a waterline. Today, everyone was more talkative and we had a good time. Love you mom and dad, good luck with work.
Nikki: I had a new experience today – I spent some time in the crawl space of the house we are working on assisting for some plumbing repair. The home is a double wide on a crawlspace, so there was not a lot of room down there. The project was hooking the line for the gray water (washing machine) into the main line to through the septic system. It was previously just piped out to the top of the hill behind the house. One of the youth on our site actually works in plumbing and he did the actual repair. This was maybe a half hour of my day, but was memorable. I am not sure when the last time is that I army crawled…probably when the boys were little.
The rest of my work day was spent running back and forth to Lowe’s for supplies. It is about a 15 minute trip from our site one-way. By the time you get there, find what you need and check out, then return, it takes anywhere form 45 minutes to 1 hour per trip, and I made four today.
Spiritual life tonight was excellent again. The main question was “If there is a god, why do people suffer?” I really like the theme this year, which is questions Christians are asked y the world. I wasn’t sure that I would in the beginning. It seemed like these big questions might cause more doubt and questioning for the youth, but it has sparked some excellent conversation, sharing, and prayer time. I have been in groups where a youth has said “I don’t really have an answer for that question, because I wonder that myself.” The good thing is that they are in an environment where they can share those musings without fear of ridicule and they receive good support and input. This answer has been the exception and not the rule though. I think that it is good to openly discuss some of these really philosophical questions that we all have struggled with or wondered about at some time or another in our life.
In one week we will be home. It doesn't seem like we have been here long enough yet for htat to be the case.
Luke: Wednesday… its getting harder and harder to get up in the morning and I’m getting more and more sore. We really didn’t have all that much to do today but it turned out that we didn’t have all the materials we needed so Nikki ran back and forth from Lowes like fifty times while Jamie and I sunbathed on the roof of the house we’re working at. I got a little burnt around the shoulders. Tomorrow I’m seeing if I and a couple other people can transfer over to site one to do some heavy digging. Site three is basically done… and if we go there tomorrow we’ll just finish in the first hour and sit around doing nothing until we go back. I finally got around to playing basketball on my free time today. Either other stuff that I wanna do is going on or something else is being held in the gym, but I finally got in there and taught everybody how to play one bounce. Servant Event is going great and I can’t wait until tomorrow.
Adam: Sorry I forgot to journal yesterday, I was swept up with the business of servant event. Today went well at site 2. We moved rock, dug, burned a huge brush pile all morning, and even went water moccasin hunting with Ms. Cindy. She has a couple of ponds and sells her coy fish on craigslist. She said the water snake was hurting business. In the end, Cindy won and the snake sleeps with the fishes.
The kids at my site are awesome. They are good kids, hardworking, etc…we have some interesting conversations in the trenches. The girls at the site dance and sing in the van on the way back and the boys, or most of them sleep… Moral of the story: the girls are tougher.
Love you Lisa. Love you Hannah.
Rachael: Today was an adventure. We figured out that where we tried to dig our trenches was over the main water line and that is “against code” so we had to close in the trench over 30 feet!!! And rebuild it it was not good news but we did it and had fun! I have so much fun with everybody here, I’m dreading leaving!! I was so incredibly sore today when I woke up. I just hope tomorrow is better. I am looking forward to this weekend going to Marshall and white water rafting. But I have to go now! Buhbye
Mark: Well I have to hurry up because I only have about 6 minutes but today was really good! I know I said that we should get all our work done easily by today but we had a couple setbacks and we have to go back tomorrow to finish it up! I went under a crawlspace while we had to do some plumbing work. We are moving along really well and this time we should be done by the morning. I have to go now though so bye.
Seth: Today was fun. We started the day off by doing the same thing, digging. Unfortunately, we learned that we had to dig an extra twenty feet on each ditch because of a waterline. Today, everyone was more talkative and we had a good time. Love you mom and dad, good luck with work.
Nikki: I had a new experience today – I spent some time in the crawl space of the house we are working on assisting for some plumbing repair. The home is a double wide on a crawlspace, so there was not a lot of room down there. The project was hooking the line for the gray water (washing machine) into the main line to through the septic system. It was previously just piped out to the top of the hill behind the house. One of the youth on our site actually works in plumbing and he did the actual repair. This was maybe a half hour of my day, but was memorable. I am not sure when the last time is that I army crawled…probably when the boys were little.
The rest of my work day was spent running back and forth to Lowe’s for supplies. It is about a 15 minute trip from our site one-way. By the time you get there, find what you need and check out, then return, it takes anywhere form 45 minutes to 1 hour per trip, and I made four today.
Spiritual life tonight was excellent again. The main question was “If there is a god, why do people suffer?” I really like the theme this year, which is questions Christians are asked y the world. I wasn’t sure that I would in the beginning. It seemed like these big questions might cause more doubt and questioning for the youth, but it has sparked some excellent conversation, sharing, and prayer time. I have been in groups where a youth has said “I don’t really have an answer for that question, because I wonder that myself.” The good thing is that they are in an environment where they can share those musings without fear of ridicule and they receive good support and input. This answer has been the exception and not the rule though. I think that it is good to openly discuss some of these really philosophical questions that we all have struggled with or wondered about at some time or another in our life.
In one week we will be home. It doesn't seem like we have been here long enough yet for htat to be the case.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Sunshine!
Nikki: We are experiencing multiple technical difficulties. I am posting what we have so you can hear from us and will work to resolve these issues this afternoon. More on work, etc at that time.
Mark: Well today we had our first full work day! We got so much done! It’s so much fun working with so many different people talking to them and getting to know where they come from and how they live. Today I jumped over a kid who is over six feet tall!! ….he was standing in a 2-3 foot ditch. We have so much fun on the worksites its amazing how much we are able to accomplish though when are minds are set to do it! Well that is all for today! So talk to you all tomorrow and I hope everything is going very well back home!
