From Mark : Returning to Bedford tired but feeling we did something impactful for Faith by both improving her living space and lifting her spirits. I am grateful for our morning devotional time and the effort John put into preparation. Reflecting on the beatitudes, which kept me grounded in our purpose for being there. Thank you, Allyson, for organizing our tourist stops and morning stretch, Terry for all the meals. From Terry: An eclectic group of people committed to an ideal, though not quite sure what was to be in store for them, trusted their pastor and the shared experiences of others to offer themselves in service for a week. Some of us didn’t know what we could offer this time – bodies change, strength wanes – but wanted to do something beyond our own comfort – something that would benefit the life of another human, and something that would continue to build on relationships that have been forged these past seven years with Appalachian South Folklife Center, Riff Raff, Stages Music School, and others. The two-day car rides going to and coming from our latest trip were made better by our exuberant tour guide and all-around positive energy force – Allyson. Group bonding experiences during lunch by the Hudson River, mule-led boat tours at the National Canal Museum, exploring the Natural Bridge rock formation (okay, I stayed in the gift shop for that one – 137 steps down and up were a no-go), games of ABC, shared music, and of course ICE CREAM helped us to connect and enjoy conversation that we may not otherwise have had. After the first day at the job site, members of the team spoke at dinner about the needs of the individual whose home was the focus of our work. In addition to the physical repairs and cleaning that were needed, it was apparent that the owner was a lonely person who seized upon the opportunity to engage in conversation with anyone who could spare some time. Ah! A task I could help with! I could sit and listen and engage with another, continuing and building upon the relationship begun the previous day. Three different days I was able to spend from 1 ½ to 3 ½ hours with a person who was generous with her stories and personal history. There was laughter, surprise, compassion, and some surprising things in common. From her I learned much about her childhood, her research into her ancestors’ lives, her young adulthood and professional life, her children and relationships with friends and family. I also think being at the site and seeing the incredible work that friends were doing on behalf of this person made me appreciate their fatigue level when returning to the Folklife Center. I spent a lot of time during the week planning, shopping, and preparing food for the team. We went through what I thought was an incredible amount of food during the days we were at the Folklife Center. Mornings there were eggs (about 2 dozen a day), bacon (about a pound a day), cereals, yogurt, juice, milk, and coffee. One day we tried blueberry pancakes – some were good; others not so much (it took FOREVER for the griddle to heat up – I shouldn’t have bothered). Speaking of fruit, there were at least 8 qts of strawberries, 8 qts of blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, watermelon, more than a dozen peaches. Vegetables and more veggies...potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn on the cob, carrots, celery, green beans, salad, salad, salad, cole slaw, salad, onions, mushrooms and more. We had meat – 7 lbs of pulled pork from the freezer that Pastor John made before we left, roast chicken and chicken tenders, beef, and meatless protein options – I learned about Seitan chorizo and veggie burgers and crumbles. We made meatless meals for those who didn’t eat meat. We made low carb and carb-free meals for those who have sensitivity to certain ingredients. Then there were lunches...lots of items and leftovers for folks to choose from as each person created their own meal to take with them. Evenings after dinner provided multiple options – you'll read about those in the reflections others have written...music, stargazing, shirt decorating, tower climbing and more...where did they get the energy? I was so tired, and I didn’t do nearly the amount of physical labor they did. I think of conversations with people who don’t think they have anything to offer a mission team. They can be reminded of the prayers, donations of money, gift cards, and baked goods that enable the group to go. On this trip I took care of administrative and housekeeping tasks – arranging and managing our hotel reservations, keeping track of the expenses and having money available when needed, shopping for groceries and doing some cooking – so that others wouldn’t have to do them on top of the physical work at a job site. Being “with” another person so they know there is someone who will listen and validate who they are at this moment in time is one of the intangible moments that mission work is all about. It’s where we receive as well as give, where we can grow as humans – where we can joyfully