Covenant Adult Mission Team

Friday, July 1, 2011

2011-07-08T08:00:00.000-04:00

The Friday menu says “anything that is left over”. If it was mentioned in this blog during the week we put it out this morning. Sausage, creamed dried beef, French toast, eggs, fried apples, watermelon, etc.

We cleaned up from breakfast with packing to head home in mind. Carl broke down the outdoor griddle area with Pat’s help and filled the back of his truck.

Rich and Anne went on site to help a group for the second day with roofing.

Mollie, Bette and Makenzie put the rental house in order.

Most of the preparation for tonight’s dinner of pizza and tacos was done in advance. We were cleaned up and out by six.

Rich and Anne have left for home.

Our next big event is tonight’s Mary Keller memorial ice cream social at eight o’clock. Makenzie stayed at the school after dinner and will help Carl serve the ice cream to the campers and their guests, the owners of the houses they worked on.

After we put out breakfast tomorrow morning the rest of us will start home also. We all have had a great experience, just ask any of the CAMT members who are named in this blog, we’d love to talk about our experiences.

Thursday, June 30, 2011

2011-07-07T08:00:00.000-04:00

Today was the last day of the Bike VA event. On Sunday and again today we were the recipients of all the unused items from the rest stops here in the county. Again Bagels galore, peanut butter and Jelly sandwiches, cookies, trail mix and bananas. Very ripe bananas.

So every morning this week Bette has been making banana smoothes. First using orange juice, then later in the week she added apples, and then blueberries left over from our Thursday pancake breakfast menu. Low and behold they are very popular. She is kept busy making batch after batch in the mornings. We have now added a sign to the pitcher of smoothes – Presbyterian Smoothes.

Dinner was chopped sirloin and real mashed potatoes followed by watermelon as dessert.

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

2011-07-06T08:00:00.000-04:00

Mackenzie is ok and reported to work on time this morning.

The Middle School Principal has been having breakfast with us most days as he comes in to work. Today he brought his wife and daughter along. Having his company has allowed us to have several conversations about the school district here. Like West Virginia, the school district is all of Pulaski County.

As previously described we have Wednesday Afternoons off and all of us went a different direction. Mollie and Bette went to the Heritage Trail Museum, Pat and Carl followed a map of Artisan Shops throughout the County. Rich and Anne visited the Virginia Tech campus and the memorial from the shooting there of a few years ago.

We all came together for dinner. It was a good dinner, and typical of when we get together socially, a good discussion followed. Tonight’s topic – Covenant’s mission projects and works.
We only have two more days before we head home. The weeks working here with Mid-Atlantic Christian Endeavor go by so quickly.

Tuesday, June 28

2011-07-05T08:00:00.000-04:00

Yes, we are continuning to break records. With seven people and everyone knowing their job it has been easy work and early completion times. With just sixty people here to be served each meal our initial reaction is we serve more than that at Coatesville each month.

This leaves time for three of us to work on site with some of the groups. Rich Smith and Anne have been helping in the mornings on various projects.

Mackenzie Hughes spent the whole day with Grace Lutheran from Macungie on demolition of a house before a bulldozer comes in to complete. Well as it turns out not the whole day. She stepped on a nail and her grandmother had to take her to the local hospital for a tetanus shot. Which still took several hours of the day.

Here in Dublin, about five miles from the hospital, is a billboard that has a digital display tell everyone the minutes waiting time at the emergency room. It has never been greater than 25 minutes.

Monday, June 27, 2011

2011-07-04T07:28:00.002-04:00

Zip, zip we’re done. Carl and Pat go to the school by 5:30 and put out all the products each of our crew needs to do his/her job. The rest arrive at 6:00.

Rich Smith is tutoring on the griddle to take over next year as a weekly food manager. Bette, Ann and Mollie package cut apples in baggies for the lunch line. McKenzie bakes a sheet cake for dessert tonight and then does a sheet pan of brownies for tomorrow’s lunches. Pat lays out the breakfast bar items. Mollie cuts watermelon pieces to go with the cake for tonight. We serve French toast and bacon to those waiting at 7:00 and are done by 7:30. Cleaned up and out at 8:05. A record.

This afternoon might take a little longer because we need to fill out the salad bar items. But we will see if we can continue to break time records.

Sunday, June 26, 2011

2011-07-03T07:26:00.001-04:00

Mollie Hughes, Bette Bowes, and Mollie’s granddaughter McKenzie arrived right on time this afternoon giving them time to settle in. We will repeat the same schedule as last week. At 5:00 we head to the school to make sandwiches. Rich Smith and Anne Zayeitz did not want the dorm experience of group living in the rental house so they have opted to drive an extra twenty miles each day by staying at a motel. Because of the Bike Virginia they could not get closer.

They pull up in front of the house and follow us to the school. Everyone familiarizes themselves with the school cafeteria layout for handling the serving of meals, setup for lunch, and then complete the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Afterwards we all head to Shoney’s back in Dublin for a dinner together. McKenzie returns to the school with me for the second Dori Gilstrom ice cream social at 9:00.

The attendance this week is only 60. We still have the same amount of work to set up and cleanup but serving goes quickly. McKenzie and I are back at the house by 10.

Last year while we were in West Virginia McKenzie became close with some of the teens from Grace Lutheran Macungie PA and has stayed in touch all year. It is the reason she and her grandmother are here this week.

Each participant in attendance has an envelope with his or her name taped to the wall in the back of the cafeteria. The object is to write notes of friendship or appreciation. On Saturday morning as they are leaving the envelopes are handed out so they can be read on the drive home. Pat and I had several notes in our envelopes. These two hit home.

Thank you so much for preparing and planning all of our meals for the week. We are always excited to see your canopy and griddle when we pull in.

and

Upon arriving at work camp my youth leader said that we were in for a real treat because you were the cook. Now after a week here at camp, I completely agree with my leader. The food was Spectacular!

Saturday, June 25, 2011

2011-07-02T08:00:00.002-04:00

Our first group from CAMT packed last night and started home early this morning.

On Saturday we serve a bare bones breakfast of cereal and juice. And left over pizza. You can’t believe how many teenagers will eat pizza for breakfast. The first group of High School Church fellowships head for home.

Pat and Carl get a day and a half off until group two of our CAMT teams arrive Sunday late afternoon.

Friday, June 24, 2011

2011-07-01T08:00:00.003-04:00

Earlier in this blog I reported that Bike VA started today. I thought it was a motorcycle rally. I was wrong. It is truly a gathering of bicyclists 1700 of them. They have booked all the motels for miles around and many of them are camping in tents at the local high school.

Being the end of the week for breakfast we serve “whatever we have left over”. In this case it is French toast and eggs over easy and cinnamon rolls,

I mentioned Thursday is our big meal, but Friday is our kid’s meal. Pizza and tacos, with chili in place of soup on the salad bar. The kids really love it even though it is a do it yourself meal. They go through 30 lbs of hamburger as they build some wild combinations in flour tortillas. The spice combinations alone would give an adult heartburn.

So at 8:00 after the praise service we again serve ice cream. This year is the First Annual Mary Keller Memorial ice cream social. A quote from Mary has been our motto here. “The kids are here to serve the community, we are here to serve the kids.

Both Mary Keller and Dori Gilstrom have served CAMT by participating with what was PACE (Pennsylvania Christian Endeavor) and is now MACE for many years and are still remembered.

Actually our crew this week has many years of service under our belt.
It’s been nine years for Pat and Carl Lotz, Mollie and Millie have at least twelve years.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

2011-06-30T08:00:00.001-04:00

Mentioned previously we have changed our food schedule today to allow everyone to attend the Pulaski Mariners baseball game at 7:00.

Thursday is our big meal, but is quickly comes together. Carl browned the chopped steaks after breakfast this morning and now they will be finished off in the oven. What eventually will become the mashed potatoes start out as commercial packaged ¼ inch cubes. This allows us to put the 20 plus lbs into a steamer to cook. We then mash them with potato masher from the dollar store and use a small manual beater to finish.

In the mean time Pat Lotz does the brown gravy and then, as she does every night, prepares the soup that is part of the salad bar. They are simple modifications built around canned soup but get rave reviews each night.

Well each night except Tuesday. On Tuesdays we get won ton soup from a local Chinese restaurant. This is always an experience. Early in the morning I tried to explain to the manager what we wanted. No one in the restaurant spoke English. I thought I was getting through to them until she placed a call to her teen-age son who speaks English. It only took us another 15 minutes with him as interpreter. Either I have to learn Chinese or Pat has got to be able to make won-ton soup. I would prefer the latter.

As previously reported Millie Williams and Nancy Reynolds complete the salad bar. Keeping it stocked takes all of the lead-time we have before serving.

Nancy Carpenter baked some chocolate chip cookies to serve hot along with watermelon for dessert.

The kids are finished dinner by 5:30. They finish their evening praise service by 6:30 and are off to the game.

At the game they are publicly recognized for the work they are doing, The Mariners win their third straight game 13 to 2.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

2011-06-29T08:00:00.002-04:00

Wednesdays are half a day. We serve breakfast and the kids complete their lunch by working down the line of items that ends with fruit and then write their names on the bags. BUT we don’t have to serve dinner. The groups only work half a day until 1:00 o’clock. Then the afternoon is free for group activities. Most seem to go somewhere to swim.

There is a professional baseball team here in Pulaski. The Pulaski Mariners, a division of the Seattle Mariners. They play in Calfee Park, built in 1932 and nestled between two close hills. On one side houses high enough over right field that they can sit in their front yard and watch the game. Dense woods cover the hill on the left field side. The Phillies were here back in the 50’s. Citizens Park in Philly seats 45,00. Calfee seats 2,000. Well that is a misnomer because you have to bring your own seat in some areas of the stadium. The team is a Rookie League with a short season that just started Tuesday. I never heard of a Rookie League before but it is the starting point for many players. The season is late starting since most of the players have just been drafted and are just out of college. Although several are right out of High School.

Wednesday is a great night for baseball so Pat and Carl attend. Almost 800 people come out for the game paying $4 for general admission. We opt for reserved seating at $6 per ticket behind home plate. Scouts who are familiarizing themselves with the new players surround us. The experience is similar to when the Mets play the Phillies in Philly. A lot of verbal haranguing of the umpire and even the players.

The town of Pulaski is treating our groups to a free game on Thursday night. As a result we have to modify both breakfast hours to get them out to work early since they are stopping by 3:30. Then we have to have dinner ready by 4:30 so they can have the daily church service at 6:30 to head to the ballgame by 6:30 for the first pitch at 7:00.

(To be continued)

Monday and Tuesday, June 20, 21 2011

2011-06-28T08:00:00.001-04:00

The big advantage to the work we do here with MACE (Mid-Atlantic Christian Endeavor) is the experience of the team that is together this week. Last year Nancy Reynolds was a rookie. This year she is a veteran working right along with Millie Williams. They serve breakfast from 7 to 7:30 and then change hats to set up and distribute the lunch materials. Together they prepare the sandwiches offered everyday, over a hundred and fifty meat and cheese sandwiches. Nancy Carpenter, who once worked in a school cafeteria, does the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Spreading that much peanut butter is a real knack, and no body does it better. Nancy also handles the baking of cakes and cinnamon rolls etc.

The biggest problem for all of us is always adapting to the hours we keep. This week because we have an attendance of hundred and ten we don’t start breakfast until 7am. In the past it was 6:30. But we still are up at five every morning and are finished most of our morning work around 8:30. The time we usually are just getting up at home.

In the mornings Nancy Carpenter is baking items for breakfast but also cakes for tonight’s desert or 160 drop biscuits for strawberry shortcake.

The schedule of the evening meal is salad bar at 5:00 and dinner at 5:15. Nancy Reynolds and Millie Williams maintain and set up an extensive salad bar and serve the soup that Pat Lotz prepares. 110 teenagers can and do strip the salad bar, and Millie and Nancy are kept busy restocking.

Nancy Carpenter prepares most of the dinner items and she and Pat Lotz then serve.

And it all goes amazingly smoothly.

Outside under a canopy Carl Lotz works the griddle (described previously) for most of the breakfast items.

The menu is a refinement of what CAMT has discovered over the years to offer a balance of good meals that teenagers like and their leaders expect.

Sunday, June 19, 2011

2011-06-27T08:00:00.000-04:00

Pat and Carl Lotz sleep in and then celebrate a Fathers Day breakfast at Shoney’s. Dublin is a nothing town. It consists of a CVS and Walgreens on opposite corners, two banks and a food store. Dublin is two miles from the exit of interstate 81. Clustered around the intersection is the standard number of fast food hamburger chains and a 24 hour Walmart.

I called Sam XXX and the group from Mid-Atlantic Christian Endeavor saying I would need four cinder blocks for the canopy I put up over the griddle used for most of our breakfast products. Because of the propane tank attached to the griddle it has to be outside. Cinder block were going to be a problem to them. They would have to go about 30 minutes to get to a Lowes. And they were planning on going to church.

A little later I called them again, what time are you going to church? 10:30. Well pray for me because I just stole four cinder blocks.

The bulk of Sunday Afternoon was taken up checking out the food order that arrived on the previous Wednesday and sorting items that came in the trailer from Pennsylvania
Millie Williams and Nancy Carpenter arrived at the house around four. Pat was there to meet them and ride with them to the Pulaski Middle school. The three built 200 sandwiches for Monday lunches while Carl met with the leaders of the groups in attendance.
By then Nancy Reynolds, who got a late start from home, arrived at the house. We all met up with her and went out for dinner.