Luke: Have I mentioned yet that the food here is enough reason to go by itself? I wouldn’t mind being locked in an isolation cell for a week as long as they let me eat the food. But we get to dig, which is an added bonus. Speaking of digging… we’re done. I thought I’d set the record last year with three days, but we got this site done in 1 and a half. I have no clue what we are going to do for the rest of the week. Probably even more local service projects, like cleaning up old people’s lawns or something. Whatever happens I’m sure it will be worth it.
Sarah: Today I worked in the houses. We needed to shore up the floor underneath the toilet in the main house on the Rice’s property, so we had to take their toilet out. Therefore, they have no toilet. PK and I worked on that, and Bethany (DE), Lindsay (WI), and Mike (DE) worked on replacing the windows in the trailer. Ironically, the name of the lady that owns the trailer is named Rachael, just like Rachael Asher. After replacing her windows, we worked on her floor. In her kitchen, we are laying tiles, and in her living room, we are laying carpet. We got as far as laying paper and thin plywood in her kitchen, and tomorrow we will finish that and move on to other things- probably her carpet. Later this week, we need to do some hardcore work on her bathroom wall and put a new window of a different size in there. Also, tomorrow we will be putting a handicapped toilet in the main house. I thought it was really neat that the three of us kids who stayed back to work on the house were all on the same site last year. The digging crew continued working on the trenches and started on the pit for the tank, but they had a rough day. They found out that they need to add another foot to the side of every trench, and the third trench is still in rough condition. (Maybe that’s because I was working on that trench.) And the pit crew started digging, but they ran into a giant boulder that needed to be removed; and after they removed that, they discovered that they had been digging right over the old, dead septic trenches. Thus, they could not continue digging and must move somewhere else. Bernard was working on the site, and he is 77 years old. He did just as much work on the pit as the other three boys (who are all huge, I might add). I spent a lot of time talking to the Rices, especially Rachael. She told us a lot about her life; she loves to dance and is a competitive ballroom dancer! She makes all of her own dresses, and she told us about her dance steps and showed us her pictures… Rachael is so nice and sweet, and I can tell that she is super excited to have a nicer home and have people to talk to who aren’t her family. She loves her independence, but she lives on the same property as her parents; on the other side of the main house is her sister Rebecca, and on the other side of Rebecca is her brother Ivan. And down the street is where her sister Sheila lives with her husband. Of course, the parents aren’t in the greatest condition. Mr. Rice had a stroke this past winter and needs help taking care of himself; he is around 80 years old. Mrs. Rice isn’t as bad, I think, but she needs a bedside commode and isn’t well enough to be able to take care of herself and her husband without help. They love having us to talk to and are so grateful that we are there to work on their property and help them, and they have learned to trust us so quickly. It truly is a blessing to work here at the servant event for such incredible people.
Rachael: 12:09am Today….wow I feel like today was four days. When I woke up this morning seems like so long ago. So much has happened. Tonight was really rough though for a friend I met when we got here. It is so hard to know what to say to someone who is going through a rough time. But hopefully tomorrow will be a better day. I had a good time at the worksite today. It didn’t rain - all sun!!! hopefully the rest of the days will be like that. Well I have to say that my eyes are heavy while writing this and I cant stand it anymore. It is very late. I hope everyone is having a great month of july, miss you mom and dad.. tell ryan and emily I love them - goodnight
Mark: Well today we had our first full work day! We got so much done! It’s so much fun working with so many different people talking to them and getting to know where they come from and how they live. Today I jumped over a kid who is over six feet tall!! ….he was standing in a 2-3 foot ditch. We have so much fun on the worksites its amazing how much we are able to accomplish though when are minds are set to do it! Well that is all for today! So talk to you all tomorrow and I hope everything is going very well back home!
Luke: Have I mentioned yet that the food here is enough reason to go by itself? I wouldn’t mind being locked in an isolation cell for a week as long as they let me eat the food. But we get to dig, which is an added bonus. Speaking of digging… we’re done. I thought I’d set the record last year with three days, but we got this site done in 1 and a half. I have no clue what we are going to do for the rest of the week. Probably even more local service projects, like cleaning up old people’s lawns or something. Whatever happens I’m sure it will be worth it.
Sarah: Today I worked in the houses. We needed to shore up the floor underneath the toilet in the main house on the Rice’s property, so we had to take their toilet out. Therefore, they have no toilet. PK and I worked on that, and Bethany (DE), Lindsay (WI), and Mike (DE) worked on replacing the windows in the trailer. Ironically, the name of the lady that owns the trailer is named Rachael, just like Rachael Asher. After replacing her windows, we worked on her floor. In her kitchen, we are laying tiles, and in her living room, we are laying carpet. We got as far as laying paper and thin plywood in her kitchen, and tomorrow we will finish that and move on to other things- probably her carpet. Later this week, we need to do some hardcore work on her bathroom wall and put a new window of a different size in there. Also, tomorrow we will be putting a handicapped toilet in the main house. I thought it was really neat that the three of us kids who stayed back to work on the house were all on the same site last year. The digging crew continued working on the trenches and started on the pit for the tank, but they had a rough day. They found out that they need to add another foot to the side of every trench, and the third trench is still in rough condition. (Maybe that’s because I was working on that trench.) And the pit crew started digging, but they ran into a giant boulder that needed to be removed; and after they removed that, they discovered that they had been digging right over the old, dead septic trenches. Thus, they could not continue digging and must move somewhere else. Bernard was working on the site, and he is 77 years old. He did just as much work on the pit as the other three boys (who are all huge, I might add). I spent a lot of time talking to the Rices, especially Rachael. She told us a lot about her life; she loves to dance and is a competitive ballroom dancer! She makes all of her own dresses, and she told us about her dance steps and showed us her pictures… Rachael is so nice and sweet, and I can tell that she is super excited to have a nicer home and have people to talk to who aren’t her family. She loves her independence, but she lives on the same property as her parents; on the other side of the main house is her sister Rebecca, and on the other side of Rebecca is her brother Ivan. And down the street is where her sister Sheila lives with her husband. Of course, the parents aren’t in the greatest condition. Mr. Rice had a stroke this past winter and needs help taking care of himself; he is around 80 years old. Mrs. Rice isn’t as bad, I think, but she needs a bedside commode and isn’t well enough to be able to take care of herself and her husband without help. They love having us to talk to and are so grateful that we are there to work on their property and help them, and they have learned to trust us so quickly. It truly is a blessing to work here at the servant event for such incredible people.