serve. It’s been said that it takes a village to care for [another]; I’m grateful to be part of the village of First Church Bedford. From Kathy R: This was my 2nd Mission Trip & it was easier in some ways - I knew more about what I was getting into. But it was also harder because you never really know what to expect when you’re part of a team working on a rehab project in someone’s HOME. I’m still very uncomfortable “invading” someone’s personal space, even though we are invited in to offer desperately needed help. In the end, the reward of crossing the line from “invader” to “servant” & fulfilling our mission is SO worth all the hard emotional & physical work. Once again we left the home we worked on in MUCH better shape than we found it. And we gradually developed a bond with Faith, the homeowner. We tried hard to be sensitive & careful of her feelings, & to involve her in our decisions. And most important, we tried to be judgment-free about her situation, which wasn’t always easy. (She’s a talker & a heavy smoker.) Pastor John’s morning devotionals & Tim’s orientation really helped me strive to remain focused on the ultimate goal: Yes, our talented & hardworking team fixed up Faith’s house. But we were really there to assure her that we come down to West Virginia out of love, and that God loves & cares about HER. I can hardly wait till next year! From Allyson: I have had the hardest time working on my final reflection for the 2022 mission trip. I’ve started describing the trip as CHALLENGING and FUN when asked. Challenging:
Am I glad that we went? Yes. Do I wish that we had worked on a different project? No. Could we have done more? Yes. There is so much more to do. There is so much more to do in Faith’s house and there is so much more to do in my own head. Did we show God’s love to Faith? I hope so. From Dotty: This mission trip was so much better than the 2015 trip where we just did demo work on a rundown apartment complex & never connected with anyone who lived there or who would benefit from our efforts. This year we had a big job & accomplished a lot, but most of all, made the connection with Faith & how much she appreciated all we did to help bring some of the shine back to her once beautiful home that she now struggles to maintain because of health issues. Her little dog Jazzy appreciated the attention, too! From John: Jesus' beatitudes came alive for US this week. We learned about them, prayed them, and lived them. (More thoughts after a few days back in Bedford) For this Mission Trip, I decided to base our morning devotions on the beatitudes this week. I wanted to take these passages that are almost too familiar with Christians and find new ways of understanding them. Through God’s grace, they did come alive for us all week long. We learned about them, prayed them, and lived them. I used the Carter Family song, “Keep on the Sunny Side” to talk about Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Underneath this song (and the beatitudes) is a deeply spiritual way of looking at life, where the “light” and the “dark” side of life are not separated but deeply intertwined. For those suffering in Appalachia, this is hard. The ‘dark and troubled side of life’ is always before them, threatening them. Keeping on the sunny side – or even believing that there is a sunny side - is a struggle, an act of faith. At the same time, there are many in our affluent culture who do everything they can to keep the dark side out. But the dark side cannot be denied, as everyone experienced during our COVID crisis. Keeping on the sunny side while not denying the dark side is a lifelong spiritual journey that takes all the faith we can muster. Jesus preached the beatitudes to ordinary, working-class folks in the boonies of Galilee, not too different from Appalachia. He could have started his teaching career in Jerusalem, where the elite religious and political powers were concentrated. But his choice was his point. The beatitudes gave reasons why the poor, the mourning, the hungry were blessed. Many think they will be blessed in the future when they get their reward in heaven. While this is true, heaven came to them first. In the person of Jesus, God visited them, ate with them, and cared for them. In doing this, Jesus told them that God cared for them, that they were valued and loved by God. Jesus passed on this teaching, mostly done by his example, to the disciples. Once Jesus was gone, his followers were called to do the same thing for the same reasons. As Jesus’ followers today, this continues to be true. When we visited Faith, we had lots of projects: flooring, painting, electrical work, a ramp. These were all important. But the primary reason we came down was to tell her that she was loved and valued by God, just like Jesus did two thousand years ago. As Tim, the director of the Center said, “the paint will peel, the flooring will need to be replaced, the wood will rot, but she will always remember that someone came to her, loved and cared for her for a week. That is what will last.” From Kathy