For the past few years we have celebrated the Dori Gillstrom Memorial Ice Cream social with the campers on Sunday night after their evening church service,

Sundaes all around on Sunday.

CAMT in Pulaski, VA - Saturday, June 18, 2011

2011-06-26T12:05:00.000-04:00

Just couldn’t get it together to leave Friday night so the second best option was an early start this morning. Drove to Carlisle PA and had breakfast. Pulaski VA is straight down route 81 315 miles. Much closer that most of CAMT destinations in past years to WV and KY.

The town of Dublin is in a broad valley with hills to the left and right. On top of the highest hill stand three structures. In the past you might have seen three crosses at the top of the mountain. But right now the visible structures are a very welcome sight. Communication towers. This means my cell phone will actually work while we are away on a mission trip.

By the way, why are we in Dublin VA when we were actually going to Pulaski. In a few words – no room at the Inn. We will be here for two weeks June 18 through July 2nd. Right in the middle of those dates is “Motor Virginia”, the biggest motorcycle gathering you will ever see. As a result CAMT members, who because of your senior ages stay in a motel while serving, could not get reservations.

While lamenting our plight to the Pulaski Area Chamber of Commerce representative we found a solution. A group who owns a house in the town of Dublin (6 miles from Pulaski) just joined the chamber. I called them and was able to work out the dates. So here it is Saturday afternoon and we are getting the keys for our home for the next two weeks.

The drive to Pulaski via route 11 is a delightful ride in the country. This area is not unlike Chester County with rolling hills dotted with farms. The cows are huddling under the tree shade, but the sheep are frolicking in the fields. The traffic is light with next to no speeds posted for us to obey. (You would have had to read previous CAMT trip blogs for an understanding).

Carl heads to Pulaski to see what we have to work with. We are in the Pulaski Middle School. Probably the oldest school in the County school system. The only one not air-conditioned. The school is high on a hill with the front overlooking the town. Pulaski is about half the size of West Chester with a business section of two streets similar to Gay and Market. The one exception is between a myriad of antique and second hand shops are empty stores. If Pulaski was not the County Seat with various government agencies based in town, it would look deserted. But the surrounding areas are full of prosperous homes.

The school is well equipped, it should be a good week. We’ll set up tomorrow.

Last Report from the West Virginia Team 2010

2010-07-02T14:59:00.002-04:00

Thursday July 1, 2010

It’s cold in Glen Ferris this morning. The temperature overnight dropped into the low 50’s. The nine miles to Smithers has become almost mechanical at a controlled speed of 45 miles an hour. In fifteen minutes I am at the school at exactly 5:30 a.m. Cindy is not here yet so I go to the school front door and punch in the entrance code on the keypad. 1,2,3,4,star. The principal said he didn’t want anything too complicated for his teachers. Last week at this hour there would be several adults sitting at the benches along the walk already drinking coffee. Not this week.

I turn on the lights in the cafeteria and do the same in the kitchen. It’s bad enough that the temperature outside is cold; I am in and out of the fridge and freezer getting out food supplies for the morning. Cindy arrives followed by Rich and Anne who have been arriving early each morning.

When the girls (see previous explanation) arrive, everyone does their own thing toward their assigned goal. Pat Lotz makes creamed dried beef, and I prepare to do pancakes on the griddle and apple sticks in the fryer.

After breakfast I suggest we should have a party. Today is the last day we have to make sandwiches for the next day. Friday is going to be good.

We leave the school again at 8:30. Today is a good day to visit some of the work sites the groups are working on. With directions in hand we agree to meet at 10:30 for a tour. Bette is having problems with her shoulder so she, Molly and Mckenzie decide to stay at the Inn.

Rich, Anne, Carl & Pat set off to find the locations on the list. Even though several of them are literally at the end of dirt roads we find them. Strange as it may seem, the crews were glad to see someone who they knew and in general have visitors.

Friday July 2, 2010
Life is good on Fridays. It’s just easier on Fridays. Not only are we looking forward to heading home tomorrow, everything just seems easier. This morning’s menu calls for “whatever we have left over.” And that’s what they get, a little bit of everything. A few eggs, some French toast, English muffins, creamed dried beef, a few sausage patties, a few sausage links and just a little more bacon. The object is to have as little food items from our menu left over for the change of shift for the next three weeks.

The menu is drastically different starting next week. Their goal is to feed each camper for $26 for the week. I spend more. My costs are $30 per camper for the week. It’s amazing what $4 can buy. But then if you have read this complete blog you know what it can buy.

Last report for this adventure
We will all be home by the time many of you read this. If you would like to share more of our adventure, stop any of us, Millie Williams, Nancy Reynolds, Molly Hughes, Bette Bowes, Pat Lotz or Carl Lotz and talk awhile.

Or better yet, think about joining us next year.

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

2010-07-01T16:47:00.002-04:00

Everyone is to work on time. Everyone tackles their assignment and we are already ahead of the 6:45 breakfast time. Last week many of the campers did not show up for breakfast until 6:45 even though we were ready at 6:30. So I decided we might as well buy ourselves an additional 15 minutes in the morning.

Sausage, cheese and egg on an English muffin doesn’t seem like much until you have to build 75 to 100 of them with the clock ticking. Molly makes our signature cinnamon rolls and we are a hit.

While everything inside was is going well, outside Pat cooks the scrapple on the griddle for tomorrow. I in turn brown the chicken patties in the fryer. The color improves the appearance when we serve it tonight on top of rice pilaf even though it is covered with gravy.

We complete the routine of replenishing the breakfast buffet, building more sandwiches and even restocking the salad bar for tonight. The problem again is they have closed down the breakfast buffet and Pat and I did not get to eat. That’s ok—we will go out to breakfast. Thank heavens there is a McDonalds across the street.

Oops, I forgot—we have to cut up the strawberries for the strawberry shortcake tonight. By the time we do that we are no longer early but we are out on time by nine.

Our next challenge is the fact that our small coffee maker gave up the ghost this morning. The only prospect for a replacement is at Walmart in Fayetteville. Rich and Ann have been talking about getting an oil change in their car. I convinced them to accomplish both by driving to Fayetteville and then meeting Pat and I at Hawk Nest Park hotel for lunch. We both arrive at the hotel within 15 minutes of each other and go to the scenic restaurant. After lunch Rich and Ann head back to Glen Ferris.

It may be guilt from last week but Pat and I take the gondola to the river and the jet boat ride.

I may have mentioned previously that the school also has a janitor working split hours. That means he is on premises most of the time we are. Sam is a unique character. Big, at least 300 pounds. Massive bushy beard. Oversize farmer overalls with a T-shirt underneath. Sam has become our friend. Every morning while I work at the griddle he stands nearby and carries on a conversation. The staff here, including a woman who is preparing food for the summer school, has been eating with us. Sam piles on the food. He approves on the appearance of the chicken I am browning and reminisces about last Thursday’s pancakes.

Sam was right, the chicken was good. Of course the strawberry shortcake with whipped cream helps.

Wednesday June 30, 2010
Pat has hit the wall, When the alarm goes off she wants to stay in bed this morning. Things have been going so well, working without her this morning should not be a problem. And it isn’t. We are out early. And best of all, free until Thursday breakfast.

MacKenzie is going to join a church group and go whitewater rafting this afternoon. Rich and Ann go to Charleston for the day.

Pat and Carl chase an allusive model of the property, 10,000 plus acres the Boy Scouts of America have purchased down the road at Glen Jean. They intend to develop it into a permanent home for the National Scout Jamborees and as a high adventure base. We spend several hours talking with a PR representative at the office overseeing the property development. They refer to it as a one hundred year plan.

Having a day off is wonderful….

Compliments - And Starting A New Week

2010-06-30T06:37:00.003-04:00

As I closed last week I noted I would list some of the praise that comes along with the appreciation of CAMT’s service. It is that appreciation that brings us back year after year.

Sometimes it’s just the recognition by group leaders – “When I saw you, we realized we really lucked out to have your menu and your food this week”. “We were with you two years ago at Gaulley Bridge. We brought a stock of food of our own to fill in the expected gaps. Your food was so good we never even touched our own stock”

If you had read any of the past CAMT blogs about our service with Christian Endeavor, you know each week we are here they post an envelope for campers to write notes. Here are just a few from last week:

“You are a blessing to all of us! We are served top-notch meals everyday. Your ministry through food touches everyone here. Thank you for all you do.

“You take very good care of us, I don’t eat this well at home.

“Thank you for being our cook again this year. Food is one of the most valuable parts of camp.” (This one from Mid Atlantic Christian Endeavor executive Sam Yeager.)

Sunday June 27, 2010
Mollie Hughes, her granddaughter Mackenzie and Betty Bowes arrive at the Glen Ferris Inn right on time. Or at least the time they are expected and get settled in their room. We gather at the restaurant at 4:45 for dinner. The time is dictated by the fact that I have to meet with the incoming group leaders at 6:00.

During dinner I drop the bomb that we have to build the sandwiches for tomorrow morning. As penance, I pick up the tab.

I go off to my meeting and the rest start building sandwiches. Many hands make light work. They are done within the hour and head back to the Inn.

As you know, I stay at the school for the 9:30 serving of Ice Cream--our second Dori Gillstrom ice cream memorial. While I wait, Rich Smith and Ann Zayaitz arrive at the school. They got to the Glen Ferris area after visiting Ann’s mother. It just meant they were later than usual. They stay with me to serve the ice cream and clean up. We are home at the Inn by 10.

Monday June 28,2010
We are running 30 minutes ahead of schedule. Every shift we have been out 30 minutes ahead. Life is good. But I am ahead of myself in the narrative.

Monday morning went well. We are benefiting from what we learned last week. Molly Hughes is doing the baking. Betty Bowes handles the lunch set up and salad bar. Rich Smith and Ann Zayaitz cover the breakfast buffet and serving dinner. Mackenzie Hughes floats helping Molly bake and Betty set up the salad bar. She also serves the soup on the evening salad bar. Carl handles the griddle and Pat is the runner tying everything together.

OOPS!
Our only problem is one of supply. I don’t have enough syrup for the French Toast this Morning. The school seems to have four gallons on hand. I have a food order due later today that includes syrup. I decide to “borrow” syrup to get through the meal. In the warmer I put what little syrup I have and start to ad the borrowed. The consistency doesn’t seem right as I pour, and the smell is not syrup. I look at the label, it is actually Worcestershire.

Now we are really in trouble. Rich heads to the local Krogers in the hope that they open at six a.m. He is not back by 6:30 and I am working on plan “d” when he comes through the door. The store hours say six a.m. but they really don’t open until six fifteen or later. I am saved.

The French toast goes well. After breakfast the girls* make the lunch sandwiches and replenish the breakfast items ready for tomorrow.
*Last week I referred to our group as women – this group decided on girls to separate themselves.

As I mentioned, everyone is out by 8:30, a two and a half hour shift.
I have a food order due in at 11:30. But often there can be an hour difference, usually on the long side. We go back to the Inn and rest, and head back to the school at 11. Eleven thirty comes and goes, no truck. So we are joined by Rich and Ann for lunch. When we return an hour later the truck is there and unloading.

Everything fell into place for our Sloppy Joe dinner. Everyone not only did their job but jumped in to help each other. Rich, when finished serving dinner, gravitates to the dish washing machine and keeps the flow of soiled items humming through. Again we are out 30 minutes early. Another 2.5 shift....

June 25, 2010

2010-06-28T18:53:00.003-04:00

It's Friday.

What a difference! TGIF has a new meaning. For breakfast we serve basically whatever is left over from the week. French toast and eggs over easy from the grille and Nancy baked the last of the cinnamon rolls. But the best part of the morning is we do not have to build any sandwiches for Saturday. Everyone is going home tomorrow. Including the CAMT members.

After breakfast Millie, Nancy and Nancy drove the 30 miles to Charlestown to explore one of West Virginia’s large cities. They return raving about the pizza they had for lunch. The real test is we are having pizza for dinner; can they really take pizza for two meals a day?

Actually Friday’s dinner starts with chili on the salad bar, a dinner buffet line to build their own tacos and a choice of plain or pepperoni pizza. This menu is Friday's for one main reason. (See Saturday).

While we are eating dinner, an unknown to me adult tells me we do not have to clean up. They will take care of the tables. Someone forgot to tell me that Valley School was having their 1978 to 1982 class reunion starting at 7:30 here in the cafeteria. Here’s another fine mess Sam (Mid Atlantic Christian Endeavor) has gotten me into. We have scheduled another ice cream party for the campers here at 8:15. Adaptable is us!

The school library has many posted signs – No food or drink. Guess where we have to have our ice cream?

I have free time until 8:15. So I mingle in the cafeteria. Eventually I sit down and thumb through one of the 1980-year books on the tables. It doesn’t take long before someone asks what class I was in. Now I just turned 70 last Saturday. These people are in their late forties, and someone asks what class I was in. It’s a commentary on how hard life is here in WV.

My main problem in answering their question is should I extend a character from one of the murder mysteries Pat has written, or should I fess up. I fessed up--but enjoyed a conversation with the person of what the school was like when they attended.

With special care for neatness, the library is no worse for wear considering the number of ice cream sundaes that are served. I finish up and am back to the Inn by 9.