Rachael: 12:09am Today….wow I feel like today was four days. When I woke up this morning seems like so long ago. So much has happened. Tonight was really rough though for a friend I met when we got here. It is so hard to know what to say to someone who is going through a rough time. But hopefully tomorrow will be a better day. I had a good time at the worksite today. It didn’t rain - all sun!!! hopefully the rest of the days will be like that. Well I have to say that my eyes are heavy while writing this and I cant stand it anymore. It is very late. I hope everyone is having a great month of july, miss you mom and dad.. tell ryan and emily I love them - goodnight
Monday, July 12, 2010
Rain, rain, go away
Adam: Today we started work and I was the only person from our group at site 2. Site 2 is occupied by a woman Cindy and her cute little black poodle. The problem is that the rain runs down the hill/mountain and moves into her house and through her basement. Well, we worked through the rain all day working on trenches to divert the water away from the house. When we left, our work was doing too well because the trenches had diverted all the water into a single spot across her driveway. We will be adding a culvert later this week but during the rain the runoff had already dug a trench across the drive.
The kids I worked with were a nice and hardworking group. One boy, Nick, split his pants while swinging his pick but otherwise we had no problems.
Lisa, I love you. Hannah…you too.
Rachael: Today has been a blast so far, it was the first worksite day and it went wonderfully, even though it poured rain for 9/10ths of the time. I just took my shower about 30 mins ago and I’d have to say it was probably the best shower ever because I felt sooo dirty from the site. Like I am sitting here trying to think of a way to express how filthy we all were but there are no words in the English dictionary that can properly describe it. But now that I am clean, I can just look back and say, “that was so fun!”. Now we are awaiting dinner. It is pretty exciting because the food here is so amazing. Well im not sure what else to say because we still have half the day left it seems like. So Buhbyeee!
Mark: Well today was the first work day it was a lot of fun! I never thought I would have so much fun digging trenches and cutting roots in the rain. However we had to end early today because the rain was a cold downpour. So we decided that when we got back after working and cleaning up we would take a Kmart stop. While there, 4 of the guys decided to buy Nerf guns. I can only wait to see how that will end up late at night lol. While it is almost dinnertime and I am really hungry so I am going to wrap it up. Even though I am having a SO much fun here I still miss home a little bit. Well that is all for today. Hope everyone had a good day and I will write to you all again tomorrow.
Sarah: Today I remembered how horrible it is to get up early, because someone’s alarm went off at 5:30. I just laid in bed until 6 because I didn’t have the motivation to get up and start getting ready- not that there’s much to do to get ready. So I finally got up and got dressed and brushed my teeth and ate breakfast, and that was it. We departed to our sites around 7 am, and my van played loud music the whole time while singing and dancing. It was a good time. Then we actually had to get to work. I haven’t done anything physically exerting since golf ended in October, so I have like no muscles anymore. We are digging three trenches for the septic system, and we found out that we also need to dig a pit for a tank to go with it, since the old one from the original system is no longer functioning. We got most of the first trench finished and about half of the other two; by tomorrow all three should be completed. Also, tomorrow we begin work on the houses. We are working for the Rice family, and the parents and their daughter live on the same property, although the daughter lives a few yards away in her own tiny mobile trailer home. On the parents’ house, a carpentry crew will be going underneath the house to put supports underneath the toilet, since it is starting to sag through the floor. Mike said that PK (WI) and I would probably be on that job tomorrow. Mike told me today that he was basically training me in carpentry because he wanted to prepare me to be a leader for more servant events, especially this one. I thought that that was really neat, and I really hope that I can come back to ASE in the future as an adult leader. On the trailer house, we need to work on the deck and work on the floors.
Luke: Its only Monday but it feels like I’ve been here a whole week. As a guy from ASE 2008 said “Our group is really Gel-in’” Today we started working at the site, and the buzz word was torrential downpour. We were soaking wet and caked with mud by lunchtime. Our group leaders were afraid hypothermia was setting in so we got to go to the Y right after we ate. It was pretty cool though, although we finished early we got almost half the site done. Can’t wait for tomorrow.
Nikki: In the journals that we do here as part of community life, we had the question, “What really surprised you today?” I probably could have come up with several answers, but the first one that came to mind – sliding down the hill in a mud slick! It was raining when we got up this morning, and while it did let up briefly, it never really stopped until about 3:30 – or after the work day. Two of the work sites stopped early today. I am on the same site as Mark & Luke, and it was getting extremely messy, people were shivering (July in NC?) and slipping all over the place. More rain is forecast for the week. Hopefully it will blow through quickly, but they are in need of it here. They have had a dry summer so far. I pray that rain would come AFTER 3:00 for the rest of the week.
In spiritual life this year we are exploring some of the questions that we as Christians sometimes have to answer, either because we have been asked or we have asked ourselves. Tonight's questions was “How do you know that God answers prayer?” I already have many examples in my life of answered prayer, but tonight I received another one. The end part of our spiritual life is pairing off into prayer partners, sharing something we would like prayer about, and then praying for each other. As is often the case when we are sharing, I shared a prayer concern, but one that is really only 'the tip of the iceberg' as they say. My prayer partner prayed not only for what I asked prayer for, but also what I did not. She did not necessarily pray what I might have asked, but she certainly prayed for the situation, and without my requesting it. Like He so often does, God provided what He knew I needed.