K: Hard to believe we're already on the ride home! I had the best of intentions to write everyday but with the tidal wave of activities - sunrise contemplation, group meals lovingly prepared by Terry, thought provoking AM devotions, long workdays, miraculously restoring showers, evening music events and stargazing - here I am in the car on Saturday writing for the first time. I am flooded with memories, questions, and answers to questions I didn't even know I had. Images that come to mind are both beautiful and disturbing - fireflies and deer coming out against the backdrop of pink sunset clouds; the struggles of Faith and her living situation; stirring folksongs around an enormous crackling fire; watching other trippers dedicated to their chores and learning new skills, ready to laugh at any moment; compassionate and respectful listening to Faith's lifetime of stories and troubles; observing Greg's wisdom and heart; teamwork and willingness to jump into new experiences whether hard and sweaty or fun and potentially embarrassing; car ride conversations, crafts, and singalongs; and observing deep emotions brought up by the place, the group, and the job. Big, huge, enormous thanks to Allyson for planning fun and figuring out how to keep us where we needed to be and when; to Terry for feeding us so well, being an ear for Faith, and being so flexible with dinner times and food options; Pastor John for creating a heartfelt, compassionate, thoughtful and often silly backdrop for it all. Another big thanks to folks at home for providing us with prayers, support, goodies, and the ability to give gifts to both the Folklife center and RiffRaff; and to provide Faith with floors, a ramp, new blinds, a kitchen cabinet, faucet, lighting, garbage disposal, garden mulch, and a much-appreciated prayer shawl. From Evan: This trip was more centered around doing what we could in the time we had. Faith’s house needed more help than we could give, but we shared our gifts and made a long lasting connection From Nick: Another successful and meaningful year filled with connections, lessons both spiritual and physical, hard work, and a whole lot of fun. I personally experienced a lot of Greg’s wisdom. As I worked with him on various projects there were many life skills scattered into the various carpentry skills he taught me. From Douglas: I especially enjoyed this trip because I got to work very closely with Greg again, but at an older age, so I took away more lessons from the experience and was able to understand him and his life more than I could a couple years ago. From Chris: So glad to be on our way home after another successful mission trip! We got to reconnect with old friends and form some brand new bonds. While we didn’t accomplish everything, we originally set out to do at Faith’s house, we finished other tasks that presented themselves along the way and didn’t leave anything half done. I believe we left her in a better place than when we arrived and that we are all better for the experience, too
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As usual, today was strictly travel with very little side adventures. Glad to be home but lots to think about. Thanks to everyone who supported this trip.
Morning Update from Allyson:
We split into 3 group for departure today. Teams 1 & 2 left within minutes of each other To make headway in finishing up at Faith's. Team 3 (Allyson & Terry) stayed back to finish up in the kitchen, cleaning and final packing. It always takes longer than expected. Afternoon Check in : Leaving Faith's at 2:00 (!) Heading to Chambersberg. From Allyson – On the way to Faith’s This morning we’re full of thoughts from this morning’s devotions when we talked about mercy; including leaving our own baggage/judgement at the door of the worksite. As per usual on day 4, our minds are whirling with lists of projects to finish (flooring, painting, exterior work, putting everything back) and projects to start and end in one day (can we really build a ramp in one day?!) A Long Day (from Chris) Thankfully today was not as hot as yesterday, but it was a long day as we tried to finish up all our projects. Floors are complete in the kitchen and living rooms, painting is done except for a few touch-up spots, our plumbing adventures are resolved, a new kitchen cabinet was installed and blinds were added to the front windows. Oh yeah, and we built a nearly complete ramp to the front of the house in one afternoon! We’re going to have to spend a few hours finishing up tomorrow morning — some touch-up painting, putting the newly-screened door on the back of the house, installing vertical blinds in the kitchen, building the last small section of the ramp and a few other minor chores. Then we’ll start our journey back home. There must be a few ice cream stands along the way…