CAMT sometimes means: Can Adapt Many Times

June 24, 2010 - Soup Saga

2010-06-28T18:38:00.003-04:00

The morning routine for breakfast is the same. After breakfast we (CAMT members and Cindy) sit down for the relaxation of breakfast and some time for fifteen minutes fellowship before we break down the lunch and breakfast line. The women are out on time

Pat and Carl hang out at the school waiting for a food order from USFood that is due about nine o’clock. We usually give them plus or minus sixty minutes on the delivery schedule. Sure enough he is there by ten. The driver brings the products in grouped by frozen, refrigerate, and dry. This makes putting them away easy and efficient.

There is still one problem with the order. On Monday’s order we received a case of Tomato soup marked and identified as Cream of Chicken. So on this order we tried again to get Cream of Chicken. However we get a case of Chicken Noodle marked as if it is Cream of Chicken. OK I give up. It’s the logistics that the others never get to see.

Only Nancy Carpenter has cell phone service in this area. My Nextell has no service, so I head to where I know I do have service so I can check for messages. Unfortunately that’s over near Fayetteville on route 19, about 18 miles away. I document my 18 messages and call some of them back, just to tell them I am in West Virginia.

Some days are easier than others....

A Change of Pace

2010-06-26T15:40:00.003-04:00

Wednesday June 23, 2010

Wednesdays are different; we have the day off after we serve breakfast. We are half way through the week and the days are flying by. The groups will work a half-day and then spend the afternoon at a myriad of activities from a cookout to whitewater rafting.

As a result we serve a big breakfast. It includes scrapple we brought from home. It is always surprising how some people look forward to a simple food item that reminds them of home. Along with the scrapple we prepare scrambled eggs, fried eggs over easy, and my experiment. This year I brought a deep fryer and experimented with something we do in boy scouts. Take off the shelf Pillsbury biscuits that are in tubes, separate into the individual biscuits, cut each into quarters, fry for a couple of minutes and dust with powdered sugar. They taste like donut holes and are a great addition to the meal.

After breakfast we seem to be a little slower building the sandwiches for Thursday and spend more time talking—and before we know it - it’s 9:30. OK we’ll come back tonight and do the PB&J sandwiches.

We all agree to meet at 11:00 and head to Hawk’s Nest State Park. Millie Williams, Nancy Carpenter and Pat Lotz get dropped off at the hotel parking lot at the top of the mountain. The hotel has a gondola that takes you down to the river.

Nancy Reynolds and Carl drive on to the nearby town of Amstead to the rail trail that follows the stream that intersects the river at the bottom where the gondola lands. It’s like the letter “V” with each group starting at a different location but coming together at the point (river).

The rail trail is a beautiful shaded walk at a 3% downhill a little over two miles. Nancy and I arrive at the bottom gondola station after about a one-hour walk. Nancy heads for the ladies room and finds it locked. We look around for Pat, Nancy and Millie and they are nowhere in sight. In fact no one is in sight, the river area is deserted except for two state workers painting the under carriage of he gondola station. The gondola is now closed on Wednesdays. They tell Nancy the men’s room is unlocked and she goes off. While I am waiting for her I carry on a discussion with the two workers. I am not sure that they just wanted to get rid of me, but within a short time they offer to start up the gondola and take us up to the Hotel. Because of the gates being locked one of the workers has to ride with us and unlock the gates at the top so we can get out.

And there the women are in the hotel lobby waiting for us to show up one way or the other. It’s only a few minutes after one so we go up to the restaurant on the top floor and enjoy the view through the big picture windows and a good lunch.

A little time to rest in the afternoon before we head back to the school to make the PB&J. Pat Lotz takes the time to make the creamed dried beef for Thursday morning’s breakfast.

We are between storms. When the clouds hit the mountains around us the rain seems to increase to the point that visibility is almost impossible. Earlier a storm raced through the Kanawha Valley with lightning and thunder that makes you want to hide. As we approached the school tonight another storm just like it passed through. The thunder just echoes off the peaks with amplified sound.

Monday, June 21 & Tuesday, June 22

2010-06-25T17:55:00.004-04:00

Monday June 21, 2010
The knock on the door at five o’clock was Nancy Carpenter with a cup of coffee for Pat. Nancy Carpenter brought her own coffee maker from home. She and I pass in the hall as I head out to Smithers. I try to be on site at 5:30 to get out the foodstuffs we will use in the morning. The women will arrive by six.

It’s still dark as I head toward Smithers. As I travel the nine miles in the dark, I pass through towns named Falls View, Alloy, Boomer and a few others, all unincorporated. Which means they are communities, but have no local form of government except the county of Fayette.

Cindy, the kitchen representative from the school district,is right on time and gives me the ins and outs of the equipment we will be using.

Nancy Carpenter starts baking the cakes needed for desserts for dinner. Millie Williams and Nancy Reynolds set up the lunch tables with the items the kids will pack in the lunches. Pat Lotz oversees the breakfast buffet.

I heat up the griddle that travels with us and start making Texas style French toast. The problem with the first day is the kids are not tired yet from working projects so they show up for breakfast en-mass. We serve breakfast from 6:30 to 7:30 but on Monday morning everyone is in line at 6:45. This keeps us hopping

We sit down to eat at 7:30 and a well-deserved break. Nancy Reynolds and Millie Williams start building 50 ham & cheese and 50 turkey and cheese followed by 50 PB&J (peanut butter & jelly) sandwiches for Tuesday. Yes we pre-build PB&J even though they won’t be distributed for 24 hours. We mix the jelly in with the peanut butter which speeds up the process and then freeze them overnight. They are still frozen the next day when the kids add them to their lunch bag. They love them. Who knows kids?

We are out by nine o’clock. All I want to do is nap for several hours, so Pat and I head back to the Glen Ferris. Millie Williams and Nancy Carpenter are riding with Nancy Reynolds. They head to the town of Fayetteville, about ten miles as the crow flies, but 22 miles by road.

The town of Gauley Bridge has an unmarked police car this year. Nancy Reynolds was stopped on the outskirts of town and given a ticket for being over the speed limit. Then the girls go on to Fayetteville and try to have a good time.

I head back to Valley school at 3:30. A routine I will duplicate every day but Wednesday. I put out all the foodstuffs needed for dinner along with some of the items Millie and Nancy Reynolds will prepare for the salad bar. The women are right on time at 4:00.

The line for the salad bar starts promptly at 5:00. Dinner is at 5:15. Our goal is to be out the door of the school by 7 o’clock, a three-hour work shift. We do it.
But we are all tired. This schedule takes a little getting used to.

Tuesday June 22, 2010
Nancy is right on time with coffee, as the knock on the door could have actually been our alarm clock. She hands me Pat’s coffee cup, which I pass over to Pat. Then to my car for my nine-mile commute. I am not alone on the road at five am. Ahead of and behind me are the large tractor-trailer trucks hauling coal. Each is loaded with 80,000 pounds, of which in West Virginia, is black gold. Or tandem trucks hauling wood logs used by the mill at Alloy that makes metal castings, each with their brake retarders howling as they negotiate the curves.

This morning we make egg, sausage & cheese on English muffins. Nancy Carpenter, who has handled our baking, makes cinnamon rolls and coats them with vanilla icing. She is now the hands down favorite of most of the campers. But since we are having strawberry shortcake for dessert at dinner tonight, her fame is short lived. She has to make a hundred short breads yet this morning.

We are getting used to this schedule enough to spend less time napping. Or to put it in the positive, we are spending more time doing things during the day. Millie and Nancy Carpenter spend a lot of time on Nancy’s computer. Pat and I have lunch at the Inn dining room.

Because we worked out of Gauley Bridge for the last two years, Christian Endeavor has a charge account at the Gauley Bridge Foodland. As a result I also make a daily stop there to get milk and any other item we need. Today I spot Bonnie. If you read any of the blogs from the past two years you will know Bonnie was our school kitchen helper here at Gauley Elementary. Bonnie and I would kid back and forth and in general enjoyed each other. Enough that Pat and I, when we came through Gauley Bridge on Sunday, went by her house. There was no one home.

She and I catch up on the people we worked with those two years and then I slip into the conversation. “I need a ticket fixed”. I explain the ticket issued to Nancy Reynolds, and without hesitation Bonnie offers to go by the station and talk with an officer she knows to see what he would do. We break off the conversation because it is after three and the police shift changes at four. I agree to call her later tonight.

After dinner I get the good news form Bonnie, the officer checked out the record and agreed to “take care of it” when he got in in the morning. I break the news to Nancy only to find she went to Town Hall during the day today and paid the ticket.

Once again governmental corruption has been thwarted by an honest citizen.

West Virginia 2010: Safe Arrival

2010-06-22T20:19:00.003-04:00

Greetings from West Virginia.

It’s Tuesday June 22nd and I (Carl Lotz) am just starting to chronicle our activities. It takes getting into the routine here and adapting to it before our activities come easy to write about.

Pat and Carl Lotz left Frazer for West Virginia on Saturday the 19th of June. The goal is just to arrive here early on Sunday morning with our car loaded to the gills with the items needed to try and make our work here a little easier. More importantly, the goal is to recognize it is the beginning of our vacation. The two step trip here is that beginning.

Millie Williams and her cousin Nancy Carpenter are riding with Nancy Reynolds and will make the six hundred mile run arriving Sunday night June 20th.

Sunday June 20,, 2010
Pat and Carl drop out of the West Virginia mountains to the town of Gauley Bridge along what started as the New River, but now that the Gauley River joins it the name changes to Kanawha River. Just one of many name changes it will undergo on it’s way to joining the Mississippi. Route 60 follows the river and will take us to the next town of Glen Ferris where the inn we will be staying in is located. Down the road another nine miles is the town of Smithers where the Valley High School is located—the kitchen of which will be our home for a CAMT team each of the next two weeks.

We find the school deserted on a Sunday morning. It is a bright sunshiny day and hot. The air conditioning of the school feels wonderful but does not extend into the kitchen. “If you can’t stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen!” The facilities are great—we should have a great week.

Outside the kitchen back door is a small section enclosed by a five foot cinder block wall. Big enough for me to set up my ten by ten canopy and install the griddle we travel with under it’s shade. In testing the griddle I was beginning to think I had done something transporting it that kept it from working. Then I realized it did in fact light. It was just so bright outside I could not see the flames. It’s up and running and that is most important to me since most of our breakfast items are cooked on the griddle.

Next Pat and I inventory the food order that was delivered last Thursday by US Foods and the bread order that was delivered on Saturday. There is always something missing from the orders. That is always a given. An example is the case of Tomato soup that is labeled Cream of Chicken. What we needed was the Chicken Soup. Well, that is why we have local stores.

At six o’clock I meet with the leaders of the groups that will be working on the service projects during the week. I give them printed menus so they will be able to track special needs of some of the kids and adults with them. Everything from diabetes to food allergies.

We are back to the Glen Ferris Inn and find that the rest of our group have checked in and literally come through the door behind us. Even though they have had a hard day on the road I still extend the invitation for the three of them to come with me back to the school for our sixth annual Dori Gillstrom Memorial Ice Cream Party for the incoming groups that will be working this week. The ice cream is served right after the Sunday Night Praise service at 9:30. We usually are back at the hotel by 10:30. Of course we have to be up in the morning at 5:00.

Understandably, they all are too tired. But Nancy Reynolds, the new-comer in the group says she isn’t in the mood for ice cream. I have to explain to her I don’t want her to eat ice cream—I want her to serve/dip ice cream. But don’t misunderstand, Nancy is learning fast.

The ice cream memorial is the main reason why Pat and I arrive early Sunday: so we are up to dipping ice cream. And a good time was had by all!

News from CAMT: Covenant's Adult Mission Teams

2010-04-16T12:29:00.003-04:00

New Organization and Leadership of Missions at Covenant

In a reorganization of Covenant’s mission outreach, CAMT (Covenant’s Adult Mission Teams) and the Mission Committee will merge under the CAMT name, and the combined group will plan mission trips, oversee financial support of various mission organizations, and plan for Adventures in Missions (AIM) programs at which leaders of various kinds of mission outreach are invited to Covenant to tell about their work.

Elder Nancy Reynolds has been elected to be the new coordinator of CAMT following Joyce Lammey’s resignation, and Barbara Rhinehart will be co-coordinator.

Mission Trip Opportunities:

Local Service Shelters
If you are limited to—or just prefer—a one day mission trip, usually on a Saturday, sign up for a trip to one of the Service Shelters. The shelters offer a temporary safe haven for people who are the victims of unfortunate circumstances or have not always made good choices in their lives. The Shelters provide food, guidance and a supportive community while people get “back on their feet.”