Seth- Today we finally got to do some work. Unfortunately, it rained the whole day, but I still liked digging. I got really dirty, and I don't think I'll be able to wear those clothes tomorrow. I had a turkey sandwich and I played a bit of basketball today. Love you mom and dad, hope you had a good day of work today, good luck.
The kids I worked with were a nice and hardworking group. One boy, Nick, split his pants while swinging his pick but otherwise we had no problems.
Lisa, I love you. Hannah…you too.
Rachael: Today has been a blast so far, it was the first worksite day and it went wonderfully, even though it poured rain for 9/10ths of the time. I just took my shower about 30 mins ago and I’d have to say it was probably the best shower ever because I felt sooo dirty from the site. Like I am sitting here trying to think of a way to express how filthy we all were but there are no words in the English dictionary that can properly describe it. But now that I am clean, I can just look back and say, “that was so fun!”. Now we are awaiting dinner. It is pretty exciting because the food here is so amazing. Well im not sure what else to say because we still have half the day left it seems like. So Buhbyeee!
Mark: Well today was the first work day it was a lot of fun! I never thought I would have so much fun digging trenches and cutting roots in the rain. However we had to end early today because the rain was a cold downpour. So we decided that when we got back after working and cleaning up we would take a Kmart stop. While there, 4 of the guys decided to buy Nerf guns. I can only wait to see how that will end up late at night lol. While it is almost dinnertime and I am really hungry so I am going to wrap it up. Even though I am having a SO much fun here I still miss home a little bit. Well that is all for today. Hope everyone had a good day and I will write to you all again tomorrow.
Sarah: Today I remembered how horrible it is to get up early, because someone’s alarm went off at 5:30. I just laid in bed until 6 because I didn’t have the motivation to get up and start getting ready- not that there’s much to do to get ready. So I finally got up and got dressed and brushed my teeth and ate breakfast, and that was it. We departed to our sites around 7 am, and my van played loud music the whole time while singing and dancing. It was a good time. Then we actually had to get to work. I haven’t done anything physically exerting since golf ended in October, so I have like no muscles anymore. We are digging three trenches for the septic system, and we found out that we also need to dig a pit for a tank to go with it, since the old one from the original system is no longer functioning. We got most of the first trench finished and about half of the other two; by tomorrow all three should be completed. Also, tomorrow we begin work on the houses. We are working for the Rice family, and the parents and their daughter live on the same property, although the daughter lives a few yards away in her own tiny mobile trailer home. On the parents’ house, a carpentry crew will be going underneath the house to put supports underneath the toilet, since it is starting to sag through the floor. Mike said that PK (WI) and I would probably be on that job tomorrow. Mike told me today that he was basically training me in carpentry because he wanted to prepare me to be a leader for more servant events, especially this one. I thought that that was really neat, and I really hope that I can come back to ASE in the future as an adult leader. On the trailer house, we need to work on the deck and work on the floors.
Luke: Its only Monday but it feels like I’ve been here a whole week. As a guy from ASE 2008 said “Our group is really Gel-in’” Today we started working at the site, and the buzz word was torrential downpour. We were soaking wet and caked with mud by lunchtime. Our group leaders were afraid hypothermia was setting in so we got to go to the Y right after we ate. It was pretty cool though, although we finished early we got almost half the site done. Can’t wait for tomorrow.
Nikki: In the journals that we do here as part of community life, we had the question, “What really surprised you today?” I probably could have come up with several answers, but the first one that came to mind – sliding down the hill in a mud slick! It was raining when we got up this morning, and while it did let up briefly, it never really stopped until about 3:30 – or after the work day. Two of the work sites stopped early today. I am on the same site as Mark & Luke, and it was getting extremely messy, people were shivering (July in NC?) and slipping all over the place. More rain is forecast for the week. Hopefully it will blow through quickly, but they are in need of it here. They have had a dry summer so far. I pray that rain would come AFTER 3:00 for the rest of the week.
In spiritual life this year we are exploring some of the questions that we as Christians sometimes have to answer, either because we have been asked or we have asked ourselves. Tonight's questions was “How do you know that God answers prayer?” I already have many examples in my life of answered prayer, but tonight I received another one. The end part of our spiritual life is pairing off into prayer partners, sharing something we would like prayer about, and then praying for each other. As is often the case when we are sharing, I shared a prayer concern, but one that is really only 'the tip of the iceberg' as they say. My prayer partner prayed not only for what I asked prayer for, but also what I did not. She did not necessarily pray what I might have asked, but she certainly prayed for the situation, and without my requesting it. Like He so often does, God provided what He knew I needed.
Seth- Today we finally got to do some work. Unfortunately, it rained the whole day, but I still liked digging. I got really dirty, and I don't think I'll be able to wear those clothes tomorrow. I had a turkey sandwich and I played a bit of basketball today. Love you mom and dad, hope you had a good day of work today, good luck.
Photo Album up
We now have a link to our photo album to the right. Currently all pictures are from the trip down and the first night, but we hope to start adding new pictures regularly. Check back for more!
Sunday
Afternoon
Adam: We had a nice day today. After church, Bible study, and lunch, we went to survey the work sites. The first one seemed the roughest to me. It needs a whole new septic system, the bathroom floor needs to be shored up, and the trailer next door needs work too. The second site has runoff from the mountain rains washing into her basement so we are going to be digging “French drains”. The last site needs a septic field put into a wooded area that is a black diamond ski slope where we come from. More than the jobs, we also got to meet the people who live there. All the people seem excited to have us come and enter their lives in such intimate ways. Here are some additional tidbits to entertain you:
A kid from another group fell into a 2 foot deep sewer puddle… He threw away the shoes.
North Carolina has no shortage of bugs or poison ivy.
All three sights have pitches that are intimidating. Two are built on 40% grades and the other is in a beautiful valley.
Love you Lisa and Hannah. Keep the fort and if there are any problems don’t hesitate to call Al.
Seth: Today was nice; I got the privilege to go to church. After lunch we got to visit our work sites. On the car ride to the sites I met even more new people. I'm excited to visit the new work sites tomorrow. Love you mom and dad, good luck with work.