Morning thoughts from Allyson P: Last Night Kathy K had the brilliant idea to star gaze. Amazing! This morning, we’re on the way to Faith’s. Typical day 3 feeling of knowing that we’ve gotten a lot done and concerned about how the heck we are going to get the rest of the work done in two days! We are feeling the love of our supporters sending prayers, Lowe’s cards, gas money and ice cream funds. We’re also grateful to Terry as our mission support crew, shouldering the details of our non-work-site chores. From Chris: Today was hot! Our major projects today included more painting in the hallway and foyer and starting the floor installation. We also spent some time mulching the beds out front and dealing with a couple of electrical emergencies. Faith’s assistant, Sharon, showed up and took Faith and Jazzy out for some dog grooming. The little Yorkie returned all clipped (hair and nails), perky and excited to get her cheeseburger treat. We came back “home” to take part in a collaborative t-shirt decorating activity engineered by Pastor John. Our new shirts have our mission trip nicknames on the back (painted on by other trippers) and we decorated each other’s shirts with favorite tools and images from West Virginia. Evening reflections from Allyson: Everyone very tired after a very full day of work. Re-energized by John’s t-shirt “fun event #2.” Impressed by Evan’s hidden artistic talent. Showers were one of the highlights of the afternoon/evening followed down time, home cooking, “whipped cream” event and group star gazing (‘cuz we don’t already spend enough time together!) Thank you This evening we got to present our check to Lori for the Riff Raff. We are so lucky to be the ones to pass along the generous contributions from the entire First Church family and get the hugs and thanks that that are for everyone. -A Day of Accomplishment Our day started out with an excellent breakfast (thanks to Terry for blueberry pancakes!), followed by stretching and devotions. Today's beautitude was "blessed are they who mourn," which we recognized that mourning includes the death of loved ones, but extends to all our losses in life. Jesus says those who mourn shall be comforted, and it was fulfilled as he encountered people mourning and connected with them and said to them that they are loved, that he cares (and God cares) - their grief matters to God. In turn, those who follow Jesus are called to go out to those who mourn and say the same thing, in words and actions. This is certainly true of our experience today. Faith, the woman to whom we're ministering to, has experienced a lot of grief in her life, and due to her medical condition, is mourning the loss of being able to do the things that came easy to her. With this in our hearts and minds, we headed out to her house. The team did extraordinary work, painting two coats of paint in her living room, putting up lighting, fixing plumbing and doing amazing work in her kitchen. But just as important was the way Terry spent 3 hours talking to Faith, sharing stories, opening her heart and listening. No doubt, she was bringing deep comfort to a woman who has been mourning many losses. We also got to meet Faith's dog, Jazzy, an adorable Yorkshire Terrier. We got him outside to play in the back yard - something he might not have done in a long time. After a hard day of work, we enjoyed frozen custard on the way back to the Center (thank you so much to all who gave us ice cream money: it was pure grace! Then onto a delicious chicken potato and veggie dinner beautifully cooked by Terry. Now it is evening. Some have gone to a lookout tower at Pipestem State Park, minutes from the center. Many of us are resting. To those who contributed Lowes Cards: thank you! They were all spent well this morning, getting new flooring, paint supplies, lighting fixtures and other essential items. To those who baked brownies, cookies and those amazing "ice cream cones" (we're not sure who you are - sorry!) we are deeply grateful: they give us a much needed boost in the midst of the work. As always, pray for us. We are thinking of you, as the Mission Trip reaches it's halfway point. We are all safe and sound, and blessed, and totally grateful for the experience. Pastor John Tuesday Recap from Chris Today’s main focus was painting, and the painting crew managed to wash the walls and apply two coats of paint to most of the living area. Other projects included replacing three lights in the kitchen, taking up most of the old linoleum tile floor, installing more railing for the back door (which steps out from the second story to a space formerly occupied by a deck), digging up weeds from the beds in front of the house, and replacing the kitchen faucet. Tomorrow we’ll swap the hot and cold inlets which got connected in reverse today, but at least the painters got some water at the end of the day to clean brushes and rollers! We’ll also tackle the floors in the living room and kitchen, mulching the front beds, more painting on the walls and trim, replacing a broken garbage disposal and more! Towards the end of the day, the young men got a chance to play with Jazzy, Faith’s little Yorkshire Terrier. Faith has been so happy and grateful to see the improvements we’ve been making, even as we tear apart the house in the