Outley House (for men) and the Sheila Dennis House (for women) are in the Philadelphia area, and there is a small shelter for women and their children in Coatesville. The teams usually leave Covenant at 8:30 on the scheduled Saturday morning, car pool to the shelter, prepare lunch (you don’t really have to know how to cook!), and return to Covenant about 2:30.
For dates and/or to sign up, call Richard Smith 610-827-1630

PA Christian Endeavor: PACE
Carl and Pat Lotz will again lead teams to the Gawley Bridge area in West Virginia where they will prepare three meals a day for youth teams who work in impoverished areas. Team members can sign up to go June 20 – 26 or June 27 – July 3 (or if you’re really ambitious—both weeks). Team members get up early to prepare a full breakfast (there’s lots to do even for the non-cooks on the team) and assemble bag lunches for the young people. Team members are then free for the next 4 to 5 hours until it’s time to prepare dinner. The middle of the day can be spent swimming, hiking, sight-seeing, or just “hanging out.”
To sign up, call Carl and Pat Lotz: 610-647-3038

Mexico – Faith Ministry
The next trip to Mexico to work with the Faith Ministry organization will be late January or early February 2011. In addition to teaching sewing and craft projects to women, there are tentative plans to build a house for a family that desperately needs one. Yes—a house can be built in one week! (Mission teams have built more than 2000 houses under the direction of Faith Ministry!)
For information, call Barbara Rhinehart: 610-286-5289

Latin American Fellowship (LAF)
During the Mexico trip in 2009, Covenant’s mission team just happened to meet a team from Ann Arbor, Michigan whose church supports the pastor of the Latin American Fellowship mission church (LAF) that just happens to be in nearby Norristown, PA! The pastor needed 100 bilingual Bibles, and a church in Donegal Presbytery just happened to have Bibles to give away because they were replacing them. Unfortunately, even though we called immediately, they had just been shipped to Lithuania. However, a Donegal minister (whose husband’s native language just happens to be Spanish) volunteered $300 toward the cost of bilingual Bibles. The same day, Covenant’s Pastor Jim Moyer just happened to receive information from the PA Bible Society saying their passion is Bible distribution. With added donations from a few CAMT members, and a matching grant from the PA Bible Society, CAMT just happened to have enough for 96 bilingual Bibles!

CAMT has not made any formal commitments to LAF but plans to stay in touch and follow their growth in a difficult neighborhood with many challenges.

Safe at home!

2010-02-16T23:37:00.002-05:00

The team landed safely at Philadelphia Airport at 9:00 tonight (Tuesday). Everyone was bubbling over with stories of the week which reflected very positive feelings about what was accomplished and, perhaps even more important, relationships established and strengthened in spite of language and cultural differences. The bond that transcends differences, of course, is God's love.

The team is very grateful for the work David Rodriguez, Executive Director of Faith Ministry, did to prepare for the team's work in the three Faith Ministry churches, and for the support of co-pastors David and Linda Reed and the women of 1st Presbyterian Church in McAllen, Texas who were gracious hosts and who gathered many tubs of material and craft projects for the Mexican men, women and children.

The challenge now is to determine where we go from here. We invite readers to join with us as we continue our work:

Monthly trips to service shelters in Philadelphia where the team serves lunch to those who are struggling to prepare for reentering their communities, and...

Spending two weeks this summer preparing 3 meals a day for youth mission teams sponsored by PA Christian Endeavor who will work in impoverished areas (destination still to be determined.)

Pray with us for discernment and strength to accomplish what God would have us do in the future, not only in the Faith Ministry churches, but wherever he leads us.

To share your thoughts or for more information, contact Joyce Lammey, Coordinator of Covenant Adult Mission Teams (CAMT) 610-489-4576 or call the Covenant Presbyterian Church office, 610-748-0707.

The Last Day

2010-02-15T22:23:00.003-05:00

The team spent today (Monday) at the Reynosa church. This is the first church CAMT worked with starting in 2001. Those who had been there before were delighted to renew old friendships: Petra, Maria Feliz, Marcella, and, of course, once again the children won their hearts.

They also met members of a mission team from Indiana who were building a house nearby. The leader of that team has come to Mexico every year since 1992. Both teams ate lunch together and then moved to the sanctuary for the traditional praise service led by David Rodriguez, the Executive Director of Faith Ministry. The minister of the church played the guitar for the hymns.

During the work time, Pat Lotz made a pair of pants for one of the children, and Lyn Huber taught Melissa, a 9 year old, how to crochet. Lyn was amazed at how quickly she caught on and worked at least an hour on her project. One of the ladies crocheted a beautiful headband which she gave to Lyn when it was completed—and then taught Lyn how to make one! Especially considering the poverty in Mexico, the generosity of the people continues to amaze those who meet them.

Lyn, a former teacher, also noted how calm the Mexican children are and how often they are able to do things one would expect of older children. Maybe it’s because in their less hurried culture they are often calm enough to just watch adults and other children before they begin a project themselves.

Roman, who traveled with the team to translate, wished the team could stay longer—perhaps so they could help him perfect the knitting they had taught him. Those who knew him from previous trips might be interested to know he is studying for his GED.

Nurses Joan Hahn and Kay Rowell worked today at the Betty medical clinic which was named for the nurse who has faithfully worked there since it began. There was a pile of prescriptions on Betty’s desk, so Kay and Joan counted pills, measured liquid medicines and then labeled the bottles. Kay gave Betty a Dymo labeler which will speed up the process of labeling the prescription bottles. There is no pharmacy in the area, so medications are dispensed in donated prescription bottles and labeled by hand right there in the clinic or in advance by Betty’s 13 year old son at their home. They especially like the childproof bottles which are ideal for dispensing liquid medications.

Bette Bowes laughed again about pulling the cart out of the mud yesterday. (I think that’s a story that will be remembered for years to come!) She was disappointed that the Reynosa children didn’t want to do one of the crafts she had planned, but it was clear that during the time in Mexico she had gone from being “terrified” at the idea of working with children to looking forward to helping them with craft projects.

A statement made by several team members: “I got more out of it this week than I gave any of these folks.” It’s a common statement made by those who go on mission trips. You go with the idea of giving—and you DO give—but your blessings are much more than what you gave. Maybe it’s God way of saying “Thank you for helping ‘the least of these’ in my world.”

Tomorrow the team will fly to Dallas and then on to Philadelphia. They flew south within the good weather window last Tuesday, and we pray they will again be fortunate for the return flight.

Thank you to all who prayerfully supported the team this past week.

It was quite a day!

2010-02-14T22:04:00.004-05:00

The team worshiped this morning at 1st Presbyterian Church in McAllen whose members contributed the equivalent of two vans full of sewing and craft materials to share with the women in the Mexican churches. It was wonderful to actually meet more of the women who had contributed so generously and to hear of the interest in CAMT’s work by others in the congregation.

The team was also greeted by the co-pastors, David and Linda Reed, who have encouraged the partnership from the beginning. Covenant members may be interested to know that Mary Keller originally suggested that we find a church in Texas with whom to partner so we didn’t have to mail materials needed for the trip. It is sad that she did not live to see her plan come to fruition, but hopefully her legacy will live on.

David Rodriguez, Executive Director of Faith Ministry, had planned to come to church along with his family, but he was ill and could not attend this morning. However, he will be in touch later to gather the unused tubs of material which will be distributed as the Faith Ministry women need replenishment.

The shopping trip planned for the Mexican tourist town just across the border was canceled because it was 3pm until the team left the church. The team members relaxed, took naps and/or read until they partook of the daily free goodies provided about 5pm every day by the motel: popcorn, peanuts, tortilla chips and salsa, spaghetti with meatballs, cake, some valentine treats, and—-margheritas served in paper cups. I won’t tell you who reported that the latter were heavy on the lime juice.

Tomorrow, the team's last work day, will be spent in the Reynosa church, some of whose women have been coming to sew for all six years CAMT has visited their church. (This was the second year to work in Naranjito and the first in Miguel Aleman.) The team looks forward to renewing old friendships and meeting newcomers.

P.S. Temperature in Texas today: 75 degrees

Day 2 at Naranjito

2010-02-13T21:24:00.002-05:00

Joan Hahn called in the report about the second and last day at the Naranjito church. The team has decided Barbara could be a Nascar driver. Once again she navigated the muddy road to the Naranjito church. Thanks for safe travel has taken on a new meaning.

At one point during the day a man knocked on the church door and asked if anyone could help get his horse-drawn cart out of the mud. Instead of the usual wheels for carts, it had car tires making it harder to get it out. The man had been yelling and beating the horse while he pulled on a rope to “encourage” him, but the horse couldn’t/wouldn’t move.

Bette and Kay went out to help, but couldn’t budge the cart. Finally Pastor Alfredo came out with another rope along with three more of the women. They unhooked the horse from the cart. “Let’s all pull,” he announced. They unhooked the horse from the cart and the five women used the two ropes following Alfredo’s directions: “Pull…pull…pull!…” The cart broke free and Alfredo announced, “United we can accomplish anything.” (I wonder if he realized why the women laughed so hard.)

You just never know what will happen on a mission trip! (Remember the “Be flexible” advice?)

The number of women was smaller again today than expected, but those who did manage to get there kept the donated sewing machines running all day.

Silvia, the minister’s wife, has learned how to crochet as well as to cast on stitches, knit, purl and bind off. She will teach those who couldn’t come these two days.

An especially warm spot in the day: there was a woman with a crippled foot who was in a wheelchair. She was very frustrated because she could not see to thread a needle. Last night Barbara bought her a pair of glasses (at Wal*Mart) to give to her today and she was thrilled! She sewed all day and Joan wasn’t sure whether she even stopped to eat lunch.

By the way, if you ever win the lottery and wonder what to do with the money – consider sending wheelchairs to the Faith Ministry’s medical clinics. The last we heard, they needed 12 adult and 2 children’s wheelchairs. Imagine the confinement (especially for a child) if you need—but don’t have—a wheelchair.

The Naranjito women again unexpectedly provided lunch for the team who have jokingly decided they will eat last Wednesday’s lunch on the flight home.

Check in tomorrow to read about attending worship services at 1st Presbyterian Church in McAllen, our partner in this year’s projects. (Lunch again will be included—but this time they know about it!)

A Muddy Road to Naranjito

2010-02-13T00:16:00.002-05:00

It’s Day 3 for the team in Mexico. Everyone sounds great although they are a bit tired by now. The worst thing about today—the first in Naranjito—was mud. Many stretches of roads they traveled to get to the church are not paved, and there was enough rain yesterday to make driving a real challenge. When they checked out the van on arrival, they not only saw a lot of mud—they saw stones stuck in the mud on the wheels.

Pastor Alfredo Castillo and his wife, Silvia, welcomed the team to the church—although they don’t actually have a sanctuary yet. When construction is complete, it will be on the second floor of a building whose first floor was completed several years ago and serves as their sanctuary as well as an all-purpose room. A small but comfortable pastor’s home was completed several years ago in the church compound, and a medical clinic is planned for when funds become available. The economy has also been poor in Mexico, which means that Faith Ministry’s construction schedule is way behind.

Pastor Alfredo has earned his Master’s degree in psychology and is working on a PhD so he can do counseling in addition to his regular pastoral services.

Only about 10 women came with their children today, but they expect more tomorrow (Saturday). The church is in a rural setting, and none of the women have cars to drive, so one can’t help but wonder if walking along muddy roads may have had something to do with the low attendance. The women made pillow and appliance covers, but several struck out on their own to make curtains from the available material.

Roman, the translator for the group, tried his hand at making a potholder and joined the knitting group led by Joan Hahn (whose name the Mexican women pronounce “Joanne.”)

Once again, the women of the church provided lunch for the team. Those sandwiches made for Wednesday’s lunch must be getting pretty old by now!

Good-bye to Miguel Aleman

2010-02-11T23:04:00.002-05:00

Lyn Huber checked in tonight (Thursday, 2/11)) with news from the second and last day working at the church in Miguel Aleman.

Most of the women continued with the sewing of pillow and appliance covers, but there was also interest in crocheting and, especially, knitting—something not experienced very often in earlier trips to the other two churches. Joan Hahn and Pat Lotz helped the women and a few of the older girls learn how to make headbands and scarves which were especially welcome during the current cold spell (for Mexico)—56 degrees! More typical are temperatures in the 70’s and 80’s this time of year.

The women of the church again prepared lunch for the team, which was greatly appreciated even though it meant the sandwiches they made yesterday are still in the cooler.

The team has relocated at the Days Inn in San Juan, TX where they will stay for the remainder of the trip. Those who have been on previous trips will be interested to hear that check-in took a very long time. The motel is very reasonably priced, has very nice clean rooms and provides wonderful cooked breakfasts for no extra charge. However, dealing with the office is always a trial. Today’s check-in took a very long time because their computer was down. There’s always something....

The team often has some work to do even when they return to the motel. Tonight everyone was busy cutting out leaves and flowers which the Narenjito children will decorate and on which they will write their names. Bette Bowes had made a felt tree for each church, and the children’s decorations will be glued on making a memento that will hang in each church as a reminder of the special days spent with their American friends.

Tomorrow the team will drive to Naranjito where they will continue their work with women and children (and sometimes men who enjoy joining in.)

Miguel Aleman Church - Day 1

2010-02-10T22:56:00.002-05:00

Today the team worked at the Miguel Aleman church in Mexico. About 20 women, 20 - 30 children, and a few men came to do crafts and sewing projects.

Bette Bowes called to report on the day. This is Bette’s first trip to Mexico. She had been asked to help with the crafts for the children and she would use the term stark terror to describe how she felt about the prospect of doing this. She has never worked with children before, and, of course, doesn’t speak Spanish. She couldn’t imagine how this was going to work.

I wish you could have heard her tell about the day! She was bubbling over with pure joy and excitement as she told how well everything went. Mexican children are less “active” than our American children and are willing to wait patiently for help. They were very appreciative of the crafts planned for them—especially the beads. In fact, several of the women and men joined in making bracelets and necklaces.

Regarding the language problem--Roman, a young man who works with Faith Ministry, was there as in years past to translate for the team, although after initial directions are translated, it’s amazing what can be done by sign language and demonstrations.