Mark: So we visited the work sites today. There are three of them I hope I am getting the third one! Which would be putting a septic field in for an elderly woman. The other two are putting french drains in one and another septic in the other. I am excited to finally start work tomorrow! Hopefully I get some people I know but also some I don't so I can make even more friends than I have already. I just want to say thank you to the people of Hartland for letting me go on this trip and for everyone to have a goodnight!
Evening
Luke: I felt so special this morning cause I was one of the select few that 1. knew about the showers and 2. were able to get up early enough to shower before church. Which meant I got up at six. I made up for it napping in the car on our site tour. Good news is I got the site that I wanted. Site number three involves not only digging, but clearing out the whole forest where the trench needs to be. There must have been trees at least a foot thick on our trench path. It also means that the ground is going to be filled with roots, making the task even more epic. So naturally I was assigned to it. Don't know why that North kid is on the same site though... I don't know if he can handle it...
Rachael: Today was so great!! we had a prayer thing at the end of the day where we get together with one person and talk about your troubles and pray about them. I usually find this activity a wee bit awkward but tonight I really liked it. It is amazing how much two peoples experiences relate and how much you can help each other with your past experiences. I really like a lot of the games and things we do here! They are fun, interesting and you learn a lot from them. That is why you come back home with so much more than you left with. Today we had our first state group, on the oh so famous hill that I attempted to roll down after state group. But lets just say it didn't work. We found out our sites today and we will be off to work in the morning!!!! Goodnight.
Sarah: As today is Sunday, we all went to the 8:30 service this morning. I asked Nikki to wake me up when she got up so that I could wash my hair. PK preached at the service today, which was neat, because I always love hearing the different pastors from all over preach. Afterward, we had a Bible study on the Gospel for today, and after that, we ate lunch. I was really happy today because I got to see some NC friends from last year's ASE: Rachel and Sydney. Later, we went to visit the sites; there are three. Site number one requires both carpentry work and a new septic system. The second site needs French drains in order to drain water out of the lady's basement, so that also will need digging. And the third site needs a new septic system because the old one is completely shot. It's to the point that the ground caved in and the hole is filled with septic water. I felt so bad for Zach (Northville), because he slipped and his entire left ankle went into the hole. The new septic system is supposed to go in on a hill that is covered in trees and poison ivy- quite an adventure. We also made a Kmart run today, and I had to buy a new camera card, since I left my 4 GB card at home. Dinner was delicious, and then we had our state meetings, which we always love. After community life and spiritual life, we participated in my favorite part of the day, the 20 minute chapel. Directly afterward, we all had the chance to check the site assignments, which is always super exciting. I am on site number one, which is very cool. I get to work with Mike (DE) for the third year in a row, and I am with a ton of other people that I already know. But now I must pack my shower bag and hit the sack, so goodnight.
Nikki: Well, since all the sites are digging sites, I am obviously on a digging site again. Every site has it's own challenges. I drew the one with the trees and poison ivy covering the area where we are putting the drain field. At this point, we are supposed to dig one 30” deep and 6' wide trench (not sure about the length) which we are supposed to fill the old fashioned way – with wheel barrows full of gravel. I believe the organizers are intending to propose a double layer of easy fill, but we will see what tomorrow brings.
For those of you reading this who might remember, either from being here or from the Youth in Missions dinner, three years ago we worked on finishing the inside of a house for a woman who was wheelchair bound due to physical abuse. We are back at her place this year. It is the one that will be getting a french drain due to mold and mildew problems in her basement from the mountain run-off. Her back yard is a little on the spongy side and the water has no where to go. The french drain should help draw the water away from the house. I am excited that we have the opportunity to return and serve again for someone we have served before. The best part is that she has made some progress is now able to walk on her own. She is very dark from spending a lot of time out tending her yard. Once we get the OK for cameras, I will be sure to get someone on that site to get a good site photo for me so those of you who worked here before can see how the place is doing, and hopefully one of Miss Cynthia too.
God's blessings all!
Adam: We had a nice day today. After church, Bible study, and lunch, we went to survey the work sites. The first one seemed the roughest to me. It needs a whole new septic system, the bathroom floor needs to be shored up, and the trailer next door needs work too. The second site has runoff from the mountain rains washing into her basement so we are going to be digging “French drains”. The last site needs a septic field put into a wooded area that is a black diamond ski slope where we come from. More than the jobs, we also got to meet the people who live there. All the people seem excited to have us come and enter their lives in such intimate ways. Here are some additional tidbits to entertain you:
A kid from another group fell into a 2 foot deep sewer puddle… He threw away the shoes.
North Carolina has no shortage of bugs or poison ivy.
All three sights have pitches that are intimidating. Two are built on 40% grades and the other is in a beautiful valley.
Love you Lisa and Hannah. Keep the fort and if there are any problems don’t hesitate to call Al.
Seth: Today was nice; I got the privilege to go to church. After lunch we got to visit our work sites. On the car ride to the sites I met even more new people. I'm excited to visit the new work sites tomorrow. Love you mom and dad, good luck with work.
Mark: So we visited the work sites today. There are three of them I hope I am getting the third one! Which would be putting a septic field in for an elderly woman. The other two are putting french drains in one and another septic in the other. I am excited to finally start work tomorrow! Hopefully I get some people I know but also some I don't so I can make even more friends than I have already. I just want to say thank you to the people of Hartland for letting me go on this trip and for everyone to have a goodnight!
Evening
Luke: I felt so special this morning cause I was one of the select few that 1. knew about the showers and 2. were able to get up early enough to shower before church. Which meant I got up at six. I made up for it napping in the car on our site tour. Good news is I got the site that I wanted. Site number three involves not only digging, but clearing out the whole forest where the trench needs to be. There must have been trees at least a foot thick on our trench path. It also means that the ground is going to be filled with roots, making the task even more epic. So naturally I was assigned to it. Don't know why that North kid is on the same site though... I don't know if he can handle it...