process! She’s also amused by our corny jokes and Pastor John’s exuberant singing. Meanwhile, we all are grateful for your support and the contributions to the ice cream fund, which we used (in part) to visit our favorite frozen custard shop on the way back from Faith’s house today! And many thanks to Terry for cooking us a delicious turkey dinner with baked sweet potatoes and blueberry muffins! Our Mission Experience Begins! Monday morning was beautiful! We woke up to a great breakfast provided by Terry, our cook, caretaker and Mission Mom! Bacon and eggs - what a treat! After some stretching led by Allyson, we were ready for devotions. Pastor John is using the beatitudes as the basis for our morning devotionals. Jesus preached his first sermon to the "Appalachians" of Israel: those living in the boonies know as Galiliee. He spoke to struggling ordinary folks, far away from the comforts of Jerusalem and told them that they are "blessed" or "happy" or "fortunate." This totally turned the equation around for them: usually the rich, wealthy, educated elite were blessed. But now the poor, mourning people are blessed. Why? Because God was coming to them in Jesus, saying "you are loved, you are valued, you are important, your are God's special people." This is the job of all of the followers of Jesus: to go to the poor and say to them, "you are loved." That is at the heart of a mission trip. It is not coming in pitying those less fortunate, but coming with compassion, forming relationships, and learning from the poor. The poor are our teachers: they show us what it is like to constantly struggle with the dark side of life and stay "on the sunny side' as the Carter Family song goes. They challenge us to think about our own poverty: how we rely on the mercy of God. ................................................... From Chris: Today we met Faith who is dealing with MS and other health issues. She has trouble getting around and maintaining her house. Our first tasks are to remove the worn carpet from the living room and entry stairs, clean and sort the kitchen and reattach a stove hood. We also started installing some safety rails to prevent her and her dog from falling out the back door, which opens out on the second story where a deck used to be. Later in the week we’ll look at some safety improvements to the bathroom, painting the main living area, fixing or replacing the garbage disposal, replacing some lighting in the kitchen, installing a screen in the back door and possibly building an access ramp, among other things. There’s also a tree that was planted too close to the house that we can try to cut back, but this might be challenging given how much poison ivy is growing around it! After dinner we went to the Room Upstairs for open mic night and watched some new acts along with our friends Lori and Robert and Tim and Maggie.
From Kathy R: DAY 1 – Saturday July 16
And so it begins: The 2022 First Church West Virginia Mission Trip left Bedford at 7:35 a.m. and headed to West Virginia with our first pit stop at Pastor John’s sister Janet’s house in Hartford CT. (These could be the nicest bathrooms we see for an entire week!) This year we are a motley crew of 11 people in three cars. On this first leg in of our journey in the “Man Van” were Nick and Mark Guetersloh, and Evan and Chris Majoros. Joining Dotty Blake in her SUV were Pastor John and Douglas Dussault. And in Terry Gerrish’s super roomy “Peter Van” were Kathy Register, Kathy Konkle and Allyson Printz. Sadly, Alison Weaver had to stay home this trip due to a Covid-19 infection. (We miss you already, Alison!) We are armed with many generous donations from the congregation – cash, gas cards, Lowe’s cards, cookies!!!! – and ready to meet the challenges that await us at the Appalachian South Folklife Center in Pipestem, WV. But first we must drive two days to get there. On the way south we stopped for a brownbag lunch at beautiful Long Dock Park in NY, across the Hudson River from NYC. Then we drove on to Easton PA – located in the Delaware & Lehigh (Rivers) National Heritage Corridor – and stopped at the National Canal Museum. Who knew canals could be so interesting? We and 45 other folks boarded a canal boat pulled by mules walking along a tow path beside the canal. During our fascinating 50-minute float and docent talk, we learned about how this particular canal was created, the history of the canal system in the U.S. and how it contributed to the early industrial revolution (by transporting coal in this region of PA), plus the many people who lived on the boats (with their families!) and along the canals. We also gained a new appreciation for the intelligence, sure-footedness and hard- working dedication of the “engines” that powered the canal boats: mules. Before reaching our motel in Hagerstown MD, we stopped for an ice cream break (the first of many we hope!), and made our traditional quick stop for a photo opp at the world’s largest paint can in Shippensbergh PA. From Kathy: |
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