Most of the women loved using the sewing machines and made covers for pillows and appliances. Lyn Huber, whose specialty is knitting and crocheting, worked with the women who wanted to learn those skills—or simply needed supplies to get started.

Calls of “Thank you! Thank you!” and “God bless you!” were shouted as the team returned to their motel in Texas.

A light note of the day: Bette said she wanted to see cowboys and Stetson hats which she associated with that part of the world. Even though the team had brought their own lunch, those at Miguel Aleman had planned to serve lunch to everyone. "Cowboy soup" was on the menu! The rest of her wish came true when the team had dinner in a restaurant back in Texas and saw some state troopers at another table—-all of whom wore Stetson hats.

Check in tomorrow to read about the second and last day at Miguel Aleman.

CAMT Arrives Safely

2010-02-10T00:21:00.002-05:00

CAMT Arrives Safely

Covenant’s Adult Mission Team (CAMT) which will work with women and children in 3 Mexican churches includes team leader Barbara Rhinehart, Pat Lotz, Lyn Huber, Joan Hahn, Kay Rowell, and Bette Bowes. (At the last minute, Nancy Reynolds was not able to go because of back problems.)

Everything went smoothly with the flight to McAllen, TX. The team was surprised—and delighted—to be greeted at the airport by Natalie Atkins and Nadine Force, members of 1st Presbyterian Church, McAllen, TX, who welcomed them with a basket of goodies. In addition, David Rodriguez, Executive Director of Faith Ministry, whose 3 churches in Mexico the team will be serving this week, was also there to greet them.

However, when they tried to pick up the van, the reservation could not be located. After numerous phone calls, the original reservation was finally “found.” The huge demand for rental cars and vans because of the Toyota recall was given as the “excuse.”

The team stopped at 1st Presbyterian on their way to the motel and were delighted to see 6 sewing machines and more bags of sewing and craft material than they could count which had been donated for use by the Mexican women and children by 1st Presbyterian and neighboring churches. Southern hospitality and generosity are awesome!

The team drove to their motel, had dinner and went to a nearby Wal*Mart where they bought some last minute supplies, the makings of Wednesday’s lunches and a cooler.

Before gathering for devotions, they decided to put some of the toilet paper they had bought into the van. (Restrooms in Mexico usually do not provide toilet paper.) The unusual key arrangement wouldn’t open the van, so they called for road service. They learned how to use the “key” but because there was a battery involved somehow, they needed to run the van for 10 minutes.

Ever the efficient group—they used the 10 minutes (plus a few more) to have devotions together—in the van before heading to bed.

The wisest advice given when CAMT started going on mission trips was: Be Flexible!

They're off- - to Mexico!

2010-02-06T15:13:00.003-05:00

Once again a team of seven dedicated Covenant members are ready to fly Tuesday morning, Feb. 9 to McAllen, Texas. They will drive to their motel in Rio Grande City, TX and will spend Wednesday and Thursday working with the women and children who attend Faith Ministry's Presbyterian church in Miguel Aleman, Mexico.

Each team member is taking an extra suitcase full of sewing and craft materials to use in their work. There is an extra charge to fly with an extra suitcase, but it's a lot less expensive than mailing the many wonderful donations given by members of Covenant and their friends!

This will be the first time a team will have worked in Miguel Aleman, but they are assuming that, like the women in the other two churches, they will like to make decorative covers for pillows and appliance covers. There will also be extra material for the women who have their own ideas about what to make! There are lots of different crafts planned for the children who come with their mothers each day. Because most schools have two different sessions--some children go in the morning, and another group goes in the afternoon, there are children at the church off and on all day.

Thursday afternoon the team will drive to a motel in San Juan so they will be closer to the churches they will be serving the rest of the time: Naranjito Friday and Saturday, and Reynosa on Monday.

Sunday morning they will attend worship services at the 1st Presbyterian Church in McAllen and will thank the women there who have gathered craft and sewing material for the Mexican women. This is the first time Covenant has partnered with a Texas church--again saving the cost (100's of dollars!) of shipping. A pot luck lunch is planned for the team after the service, and everyone is anxious to meet those with whom they share a true concern for the Mexican people.

Sunday afternoon they will make a brief trip to a tourist town just over the Mexican border and will prepare for their last work day, Monday, when they will work with the women and children in the Reynosa church. Because Covenant teams have worked with the Reynosa women and children during all previous trips, they don't need as much instruction as those in the other churches.

Tuesday, of course, is travel home day. Check the blog each day to read what happened that day.

Everybody's back safely!

2009-07-07T21:20:00.003-04:00

Those who worked in West Virginia to prepare meals for youth mission teams who repaired houses are back safely. Food orders for the meals arrived on time (most of the time) and nobody fell off a cliff! (Check the WV trip news for 2008 to read about that last one!) Special thanks to Carl and Pat Lotz who plan the menus, order the food, and, essentially orchestrate the whole project--although most of those on the teams have worked several years on this project, so they've had lots of practice.

Next Mission Trip:

A day trip to the Sheila Dennis Shelter in Philadelphia on Saturday, August 29. Leave Covenant at 8:30 and return about 2:30. (This is the shelter where in June a birthday party was prepared for all the women there.) The team, led by Richard Smith, will prepare lunch for the residents. Even though there won't be a party this time, having a group of friendly people serve you a delicious lunch makes for a great day! Call Covenant Presbyterian Church if you'd like more information or to sign up to join the group: 610-648-0707

Day 15: Saturday July 4, 2009

2009-07-04T07:50:00.000-04:00

Since everyone is packing to leave, once again breakfast is quiet. Just cereal, juice, fruit and yes pizza.

Pat and I have packed many of the items we brought with us to make the job easier.

I have made a list for Norm as to what he is to bring home to me at the end of next week. Norm is a site coordinator for all three weeks who has offered to run the griddle next week so we can continue my menu.

Mary, Mollie, Betty and Makenzie have left for home. Pat and I will be soon behind them. I just have to review procedures for next week with one of the interns who knows the woman that will be kitchen manager next week. However Bonnie, the school employee kitchen person will keep every thing organized.

Oh yes, I have to file this email from the school’s principal’s office. My last for this adventure.

Day 14: Friday July 3, 2009

2009-07-04T07:49:00.001-04:00

The count down to the end is near. I thought it was only Pat and I with two weeks under our belts. But the schedule is so foreign to our normal schedules that everyone is on the count down.

In many ways this week has almost been strange. Again the breakfast hour was stretched thin which deceives me. Even though I am outside and everyone passes the griddle I am working, it seems very few are coming to breakfast. That is until I get to go inside and find the dining room a filled as ever.

Friday we serve everything that is left over. Creamed dried beef, potatoes, cinnamon rolls, and biscuits. And French toast again fresh from the griddle.

Today we do not have to build sandwiches for lunches. No lunch tomorrow.

Back at the Inn today by 8:30, Again time to rest.

Oh of interest, yesterday someone tried to jump off the famous route 19 New river gorge bridge. The police closed down the bridge about 7 a.m. If you have enough guts to actually jump, then you should have enough guts to face life. The National Park Police eventually subdued him with a taser.

The town (actually called a city) of Gaulley Bridge is preparing for the Fourth of July celebration. A marathon gospel concert outdoors near the river Gaulley.

Free until 3:30 today, I head back for my last hours at the museum mentioned in earlier emails. It is not a priority for them so if we go back in future years it will be there for me. It is years of work. However now I can turn to researching the timeline for some of the processes and equipment I found in their basement.

Dinner is chili, build it yourself tacos and pizza. In short teen food. When I put together the menu every item in stock has multiple uses. The cream of chicken soup on Monday became the gravy over the chicken on Tuesday, etc., etc. Fridays leftover pizza is then served for breakfast on Saturday. They love it.

Day 13: Thursday July 2, 2009

2009-07-03T08:10:00.000-04:00

If you read last weeks blog you know today’s breakfast is pancakes. We are ready before 7:30 our starting time to serve. The kids who are coming in for breakfast look worse than they did yesterday. And again they straggle in over the full hour. But they are loaded up and out to the job sites by eight o’clock.

I have the standard administrative items to take care of on Wednesdays. Food delivery time, pay the bakery, etc.

The rest of the day today is to rest. Mary however heads out to visit some of the work sites. It takes her hours before she is back.

At two o’clock I head to the Foodland for a few items and then go to the school to check out my food delivery. At 3:30 I pick up Pat and she starts the soup for tonight’s salad bar.

Mary, Mollie, Betty and Makenzie arrive at four and we have everything set up and ready to serve by four-thirty.

The groups are back a little earlier than usual but the first person through the salad bar is only 10 minutes before the five o’clock salad bar opening. Dinner is good, just ask anyone. Dessert is a small brownie or a large square of cake. Want to guess what most boys took.

As for me, I now have the realization that Pat and I have one more day before we can head home. I am ready, almost looking forward to it.

Day 12: Wednesday July 1, 2009

2009-07-03T08:09:00.000-04:00

The campers have the afternoon off. They work the morning and then are free until ten tonight. To make this possible they have their praise service at eight a.m. right after breakfast.

But right now at 6:30 we have no takers for breakfast except a small group of adults that are always early for breakfast. In fact it is six-fifty before we get any campers through the door. And it is a very slow trickle right up to our seven thirty cut off for breakfast. They all look tired.

Some raft, some swim, some picnic this afternoon.

Mary, Mollie, Betty and Makenzie head to Beckley about twenty miles away to take the coal mine tour. An underground tour that is fascinating. Of course it’s a cool 50 or so degrees inside so jackets are required.

Pat and Carl went their own way. As a result I have a bone to pick with Kathy Southerland next time I see her. Last week she and Rich went to Greenbrier about two hours away. We of course are heading for Greenbrier. I have to admit it is not quite two hours travel. We arrive in time for the 1:30 tour of the bunkers. But it is only noon. There is a McDonalds just down the street, but we opt to have lunch in the hotel Café. Ten times the potential McDonald’s bill. But it is a once in a lifetime experience. The ninety-minute bunker tour is very interesting. They tell us it is now the bunker used to store company records. They also talk about how the bunker was hidden in plain site. Hummm!

Pat and Carl are just finishing dinner in the Glen Ferris dinning room when in come the rest of our group. So Pat and I sit with them as they order dinner. The conversation eventually leads to how each of the couples met. Interesting.

Day 11: Tuesday June 30, 2009

2009-07-02T10:07:00.000-04:00

The normal routine to set up for breakfast, serve Egg McMuffins.

Today Mary has to bake the cinnamon rolls by 6:30 when we start serving breakfast and then go on and bake one hundred biscuits for the strawberry shortcake.

Of course after breakfast half the group builds sandwiches and the other half cuts strawberries.

We head back to the Inn for an hour to rest. At ten in the morning we shuffle cars at Hawk’s Nest State Park so we can start the rail trail hike with this weeks crew. The walk is tradition. Everyone except Pat walk the two-mile trail. This time the pace is slower while Mary and Betty admire the variety of plants and try to identify them. Mollie and Makenzie sets the pace way ahead. We meet Pat at the bottom and then take the gondola up to the hotel at State Park. We then all enjoy lunch in the “Rivers Restaurant” with the view of the river below. We can see all the way to the bridge crossing the gorge at Fayetteville, which is almost fifteen miles away. We are done and still have two hours to rest before preparing tonight’s dinner.

Tuesday’s dinner is one of the bigger dinners we serve. Baked chicken on top of rice pilaf along with glazed carrots.

Each week we always have some campers who need special handling. This week we have a girl just diagnosed with diabetes before coming to Gauley Bridge. We are adapting are items so she can count and control her carbs and sugar.

Tuesday is a snack night, but for the first time in years very few show up for nachos tonight. I am beginning to think these kids a weird.

Day 10: Monday June 29, 2009

2009-07-02T10:06:00.000-04:00

The new crew hits the ground running. Pat and I are in the kitchen by 5:30 in the morning. I distribute the items from the freezer and refrigerator so when Mollie, Mary, Makenzie and Betty arrive they have what they need to start. The representative of the school district (Bonnie) now knows the menu from working with us last week. Bonnie however feeds about 140 kids every day as the only kitchen person; as a result she has trouble with all these people in her kitchen. For some reason she starts work early and very often has our items for the day in the oven, etc.

On the other hand our crew is used to doing it all. I have to walk a fine line with Bonnie trying not to discourage her from what she wants to do, but being sure she leaves enough for us in the morning.

Makenzie and Mollie put together the lunch bar and find this group of kids doesn’t take as many sandwiches as the group did last week. After they all leave for their work sites we do not have to build very many sandwiches. Mary bakes a sheet cake for tonight’s dessert and several hundred peanut butter cookies that we will bag and put out for lunches tomorrow. Betty and Pat handle the breakfast bar. I find that Betty in her youth was in the Army stationed in Ireland and worked food preparation for hundreds of soldiers. This all comes back to her and it is easy for her to join right in.

With everyone knowing their job, and only 110 to feed the morning goes very quickly. Well with one exception. The precooked 300 strips of bacon I use with French toast did not come in. As a result I picked up ten packages of bacon at the local food store and cooked them on the griddle.

Following breakfast we replenish the sandwiches for tomorrow and stack them in the refrigerator. I pull the Sloppy Joe trays from the freezer to defrost by dinnertime. Then clean the griddle from making the French toast and call US Foods to get a time for today’s food order. Supposedly around 4:30. Since I will be back around 3:30 we don’t need an intern helping in the office to meet the driver.

The free time becomes a day of rest and recuperation for the girls from the travel and early hours.