Rachael: Today was so great!! we had a prayer thing at the end of the day where we get together with one person and talk about your troubles and pray about them. I usually find this activity a wee bit awkward but tonight I really liked it. It is amazing how much two peoples experiences relate and how much you can help each other with your past experiences. I really like a lot of the games and things we do here! They are fun, interesting and you learn a lot from them. That is why you come back home with so much more than you left with. Today we had our first state group, on the oh so famous hill that I attempted to roll down after state group. But lets just say it didn't work. We found out our sites today and we will be off to work in the morning!!!! Goodnight.
Sarah: As today is Sunday, we all went to the 8:30 service this morning. I asked Nikki to wake me up when she got up so that I could wash my hair. PK preached at the service today, which was neat, because I always love hearing the different pastors from all over preach. Afterward, we had a Bible study on the Gospel for today, and after that, we ate lunch. I was really happy today because I got to see some NC friends from last year's ASE: Rachel and Sydney. Later, we went to visit the sites; there are three. Site number one requires both carpentry work and a new septic system. The second site needs French drains in order to drain water out of the lady's basement, so that also will need digging. And the third site needs a new septic system because the old one is completely shot. It's to the point that the ground caved in and the hole is filled with septic water. I felt so bad for Zach (Northville), because he slipped and his entire left ankle went into the hole. The new septic system is supposed to go in on a hill that is covered in trees and poison ivy- quite an adventure. We also made a Kmart run today, and I had to buy a new camera card, since I left my 4 GB card at home. Dinner was delicious, and then we had our state meetings, which we always love. After community life and spiritual life, we participated in my favorite part of the day, the 20 minute chapel. Directly afterward, we all had the chance to check the site assignments, which is always super exciting. I am on site number one, which is very cool. I get to work with Mike (DE) for the third year in a row, and I am with a ton of other people that I already know. But now I must pack my shower bag and hit the sack, so goodnight.
Nikki: Well, since all the sites are digging sites, I am obviously on a digging site again. Every site has it's own challenges. I drew the one with the trees and poison ivy covering the area where we are putting the drain field. At this point, we are supposed to dig one 30” deep and 6' wide trench (not sure about the length) which we are supposed to fill the old fashioned way – with wheel barrows full of gravel. I believe the organizers are intending to propose a double layer of easy fill, but we will see what tomorrow brings.
For those of you reading this who might remember, either from being here or from the Youth in Missions dinner, three years ago we worked on finishing the inside of a house for a woman who was wheelchair bound due to physical abuse. We are back at her place this year. It is the one that will be getting a french drain due to mold and mildew problems in her basement from the mountain run-off. Her back yard is a little on the spongy side and the water has no where to go. The french drain should help draw the water away from the house. I am excited that we have the opportunity to return and serve again for someone we have served before. The best part is that she has made some progress is now able to walk on her own. She is very dark from spending a lot of time out tending her yard. Once we get the OK for cameras, I will be sure to get someone on that site to get a good site photo for me so those of you who worked here before can see how the place is doing, and hopefully one of Miss Cynthia too.
God's blessings all!
Saturday, July 10, 2010
We're Here!
Rachael: So, today was so absolutely wonderful. I wish I could go on this trip every year of my life!! im not gonna give a play by play of my day today, I am just gonna say a few words. THIS TRIP IS DA BOMBBB!!! I already feel like I am at “home” as Sarah would say. Everyone is so caring, and I am already meeting people who are inspiring me!! I cannot wait for the upcoming 2 weeks. :) < that is a smiley face for every parent who isn't very tech savy okay well goodnight
Sarah: Today we woke up pretty early, but I should get used to that, as I will be getting up at 6 every other morning. We did some sightseeing before we actually arrived in Asheville, and the mountains were just as beautiful, although the view was slightly different than last year. There was a ton of fog on the mountains, and the sun was hidden behind the clouds. But after that, we drove straight through to Asheville. Words cannot describe how happy I am to be back. It really feels like I have come home; the smells of the mountain air and the church are some of the best ever. Most of the other state groups made it here in a decent amount of time, but just like last year, it took Delaware until dinner to get here. But our time has been wonderful. I have already met a ton of great people. I am in a room with Ohio and Northville, which is super awesome, because I already know all but one of them, and the other one is really easy to get to know. I have to go now, since it's time for bed, but I will write more tomorrow. I am so excited!
Nikki: Servant Event is different every year, but the feeling of openness and acceptance is always here. The false pretenses and agendas of everyday life are gone for the time being. The kids are different when they are here, and so am I. It is something that is hard to describe.
The kids haven't heard about the work sites, but the adults did. I don't know all of the details yet, but we are back out at Miss Cynthia's where Paul Caswell, Darcy Spangler and Kristina Biddix worked in 2007. I am excited to get out there and see her again. I will be sure to share more tomorrow, but I hear that she is walking now!
Mark: Today we finally made it to Asheville! I was nervous and excited at the same time. First off I did not know what to expect from the adults that would be here and the kids that I would meet. The first thing we did was go to Sonic! That was really excited because there are no Sonics close to us. I have already met some people that I think I will be friends with for along time! Well I am really tired so goodnight to all and to all a goodnight!
Adam: We made it to the servant event. The students are really excited. We played some cool games, had a good fellowship meal, and said some special prayer. Tomorrow is focused on worship, seeing the job sites, and devotionals. Love you Lisa. Love you Hannah.
Luq: Fantastic day. Took us about three and a half hours to get to the church but it felt longer. We stopped off at exactly the same places as last year, and Mark and Seth fell in the stream. They didn’t have mountain stream rock jumping XP like the rest of us. Anyway we made it to Emmanuel Lutheran a little past one. What was real cool was seeing all the people from last year show up to this ASE. It was great seeing old friends plus making some new ones, and I have a feeling that this year is gunna be one of the best yet. Oh, and I’ve heard rumors of three digging sites this year… excellent.