By four o’clock the crew is back and working to replenish the salad bar. We open the salad bar at 5:00 Pat makes two tureens of chicken corn soup, and then she and Betty handle replenishment of the salad bar as needed. Makenzie dispenses soup also on the salad bar. At 5:15 Mary and Mollie man the steam tables and build the dinner plates. Chicken over rice pilaf with carrots on the side

Watermelon and cake complete the dinner.

We are cleaned up and out by seven.

Day 7: Friday June 26, 2009

2009-07-02T10:04:00.001-04:00

(Well, slightly out of order, but please bear with us.)

We are starting the fifth day of sunshine. Well that is what the weather station tells us. At five a.m. there is not enough light to really know.

Today is “whatever we have leftover” day. As a result it is a smorgasbord of items. French toast or eggs off the griddle along with dried beef, toast, English muffins, cinnamon rolls, mixed fruit, even some left over McMuffins from Tuesday.

Being the last day that we will have the six hours of free time before dinner, everyone did their own thing. Rich and Kathy joined Debra and headed to Tamarack, shop that specializes in West Virginia tradesmen handcrafted items. Millie and Nancy read and spent time on the computer. Pat and Carl just rested and joined them for lunch at the Inn. Millie swore she was going to start lunch with dessert, but did have a hot dog before all of us ordered desserts.

Tonight the Town of Gauley is sponsoring an auction of QVC products in the Gym of the building the kids are staying in. As a result everyone, especially the kitchen staff from here want to be finished early. (Even Linda from the old HICO School {now retired} that we worked with four years ago came to the Auction). It was nice to see her and she greeted us as old friends.

Tonight’s dinner is teen food. In place of soup we serve chili, they make their own tacos and of course there is always pizza. This morning Nancy baked two sheet pans of corn bread for dinner and 160 bisquick short cakes to be used with hot peaches for dessert.

One of the groups with us all week headed home as they finished their project today so we were short twenty-five at dinner.

Most importantly we were registered in the gym ready for the auction by seven. A mish mash of items, I looked on the boxes they came out of, they were all marked with a “return” label to QVC. Oh well we still managed to buy $25 worth of items.

I left the gym a little after eight and went across the street to set up for another ice cream snack night starting at 8:30. Rich came back from the Inn to help me. They devour ice cream quickly and Rich and I were back at the Inn by 9:30.

Day 9: Sunday June 28, 2009

2009-07-01T11:09:00.001-04:00

After church we head the 18 miles to Bob Evans for breakfast. Then Pat gets to do the laundry at a Laundromat nearby. I need to have some copies made for the leaders meeting tonight and head on to Beckley, but I get sidetracked. Seeing a sign to an area we go to often, it is a possible new route. So I take it. When I left the main highway Beckley was eight miles away. Now that I am on the rural route, Beckley is now 12 miles away. Remember the old geometry axiom – The shortest distance between to points is a straight line. West Virginia claims to be the largest state in the union, if they ever flatten it out. By the time I get the copies done, Pat is contacting me because she is done the laundry. I pick her up and we both head back to Whipple for a couple of hours. Our time is limited since we want to be back Glen Ferris by four to meet Mary Keller, Betty Bowes, Mollie Hughes and her granddaughter Makenzie.

They do arrive around four-thirty. They drop their luggage and meet us in the dining room for Sunday dinner. You might call it a working dinner since we work out who handles the Lunch Bar (Mollie & McKenzie) who is our baker (Mary) who handles the salad bar (Pat and Betty. Then we head off to the school to make sandwiches for tomorrow.

Pat, Carl & Makenzie stay and dispense ice cream in our second Dori Gillstrom ice cream party for 2009.

Day 8: Saturday June 27, 2009 – Alone

2009-07-01T11:07:00.001-04:00

With everyone gone we can take it slow and easy. Resting until noon, lunch in the Glen Ferris Inn dining room and then on to the Oak Hill area to the Whipple Company Store. Pat however spent the afternoon resting at the hotel.

As mentioned earlier, last year I toured the Whipple Company store. In the basement of this 100-year-old building is just that. 100 years collection of junk. But in the corner is what was the print shop. Since I earned my living in the graphic arts industry I volunteered to sort through the piles of material jammed into the print shop space. So I spent several hours having the time of my life finding the material for books of the area and other printing projects.

Tradition has Pat and I having dinner with the US Foods representative in this area, Penny Meeks and her husband. So I head back to Gauley Bridge, 18 miles, to get Pat then retrace 24 miles to the restaurant in Beckley. And these are not straight miles. But it is a real experience to negotiate that distance in the dark to get home.

Day 6: Thursday June 25, 2009

2009-06-26T07:08:00.002-04:00

Well it’s back to the grindstone again. Rich and I are up when Pat knocks on our door. Usually it is the other way around. She wants to get an early start making the creamed dried beef,

Pancakes are on the menu for this morning, regular and blueberry. The kids prefer regular, the adults prefer blueberry so everyone is happy. The creamed dried beef can be over pancakes, toast or biscuits. With link sausage and the apples previously described.

The best part of the day is the fact that today is the last day that we have to build three hundred sandwiches. Hooray!

I am waiting for the bread order delivery, which is late. It does arrive by nine, so we are back to the Inn on time. This is one of the two days that Rich is working in the field with a group in Montgomery. So he heads there.

The rest of us just rest, read, nap.

We have an unusual number of vegetarians here this week, mostly girls. As a result it is important that tonight’s soup be vegetarian vegetable. So Pat and I head to the food store for the makings and then to the school to double check the food order that came in from US Food this afternoon. One of the PACE interns met the driver and made everything was put away.

Chopped Sirloin Steak, real mashed potatoes and the menu called for green beans. I substituted baked beans instead. I usually will not modify the menu because there are always people in attendance with food allergies. But to be frank I was tired of moving the cans of beans from location to location.

We have our group picture taken tonight around six thirty, right in the middle of clean up. We all donned our “Life Builders” T-shirts to be recorded for posterity.

Even with the picture we were out of the kitchen by seven. We are now back at the Inn enjoying what is left of the daylight. Nancy has her computer out to trace her daughter/s trip to London. She is also emailing the information to Ed Elrod back home. Sometimes we think our hours are weird, but we noticed that Ed posted our last piece on the church BLOG around 4 am in the morning.

Day 5: Wednesday June 24

2009-06-26T07:07:00.000-04:00

The best thing about Wednesdays is the fact that we only have to serve breakfast. After breakfast the groups put in a half day and then have Wednesday afternoon and evening free. So do we.

The griddle I use uses propane so I have it under a canopy just outside the entrance door. Everyone passes by on the way in. I light the griddle as soon as I arrive in the morning. Mostly because the sky is just beginning to lighten. Otherwise the flame is so blue that you cannot see it. This early I can see and adjust the flame for what I want to cook. This morning it's eggs over easy.

We also served scrambled eggs, scrapple, toast plus cereals, fruit etc. It always surprises me how popular PA Dutch scrapple can be. The groups from Western PA and VA have never had scrapple. I tell them here in the south you should try scrapple. After all you eat grits, which is only cream of wheat with sand in it. And they do try it, and some actually like it.

Breakfast goes smoothly. While we are eating, an adult stops at our table to say she has been to several different work camps and the food is usually mediocre but raved about what we are serving.

There is always the inevitable sandwiches for tomorrow. For some strange reason the kids are excited about the frozen peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. The adults are not so excited. We finish and are out by 9:30.

Each group heads their own direction for the day. Millie and Nancy head toward Charleston, about 40 miles away. Pat and I do some typing of this blog. Rich and Kathy head to Greenbrier Resort about ninety minutes away.

By the time Pat and I were finished typing it was time for lunch, so we went into the dining room, only to find Millie and Nancy there, so we joined them.

I am desperate for a cell phone signal, since my business calls forward to my cell phone, so I can get my messages. This means heading the eighteen miles to Oak Hill. Just as I was saying to Pat here is where I had a signal last year my phone beeped to say the same. I called home. During the conversation the signal disappeared. So we moved another mile down the road. That did the trick.

The Whipple Company Store is a museum in a building that was a coal mine company store. To me it is fascinating. In the basement of the building is a print shop. I have contacted the people who run the operation to volunteer to sort through the piles of papers and printing plates, etc. I am going to spend some of my time over the weekend doing just that. We spend several hours of the day talking with the operators of the museum toward that goal.

We have an hour before we are to meet Nancy and Millie for dinner, so we drop by the local Walmart. In aisle 16 we run across Millie with a cart full of clothes. The place we were going to have dinner was backed up by two bus loads ahead of us so we moved on to Bob Evans where we had eaten before. Were served by the same waitress. We all have specific requests regarding our food order, somewhat confusing to her. After this time we promised to call ahead to our waitress the next time we plan on coming back so she can call in sick.

We are all feeling pretty good from a relaxing day when we are all together again at the Inn.

Day 4: Tuesday June 23

2009-06-25T16:35:00.002-04:00

For some reason five a.m. creeps up on you. The alarm is very faint, but you still can’t ignore it.

This morning is PACE McMuffins. Somewhat easy but you still have to build at least 180 sandwiches. Nancy Carpenter has a busy morning baking cinnamon rolls, which are so popular that previous campers actually ask us if and when they will be available. She also is making a new item that Pat and I saw as an appetizer at our local Bob Evans. Sure enough they are available. Breaded small apple slices that when heated and coated with sugar tastes like apple pie.

The morning routine is the same. However we are experimenting with freezing the peanut and butter sandwiches. If it works it means we can make them well in advance. Please don’t mention this to Carmella Dorr. But time marches on.

After breakfast Rich goes on to the town of Montgomery to work with a crew. The women in our kitchen group along with Betsy accompany me to hike the Ansted rail trail. Nancy and Millie stay at the Hawk’s Nest Lodge, a state park that has a gondola down to the river. Betsy, Pat, Kathy and Carl drove on to the town of Ansted to the head of the rail trail. The two mile trail follows a roaring stream past some old coal mines down to the river at the location of the gondola. So you don’t have to walk back up even if the grade is never more then a 3% a train can maneuver.

This is the first time in the four years Pat and I have been coming here that she was willing to walk it.

“Wow, I eat better here than I do at home.” Just one of the many compliments that follow dinner.

The salad bar soup of the day was Country Tomato. Campbell’s tomato soup with spaghetti sauce added for additional flavor. We are going through tremendous amounts of applesauce every day.

Chicken is the main course with rice and carrots and the left over chicken soup from Monday as the gravy. But the highlight is the strawberry short cake with whipped cream.. Nancy baked 160 short cakes in the morning and the rest of our crew cut up four flats of strawberries.

Day 3: Monday, June 22

2009-06-25T16:33:00.002-04:00

Monday Breakfast is always more difficult than the rest of the week. The problem is the fact that the kids actually get up on time and are to breakfast in one large group. As the week goes on they are more tired and spread out over the 6:30 to 7:30 that we serve breakfast.

Faced with having to build the peanut butter and Jelly sandwiches (100 of them) in the morning means a concentrated effort of almost everyone. We coat each slice of bread with peanut butter and jelly in the middle. This is to keep the sandwiches from being gummy by the time they are eaten at lunch.

When Betsy (From Manor Church) first joined us I explained that our group (CAMT) was experienced and everyone knew their job. For that reason alone Monday breakfast went like clock work. French Toast from the griddle we travel with, bacon, mixed fruit, cereals, and juices. Pat and Millie oversee the breakfast line while Betsy handles the drinks. Rich and Kathy handle the lunch line dispensing sandwiches, fruit, chips, lunch bars, and sodas.

Nancy Carpenter is our designated baker. She bakes two sheet pan cakes and a case of chocolate cookies that will be offered for lunch tomorrow.

At 7:30 the group that is responsible for today’s cleanup in the dining area are looking for instructions. The school has an ongoing problem with ants so the clean up after each meal has to be strenuous.

We all sit down for our own breakfasts. It is the break we need. We just put in a fast paced two hours. We now have to prepare for dinner. And build those dreaded sandwiches for tomorrow. We’ll tackle the salad bar items this afternoon, till then we are free until 3:30. We finish by 9:30 and head back to the Inn.

The girls go directly to the school at 3:30. I always stop at the local Food Mart to pick up milk for breakfast, but tonight I am loading eight watermelons to go with the cake for dessert.

The salad bar items are taking shape, from chopped celery to beets. The mainstay of the salad bar is the applesauce and soup that we serve each night.

The Sloppy Joe beef is being heated, and we are ready to steam the peas. I added the Sloppy Joes to the menu here after we served them at Outley House, another outreach of CAMT. I did have to chuckle when Rich who prepares the mix from scratch for Outley, asked me what my recipe was for them. Institution is my recipe. If it is not complete when we buy it I do not want it. Time is our important factor. It must be pretty good, many came back for seconds.

“Welcome to my cruise line” I told the leaders at the Sunday meeting. The school only has tables to seat about 140. So we had to break the groups into two seatings. The 5:00 group does the salad bar and then the main course. While they are finishing dinner and clearing the 5:30 group starts with salad bar. The first night I have to circulate through the hall prodding those who are finished to make room for the newcomers.

We are cleaned up and out by 7:00.

Back at the Inn everyone disperses to their own interests. I go out to the yard between the building and the falls. The Inn is located at the falls of the river. The river is also very wide. The falls, which are probably not more than six feet high, create the constant roar that becomes synonymous with home. I find Kathy and Rich already there sharing a book that was part of the curriculum of a teacher friend at Haverford. I sit in with them mostly contemplating the band of sunlight that is marching up the mountain across the river as the sun is setting.

We should be in bed early but it’s hard to give up the beauty and solitude here.

Day 2: Sunday June 21, 2009

2009-06-24T14:56:00.001-04:00

Toudor’s Bisquit World was 50 minutes late in opening up this morning. Explanation Later.

Around eight this morning I brought Pat her coffee and a Danish in bed. The last service like that for at least two weeks. I then headed to the school to rearrange things in the walk in freezer and cooler. The school was locked. So I went down the hill to Toudor’s for my breakfast. Sitting in the corner of the dining room was a well dressed mature man with his bible open and several reference books. I couldn’t resist “If you don’t have your sermon ready now, it’s almost to late.” This led to an extensive conversation while I ate my omelet. A transplant from California, his wife was from here, so they have retired here. During the discussion we were saying how friendly everyone here is. So friendly that it is hard to complain. Toudor’s Bisquit World was 50 minutes late in opening up this morning. They just opened , no apology. Being from California he was having a hard time adapting to the way business and time runs here..

By the time I got back to the school it was once again open and I was able to get my key. I picked up Pat and we went back to the school to spend the afternoon sorting and organizing.

We are looking for the rest of our group to arrive around four this afternoon.

Millie And Nancy are right on time. Rich and Kathy Are running late so there is only four of us in the dining room for dinner. We decide to go to the school at seven. I have a leaders meeting and the others will start making the two hundred plus sandwiches needed for Monday morning. Just as we are ready to leave for the school Rich and Kathy arrive. They put down their bags and head out with us. Postponing dinner.

At the leaders meeting I gain a volunteer from Manor Presbyterian Church (formerly Faggs Manor) so Betsy joins us making sandwiches. As hard as it is to believe we have a good time building sandwiches and getting to know each other.

We finish in a little over an hour. I take Rich and Kathy down the hill to a Pizza shop for there dinner. The others head back to the Inn.

As a result Rich and Kathy return with me for the 9:30 Dori Gillstrom Memorial Ice cream social. It is always a highlight of the week.

Day 1: Saturday June 20

2009-06-24T14:51:00.002-04:00

It rained for the first 140 miles. Normally we would have left last night (Friday) and now we are paying the price. But the need to finish up the loose ends at home, both business and personal, called for an early start this morning. We are due in Gaulley Bridge around one this afternoon. But around two is more realistic.

Gauley Bridge is just how we left it last year. As we pull into town the police have someone stopped. The signs say 25 miles per hour – strictly enforced. We of course learned last year, but we also discovered that Brenda’s (the janitor at the school) brother in law is the mayor and he will fix tickets when necessary.

Our first food order was delivered on Thursday. As a result the lunch room of the school is jammed with dry goods. Including many items moved from nearby Montgomery, left over from March. But that is another story.

Pat and I take a quick inventory and then move on to check in at the Glen Ferris Inn for our two weeks here.

This week Millie Williams and her cousin Nancy Carpenter along with Rich Smith and Kathy Southerland will be working with us. We will be feeding 208 every day.

The last thing we have to accomplish is a quick run to Lowe’s. Quick is a 17 mile run over mountainous twisty roads. There are so many twists that I would like to just have the franchise for arrows around here.

A Birthday Party for 50 Women

2009-06-15T23:05:00.002-04:00

The Sheila Dennis Shelter in Philadelphia provides three meals a day, counseling and job training for women who are having trouble getting back on a steady and positive path. Covenant's Adult Mission Team (CAMT) has prepared lunch at the shelter several Saturdays this year.

During an earlier visit, Barb Rhinehart, a member of the mission team, noticed how sad many of the women looked and decided that what they needed was a party!! She led the planning for a "birthday party" for all the women during the June 13 visit.

Members of the congregation contributed towels and washcloths, toiletries and clothing. Covenant's quilters made beautiful tote bags--individualizing each of the 50 bags so they wouldn't get mixed up (no small task!), and the Sunday School children made birthday cards for everyone. Nine team members not only made and served lunch, but also decorated the dining room with colorful tablecloths. There were balloons and birthday cakes complete with candles. It was truly a festive occasion that was an uplifting experience for women who don't have much to cheer about on a day-to-day basis.

There was no question about whether the women loved the party! They made a poster to display at Covenant expressing their appreciation.

The quote of the day by one of the women: "It makes me feel like going to church!"

When God's people act out the love He has for his people, even those who may have strayed from the "straight and narrow," it touches, people deeply and can help change lives.

Richard Smith, team leader for the shelter visits, makes all the arrangements for the monthly lunches served Saturdays at the Outley House Shelter for men or the Sheila Dennis Shelter for women. He sets the tone of loving and respectful service to people who are trying to find new directions for their life.

Like to join in? Call Covenant (610-648-0707) for more information.

Next mission trip: West Virginia where PA Christian Endeavor (PACE) hosts youth mission teams who repair homes. Covenant's team prepares three meals a day for the young people. Teams will be there June 21 through July 4. Check back for news starting June 22.

2009-04-23T16:04:00.006-04:00

CAMT Works!!

On Sunday, April 19, Covenant's Adult Mission Teams (CAMT) presented slides and told about their experiences on mission trips, and explained Pedals for Progress's work around the world.

* * * * *

P4P: Pedals for Progress

P4P isn't really a mission trip, but it's been working under the CAMT "umbrella." It's an organization which collects used bikes and sends them to countries around the world where repair shops have been set up. The bikes are repaired and sold to people who have no other way to get to jobs, markets, or schools.

3 great things about P4P:

1. It provides employment for those who repair the bikes.

2. The bikes provide transportation for people who otherwise would have to walk miles.

3. It keeps millions of bikes out of landfills.

It's a win-win-win program!!!

Bring your old bikes to Covenant May 9th from 9 to Noon.

Covenant is located at 400 Lancaster Ave., one block east of Route 352 on Route 30.

The cost to ship a bike is $35, so a minimum donation of $10 per bike is required, (more if you are able).
Donors will receive a receipt for their donation plus the value of the bike which can be used for a tax deduction. Children's bikes are accepted, but not tricycles or rusted bikes.

* * * * *

Outley House (for men) &

Sheila Dennis House (for women)

These are rehab centers in Philadelphia. The slides showed Covenant members and friends preparing and serving lunch to those in the shelters. The emphasis is not only the food (delicious as it obviously is!), but the way servers interact with the people they are serving. People are greeted warmly and with respect. Trips are made once a month, alternating between the two shelters.

Schedule: May 23 - Outley House

June 13 - Sheila Dennis House

Leave Covenant 8:15 and return about 2:30

* * * * *

PA Christian Endeavor (PACE) trips to West Virginia

PACE plans mission trips for teens who do amazing home repair work in impoverished areas of West Virginia. CAMT prepares three meals a day for the young people for 2 of the weeks teams are serving. Covenant supplements the PACE budget to give the teens extra hearty meals. Some teams say they plan to come during weeks when CAMT is serving! There's an ice cream social one night each week in memory of Dori Gillstrom who led the first Covenant teams to WV.

Next trips: Jun21 to 27 and June 28 to July 4

* * * * *

Faith Ministry in Mexico

Faith Ministry was formed 15 years ago and has established 3 Presbyterian Churches and 2 medical clinics in Mexico in the area across the southern Texas border. They host many mission teams from the U.S. Medical teams bring specialized services (such as dentistry and ophthalmology) and work in the medical clinics, and construction teams build houses to replace the shacks in which many families live. Those who want a house built for them must pay $5000 and do volunteer work in the building of other homes before they get one for themselves. More than 2000 homes have been built

Covenant's teams (who often are a bit "long in the tooth" to be pouring cement and lifting cement blocks!) have worked with women and children to teach them sewing and crafts. The congregation contributed 35 boxes of materials this year, and over the past few years has given 4 sewing machines.

Faith Ministry also arranges for scholarships for Mexican children who otherwise would not be able to afford the uniforms and daily supplies required by schools. (5-1/2 million Mexican children don't go to school because they can't afford the expense!) Covenant, which is one of many churches who provide scholarships, supports 3 children.

Next mission trip to Mexico: February 2010.

Want more information: Call Covenant at 610-648-0707

2009-02-28T09:20:00.003-05:00

Day 8, Friday, February 27, 2009
CAMT Mission Trip to Faith Ministry, Mexico

They’re back! Safe and sound, but really worn out. Mission trips are not for sissies! They arrived at Philadelphia airport on time and were escorted back to the church via 3 minivans. It gave time for the team to talk about their experiences, and it was really neat to catch the enthusiasm for the people they worked with and with what was accomplished.

The women and children were very excited about all the materials they brought and all the things they learned how to do—although a lot of the women were not strangers to sewing machines and sewing in general.

Three observations stood out—the families at Naranjito were, in general, younger than those at Reynosa, the paved roads made traveling much easier, and—one not-so-good item, the economy is tanking. Some American businesses are closing down the factories they had built in Mexico, and this has resulted in higher unemployment and worsening economic conditions.

Thanks to all for your prayers and donations!

Mark your calendar for 9:45 am, Sunday April 26 when all Covenant’s mission teams will present a PowerPoint program which will give you a chance to see pictures and hear first hand about their experiences.

(We're Covenant Presbyterian Church, 400 Lancaster Ave. (Route 30), Frazer (between Exton and Paoli, PA, 610-648-0707.)

2009-02-27T00:03:00.002-05:00

Day 7, Thursday, February 26, 2009
CAMT Mission Trip to Faith Ministry, Mexico

Millie recovered from whatever “bug” she had yesterday and joined the team for the last day. Actually it was just a half day of work since they fly home tomorrow. The team estimates that about 100 women and children came to the church during the course of the week, with an average of 40-50 on any given day. (Keep in mind few, if any, have phones, and no one has a car, so a “grapevine” and “shoes” made it possible to get to the church—with little kids in tow!)

Before lunch, everyone helped pack up supplies and tightly cover the sewing machines to keep the Mexican dust out of them. It’s hard to describe how grateful the women are for the sewing machines, fabric, thread and other supplies that were donated.
Thanks to all who contributed to the cause!
Your gifts will continue to be very much appreciated
over the coming months!

After lunch the team took several of the Naranjito women and children to the Reynosa church for a dedication service for the work done by the mission teams that week. Covenant’s work was celebrated, and the women and children showed some of the things they had made.

Three 12 ‘x 24’ cement block houses were built this week by teams from other churches, so all the teams, and the families who will now live in these homes, filled the Reynosa church from wall to wall.

John was asked to tell about Covenant’s work during the service, and you may be interested to know that Deantin (founder of Faith Ministry) calls him the Candy Man. It’s a bit of an inside joke that John brought chocolate candy to share during the week and Deantin prayed that John would be “led” to give him all the remaining candy.

After a final round of goodbyes, the team (remember it includes 7 women) went shopping! There’s a tourist town not far away just across the border in Nuevo Progresso. The tourist part of town is just about four blocks long and 2 blocks wide. Picture a pharmacy, a dentist’s office, a gift shop (often with nice jewelry and hand made crafts), and sidewalk vendors. Repeat the sequence as you walk down the street, and you’ll get the idea. (Dental work and medications—no prescription needed—are a real bargain in Mexico.)

Dinner, devotions and packing made up the agenda for what was left of the day. Tune in tomorrow for news of the flight home and last minute impressions of the week.

2009-02-25T23:51:00.003-05:00

Day 6, Tuesday, February 25, 2009
CAMT Mission Trip to Faith Ministry, Mexico

Millie was sick today and stayed at the motel. Everyone hopes she’ll be able to go with them tomorrow. By the way, we stand corrected: Millie and her roommate are in one of the handicapped rooms on the first floor. Everyone else is in a second floor room (no elevators) which isn’t too much of a problem except for Dick who has a knee which will be operated on when he returns.

John, who calls me (Joyce Lammey) each evening with the news of the day and is a first timer on a mission trip, is surprised at how tiring the week has been. Mission trips are generally very intense and the travel back and forth across the border makes for long days—and of course being in a new environment is almost always more stressful anyway.

The remaining nurses, Kay and Joan, went again to the medical clinic which they have renamed The Icebox. The air conditioning overworks and they have to step outside occasionally to warm up.

The rest of the women, Barbara, Pat and Maryalis, continue to work with the Mexican women who are delighted with the sewing machines and materials they now have to work with. They are making dresses, aprons, and other sorts of things. As new boxes are opened it’s like Christmas! Ginny continues to keep the children occupied while their mothers work which keeps her quite busy, although Mexican children in general are much less “active” than most American children.

John and Dick spent most of the day again with Deantin Guerra, the founder of Faith Ministry. They saw the more wealthy parts of Reynosa which have some homes like those on the Main Line. The contrast with what they had seen yesterday was amazing. There are, of course, more “middle class” sections, too--even a tourist section, but there does not seem to be any effort to help the extremely poor. There are no welfare programs or agencies that serve their needs. Even the Catholic church turns a blind eye.

The border crossing on the way home involved a 45 minute delay which is not at all unusual. Border guards are more particular about checking what people take into the US than what goes south into Mexico. There continues to be news of drug-related violence in the general area. The mayor of a nearby town was shot recently, and military personnel are always present at the border.

A footnote about travel in the 12 passenger van: John and Dick sit in the front and are “amused” by the conversations of the 7 women in the back. There are usually at least 3 conversations going at one time, and they just smile and shake their heads….