Seth: After a scenic drive through the mountains we finally got to Ashville. At the church I learned some cool new games, ate tacos, met a lot of new people, and prayed. I like the church; everyone is very nice. Love you mom and dad, good luck with work.
Sarah: Today we woke up pretty early, but I should get used to that, as I will be getting up at 6 every other morning. We did some sightseeing before we actually arrived in Asheville, and the mountains were just as beautiful, although the view was slightly different than last year. There was a ton of fog on the mountains, and the sun was hidden behind the clouds. But after that, we drove straight through to Asheville. Words cannot describe how happy I am to be back. It really feels like I have come home; the smells of the mountain air and the church are some of the best ever. Most of the other state groups made it here in a decent amount of time, but just like last year, it took Delaware until dinner to get here. But our time has been wonderful. I have already met a ton of great people. I am in a room with Ohio and Northville, which is super awesome, because I already know all but one of them, and the other one is really easy to get to know. I have to go now, since it's time for bed, but I will write more tomorrow. I am so excited!
Nikki: Servant Event is different every year, but the feeling of openness and acceptance is always here. The false pretenses and agendas of everyday life are gone for the time being. The kids are different when they are here, and so am I. It is something that is hard to describe.
The kids haven't heard about the work sites, but the adults did. I don't know all of the details yet, but we are back out at Miss Cynthia's where Paul Caswell, Darcy Spangler and Kristina Biddix worked in 2007. I am excited to get out there and see her again. I will be sure to share more tomorrow, but I hear that she is walking now!
Mark: Today we finally made it to Asheville! I was nervous and excited at the same time. First off I did not know what to expect from the adults that would be here and the kids that I would meet. The first thing we did was go to Sonic! That was really excited because there are no Sonics close to us. I have already met some people that I think I will be friends with for along time! Well I am really tired so goodnight to all and to all a goodnight!
Adam: We made it to the servant event. The students are really excited. We played some cool games, had a good fellowship meal, and said some special prayer. Tomorrow is focused on worship, seeing the job sites, and devotionals. Love you Lisa. Love you Hannah.
Luq: Fantastic day. Took us about three and a half hours to get to the church but it felt longer. We stopped off at exactly the same places as last year, and Mark and Seth fell in the stream. They didn’t have mountain stream rock jumping XP like the rest of us. Anyway we made it to Emmanuel Lutheran a little past one. What was real cool was seeing all the people from last year show up to this ASE. It was great seeing old friends plus making some new ones, and I have a feeling that this year is gunna be one of the best yet. Oh, and I’ve heard rumors of three digging sites this year… excellent.
Seth: After a scenic drive through the mountains we finally got to Ashville. At the church I learned some cool new games, ate tacos, met a lot of new people, and prayed. I like the church; everyone is very nice. Love you mom and dad, good luck with work.
Travel
Adam: Well, the trip is started in transit... We traveled all day. There were no flat tires, the kids had a nice cd of christian/country music for the ride, and all went well. I am quite impressed with this group of kids. They are all very serious about what they are doing here but not afraid to be silly either. Lisa and Hannah, I miss you both. Be good and don't forget to water the garden.
Mark: Well today was quite an adventure. We drove all the way from Hartland MI. to Pigeon Forge TN. The drive itself was very fun. We played some cards games. One of the games being euchre and the other was a new game I learned called mau. Very hard to pick it up but I think I got the hang of it even though I lost all 5 or 6 games we played. The whole ride was very fun except for the last hour or so when everyone had to use a restroom but we were all so excited to get there they we did not stop! Well that is all for tonight have a goodnight everyone and cant wait to get to Asheville tomorrow and start to work!
Seth: Today was a long day. In the beginning of our long journey we played a card game called mau. It was fun, but I only won one of the games. Then I think just about all of us took a nap, except for Uncle Adam and Mrs. Spangler. After we woke up we had lunch at Friendlies and then continued our long road trip. We spent the rest of our journey playing euchre, playing some Bible trivia, and squirming in our seats while waiting to go to the bathroom. Now, we're finally in the hotel with empty bladders. I can't wait to get to North Carolina, get out of the car, stretch, meet new people, and work. Love you, Mom and Dad, good luck with work!
Sarah: It's always a joy going down to ASE. We left the church around 9:30 and traveled non-stop until we reached southern Ohio, where we had lunch. One of our favorite landmarks is Big Butter Jesus, which recently burned down, much to our disappointment. We only saw the metal frame that was left. For a while we played cards and just talked and got comfortable with each other, which wasn't hard to do. It was definitely exciting when we started getting into more hilly country, and before we knew it, our ears started popping as we arrived in the Smoky Mountains. It poured today, which is weather that we've never had before while driving down; but the mountains still looked gorgeous underneath the cloudy sky. Just like last year, we stopped in Pigeon Forge, TN, and had dinner at Shoney's, which was delicious. They make the best corn that I have ever eaten. Currently, Luke, Uncle Adam, and Nikki are teaching Seth how to play euchre, and apparently I just gave away his hand when he asked for advice... I just feel so blessed that I am able to attend Appalachian Servant Event once again, although I know that this really is my last year. I am so psyched for tomorrow to see all of the kids from last year and all of the newbies. Something about this whole experience is very surreal. Maybe it's because ASE is something that words cannot describe. However, I shall do my best to record it all to give anyone who reads this a little taste of my time here.
Luke: I got up too early today. It was really hot and humid outside. There was traffic. It is really cold in this hotel room. Those were bad things that happened today... otherwise it was pretty successful. For instance I ate three meals today. Two of them were really unhealthy: Success. I taught people the game of mau, which I won 5 out of 6 times because I rock: Success. I got Sarah to listen to Coheed & Cambria: Success. I defeated Mark in both a gun and lightsaber battle: Epic Success. I got to teach Seth how to play Euchre: Minor Failure... but that's his fault. However, I am very interested in tomorrow's activities and will not write in this journal any longer: Success.
Rachael: soooo..... today was pretty uneventful. We rode a bunch of hours in the car. And impressively we only made 2 stops. Once for lunch and once for gas. It was really fun, usually I don't like long car rides that much but these people make it...interesting. Haha we played lots of games including mau and bible trivia and euchre and lots of ipod games. And not to mention I was light sabered to death and Sarah caught it on video tape!!! maybe we can get it up on this site somehow. I don't know. But the light sabers came from the ipods, so don't worry parents who are anxiously reading this. No blood was shed. Then we went to the oh so famous Shoney's.... the food was wonderful, I ate a ton. I think the waitress thought we were starving people or something because we were up at the buffet bar before she could even take our orders haha. Then I had a very nice visit with a friend who lives down here in TN. He actually has the same cancer that I HAD.. and he isn't doing so well so I really wanted to say hi to him. Please keep him in your prayers, his name is Bradley Brock. He is the same age as me too. Andddd his cancer originated in the same spot mine did too. How ironic. Anyways, I am very sleepy so I am going start saying goodnight. Night
Nikki: Since you have heard all about our travel day, I'll share our adventure in getting our travel day. I called around and reserved a 15 passenger van back in January, knowing that they are a high demand item at this time of year. About 3pm on Wednesday, I received a call from Enterprise inquiring if I still needed a 15 passenger van for tomorrow. YES! Well, they didn't have one to give me and offered me a mini-van instead. Yikes! Our group is only seven, so technically there would be enough seats, but we all have luggage, bedding, cots, etc. How would it all fit? I called around from Saginaw to Detroit to Lansing to Grand Rapids looking for a large van, with no success. I decided it was time to stop my search and tell them I'd take the mini-van – there was still much to do to get ready. Trying to get in the servant event frame mind, I was going to leave this in God's hands. If he provided a mini-van, it would be sufficient. By no means my ideal, but it would do. I e-mailed the group to inform of this sad change in our travel pans. Thursday morning Mrs. Asher called to see if I had found a van, then told me her sister had just bought a new (to her – 50,000 miles) 12 passenger van but hadn't sold the old one yet and she was willing to let us use the new one for our trip. What a relief! We would have comfortable travel, we would be able to use our vehicle for a work van, and we could still take a cooler. This is not the first time that just getting on the road to servant event was an adventure in itself. Servant Event is always a good reminder that what God ordains is always good. And any of us can be used by God to fulfill His purpose. (P.S. Thanks for the van Cassie – we are taking good care of it!)
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
ASE Line-up
ASE is about to go underway in less than 72 hours and the whole gang is really excited. In case you were wondering, here's a short bio on each of our ASE 2010 participants:
Nikki "Rambo" Spangler
The leader of the group, Nikki has been attending Servant Event for years now. An unassuming secretary and mom most of the year... but when it comes to digging trenches watch out! Once she puts on her red headband there's nothing that can get in her way.
Adam "Squirrel Man" Kerschenheiter
A Chaperone easily identifiable by the squirrel rubberband around his wrist, "Squirrel Man" Kerschenheiter is a new face to the ASE program and uncle of ASE participant Rachael Asher. The rubber band was given to him by his daughter, who knows his love for squirrel hunting.
Seth "The Hulk" Whitehouse
The brawn of the group... Seth is another newcomer to the ASE mission trip. When he's not busting rocks with his bare hands Seth enjoys playing basketball with friends. Seth is a Junior at Lutheran High School Westland.
Mark "North" Calder
Dispite going to the inferior Lutheran High School... Mark is the final newbie to the ASE program and shows some promise... for a North guy. However, he has graduated and will be attending Central Michigan University this fall.
Rachael "Pizza-in-nose" Asher
A girl with mean shovel skillz and a huge grudge, this is Rachael's second time going on the ASE mission trip. She will be attended Central as well, where she will finally stop bugging "somebody" about a minor mishap that managed to misplace a bit of BBQ chicken pizza up her nostril...
Sarah Foradori (Sista Fo-Do)
Half aspiring editor, half house builder, half gangster... and dont press the issue about three halves. This is Sarah's third time on the ASE mission trip and she will be attending school at Concordia Wisconsin. And she went to the "Greater" LHNW.
Half aspiring editor, half house builder, half gangster... and dont press the issue about three halves. This is Sarah's third time on the ASE mission trip and she will be attending school at Concordia Wisconsin. And she went to the "Greater" LHNW.
Captain/Maestro Luke "Dolla Slice" Nichols
A three time ASE veteran, LHNW graduate, future University of Dayton attendee, and just about the most awsome person in existance according to Google, Luke Nichols is the final member of the ASE 2010 group. If you're lucky, you may find out what Dolla Slice means in the ASE 2010 talent show... no promises.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Anticipation
Nikki – 11:00pm
I am really looking forward to ASE this year. It is my opportunity to recenter every year. Preparations have begun in earnest - including a test blog. Our Savior Hartland will be on the road to Asheville in 202.5 hours.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Test Post
This is a Test Post:
Luke Nichols
Today I made a blog that can be used to post our journals to the internet while we are out on the Appalachian Servant Event. After I'm finished playing around I'll e-mail the link and the login info to Nikki-the-boss to see if she likes it. I think she will. There's so much that this blog can do that our last journal site couldn't. For instance:
Luke Nichols
Today I made a blog that can be used to post our journals to the internet while we are out on the Appalachian Servant Event. After I'm finished playing around I'll e-mail the link and the login info to Nikki-the-boss to see if she likes it. I think she will. There's so much that this blog can do that our last journal site couldn't. For instance:
This is a link to the old journals that don't work (and its centered)
And here's a picture from ASE 2008 that I uploaded from my computer:
Anyway I hope she likes it and agrees to use this as our new journal posting site or I will have wasted an hour of my Sunday...
And here's a picture from ASE 2008 that I uploaded from my computer:Anyway I hope she likes it and agrees to use this as our new journal posting site or I will have wasted an hour of my Sunday...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)