2009-02-25T00:51:00.002-05:00

Day 5, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2009
CAMT Mission Trip to Faith Ministry, Mexico

Good news!! Millie did not have to be smuggled across the border this morning! Omar Saldana, an administrator recently hired to work with Faith Ministry, lives in Mexico and was able to go to the medical clinic where he found Millie’s purse. He took it to the border this morning, so she could cross legally. Problem solved!

The church credit card, which the team uses to pay for the motel, meals, supplies, etc. while on the trip, was apparently maxed out yesterday. Turns out the credit card company noticed unusual activity and placed a hold on charges. A phone call set the record straight. Another problem solved! (P.S. Team members reimburse the church for their share of the expenses when they get home.)

The team stopped at the Reynosa church this morning and borrowed not only their 3 sewing machines (provided in previous years by Covenant), but also picked up two of the women who are leaders of the sewing group that continues to meet at that church: Maria and Petra.

This meant there were 6 sewing machines in Naranjito, for about 12 women, so no one had to wait too long to be able to sew. The woman are learning to make pillow covers (decorative pillow cases.) Pillows seem to be a popular item with the Mexican women. They are also making appliance covers. There is not much grass in the area so there is a lot of dust, and the women like to protect their appliances. There were a few women in Reynosa who liked to crochet and/or knit, but that doesn’t seem to be at all popular with the Naranjito women.

John and Dick spent some time at the medical clinic when they dropped off Millie, Kay and Joan. They saw the twins they heard about yesterday and declared them "gorgeous".

John and Dick spent most of the day with Deantin Guerra, founder of Faith Ministry. Deantin has retired from his position as head administrator but is still actively involved in traveling to tell people about FM and encourages support for their work. He took John and Dick on a tour of the area so they could visit schools and homes helped by FM. It was an eye-opening day.

Many homes are built on landfill and have dirt floors. They were able to visit a few homes with interior walls consisting of plywood or sheets and blankets. If the family has chickens (which is common), they often have free range and sometimes fly up onto the beds. Faith Ministry has hosted mission teams who have built more than 2000 cement block homes that replace homes such as this.

They also visited a preschool that is supported by Methodist churches, and a public elementary school. The schools were simple but well-kept, and it was obvious that there was good discipline as well as strong expectations for learning. They were pleased to see the public school had a computer room. John, a retired public school administrator, noted that if families could not afford the uniforms and school supplies they are expected to provide when children are 6 or 7, they may never attend school. By the time children are 8 or 9, they would not be comfortable in a 1st grade classroom and would almost certainly be "doomed" to a life of poverty.

John and Dick also watched the team from Ann Arbor make cement for the floor of the home they were building. They don’t use cement mixers, but pile the “ingredients” on the ground and mix them by turning them over and over with shovels. It’s back-breaking work!

The team treated David Rodriguez, the head administrator of Faith Ministry, and his family to dinner tonight. Over the years, the teams have become quite fond of David who makes a lot of arrangements for Covenant’s work in Mexico. (After working with him on previous trips, Frank Lammey's heartfelt assessment is: "He’s a great guy!")

2009-02-23T23:56:00.002-05:00

Day 4, Monday, Feb. 23, 2009
CAMT Mission Trip to Faith Ministry, Mexico

Kay Rowell, Millie Williams and Joan Hahn were dropped off in the morning at the Reynosa medical clinic where they helped check blood pressure and weight and prepared medications for patients. There is no pharmacy in the area. Faith Ministry (thanks to donations from U.S. churches and several medical organizations) provides medications which are counted out as prescribed and put in second hand prescription bottles. (CAMT had mailed at least one large box of used prescription bottles prior to their arrival.) Patients pay a small fee if they are able; otherwise, they are free.

The team was impressed with the work done at the Betty Clinic by the doctor and “Nurse Betty” for whom the clinic is named. She’s worked there since the clinic was established about 15 years ago and is very much loved by those she serves.

The team heard the story of twins born two months prematurely who would have died without a special formula which the mother could not afford but which was bought by Faith Ministry. They are now 3 months old and are doing very well.

Barbara Rhinehart, Pat Lotz, Maryalis Bakken and Ginny Abplanalp continued on to the Naranjito church where they began the sewing and craft projects with the women. Two of the three sewing machines broke down and were unusable, so on the way home the team stopped at (where else?) Wal*Mart, and bought 2 sewing machines for less than $100 each.

John Bakken and Dick Abplanalp continued on to the nearby work site where a home is being built for a family that replaces the shack in which they had been living. The father and/or mother would have had to work 6 months helping to build other houses and saved $5000 to help pay for their own house before one could be built for their family. There were about 20 people at the work site so John and Dick took pictures and observed how the 12’ x 24’ cement block house was being constructed.

Faith Ministry lunch hours are spent not only providing food for the body, but also food for the soul. After lunch everyone working in the Naranjito area—Covenant’s team and those from Ann Arbor, Raleigh, and New Orleans—joined together for a praise service.

Shhh…Don’t tell anybody! The team smuggled Millie across the border on the way home. As the 9-member team approached the guard station at the border, Millie realized she didn’t have her purse which held her passport. When the guard asked for the passports, he asked John, “How many?” John said “8” (thinking he was asking how many passports he was going to give him.) The guard counted the passports, didn’t bother to count the 9 people in the van and waved them through. Whew!!!

Millie is hoping her purse is at the medical clinic, but as of this writing, no one has figured out how to get her across the border tomorrow morning. Pray for grace and/or another border guard who can’t or won’t bother to count!!!

Will Millie be able to cross the border tomorrow morning?
Will she find her purse?
Will the sewing machines work as they should?
What will tomorrow hold?
Only God knows ….

2009-02-23T00:34:00.002-05:00

Day 3, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2009
CAMT Mission Trip to Faith Ministry, Mexico

The team woke up to a very brisk day with the temperature in the mid 40’s, but it warmed to the low 70’s in the afternoon. By taking a different route to Naranjito, they had a real eye-opener. They saw lots of homes best described as shacks. In their 15 years of existence, Faith Ministry has hosted mission teams who replaced 2000 of these shacks with cement block homes. Obviously, there is more work to be done!

The Naranjito congregation does not yet have a “church.” It has a cement block building with two floors. The second floor provides a dormitory for visiting mission teams working in the area. The first floor is much like Covenant’s lower level. There’s a kitchen at one end, and the rest of the room is used for various activities including serving meals to visiting mission teams. On Sunday mornings, it provides room for Sunday School classes and worship. The Covenant team will use this room for craft and sewing work this week.

A mission team from Ann Arbor, Michigan is also working in Naranjito this week. There are 21 people on the team, and they are staying at the church, so Covenant’s team has had a time of good fellowship with them today. Both teams broke up into small groups this morning to visit Sunday school classes and then attended the worship service. PowerPoint was used to project on a screen the words to hymns and selected parts of the service. Sometimes the projection was in English, and sometimes in Spanish. Long range projects include a “real” sanctuary for the Naranjito congregation.

The Ann Arbor group has provided two new pews to use for church services. Eighteen more are needed. As a long term project, Covenant’s team will explore helping with this project. Looking ahead to the coming week, the nurses will work in the medical clinic, the rest of the women will work with the Naranjito women doing sewing and craft projects, and Dick and John will walk 3 blocks to where they will help the Ann Arbor team to build a house for one of the Mexican families who had been living in a shack.

Check back Monday night for more news.

2009-02-21T23:34:00.001-05:00

Day 2, Feb. 21: CAMT Mission Trip to Faith Ministry, Mexico

The weather was misty and overcast in the morning, but cleared to beautiful sunshine in the afternoon with temperatures in the upper 70’s.

The streets in Mexico, which have been described as worse than those in Africa, have been greatly improved in the two years since the team was last in Mexico. Many have been paved and, in fact, some now have speed bumps! However, the secondary roads, those a bit off the main streets, are still quite “rough” which makes for very slow driving.

The new medical clinic (now about 3 years old) looks great and is many times larger than the old one which was about the size of the room at Covenant where chairs are set up for overflow congregations. The new one is two stories high and has a footprint larger than Covenant’s sanctuary.

The team drove to the Reynosa church to pick up the boxes which had been mailed ahead and took them to the Naranjito church where they will be working next week. They met Pastor Alfredo Castillo and his wife Sylvia who were most gracious and accommodating. Afredo is in the process of completing his Masters in psychology at a branch of the U. of Florida in Monterey.

Alfredo speaks enough English to be able to translate as the team started working with the Naranjito children—between 40 and 50 of them—by taking pictures of each one as well as many pictures of the children with their parents.—a real treat in a society where cameras and school pictures are quite rare. Thanks to modern electronics, the pictures could be developed on site and were ready later for framing.

The children then made “salvation” bracelets made with embroidery thread. They include sections of yellow, black, red, green and blue. Each color has a special meaning related to salvation, i.e. streets of gold in heaven, Christ’s blood shed on the cross, etc. In addition to the one each child made, they were given several made in advance by the team so they could give them to friends, explain the colors, and invite them to Sunday School and church.

As the children finished their bracelets, they crowded around tables in back of the room and started to decorate the frames for their newly developed pictures as well as visors the team provided. The children were also given coloring books.

It was getting dark as the team headed back to the motel. They stopped for dinner, then pulled in to Wal*Mart to try to negotiate their use of PA’s tax exempt document. Expenses related to mission trips are tax exempt, and in the past they graciously honored our out-of-state document, but—not this year.

Tomorrow the team will attend Sunday School classes and worship at the Naranjito church and make sure everything is set up for working with the women on Monday.

2009-02-20T23:46:00.002-05:00

Day 1, Feb. 20: CAMT Mission Trip to Faith Ministry, Mexico

The 9-member Covenant Adult Mission Team (CAMT) took off from Philadelphia airport at 12:30pm and flew to McAllen, TX. The team is staying at a motel in San Juan, a suburb of McAllen and will cross the border each day. The motel has its shortcomings, but is clean, is considerably cheaper than those in McAllen, and provides a very good (free) cooked breakfast.

9:00pm: Message from John Bakken, “reporter” for the team:
“Everything’s fine. Flights have been perfect and everybody’s in good spirits. We’re at a restaurant. (Aside: “What restaurant is this?” Voice from a distance, “Golden Corral.”) That’s right, Golden Corral. When we’re done here, we’re going to Wal*Mart to get some things we need for tomorrow, then we’ll go back to the motel. I’ll call you later.”

9:30pm: “Dear Mom, send cash. Credit card machine at motel is broken. They asked us to pay up front for our rooms in cash ($1400!) Don’t worry about money for food. We ate on the plane.”

All kidding aside, McAllen was ready for us (we got the 12 passenger van we reserved) but the motel was not. They really did want $1400 up front! We told them it was out of the question. They didn’t have the handicapped rooms we reserved. (They had been reserved months in advance, and Mary Decker, Tour and Cruise Travel, had called earlier in the day to “assure” their availability.) All our rooms are on the second floor.

Temperatures are in the 70’s; overcast skies; we understand it will be overcast tomorrow. Dick (who’s got knee problems) was able to get around the airport in the carts which he flagged down whenever he needed one. We’re enjoying each other’s company. Tons of stories have been swapped. All are looking forward to breakfast tomorrow. Realize we’re just eating now—and already are planning the next meal.

Will call again tomorrow.

Mexico Team Ready for Takeoff!

2009-02-19T10:38:00.003-05:00

Barbara Rhinehart, Ginny and Dick Abplanalp, Millie Williams, Joan Hahn, John and Maryalis Bakken, Pat Lotz, and Kay Rowell leave Friday morning (2/20) for Covenant's 6th trip to Faith Ministry in Mexico. After working 5 years in the Reynosa Presbyterian Church, this team will work in the Naranjito church teaching sewing and craft projects to the women and children, taking pictures that will be used in an April 19th report to the congregation, and doing odd jobs as time and needs present themselves.

They are preceeded by 35 boxes filled with materials for the week--one of which contained 3 sewing machines.

We hope to have daily reports from the team, so check back with us for updates as their work progresses.

NEW NEWS!!

2009-02-04T14:09:00.004-05:00

Since the last entry which told about the November mission trip to Outley House (a rehab shelter for men in Philadelphia) a team returned December 27 to prepare and serve lunch to more than 100 men. The next trip, to a similar shelter for women, will be Feb. 14.

Call the church office (610-648-0707) if you'd like to sign up. You don't have to be a member of Covenant to join the team! Plan to leave Covenant (400 Lancaster Avenue, Frazer where Church Road dead ends onto Route 30) at 8:15 and return about 2:30. Smiles on the faces of those who have gone reflect a well-organized, much-appreciated, fun-filled, satisfying experience.

CAMT (Covenant's Adult Mission Team) has also been busy planning for the next mission trip to Mexico. Faith Ministry has established 3 churches and 2 medical clinics just south of the border from McAllen, TX. Since the first trip in 2003 Covenant members and friends have donated many pounds of sewing and craft materials--plus 4 sewing machines--which the CAMT teams have used in working to establish a group in the Reynosa Presbyterian Church which sews a variety of items for themselves and also makes some things to sell in their neighborhood to support their church.

Feb. 20 to 27 a team will do similar work with the women in the church in Naranjito. Since no one is driving this year, 25 boxes of donated materials--including 2 sewing machines--have been shipped ahead of time. It will be all-hands-on-board Saturday afternoon (the first working day) when 80 - 100 children will come to the church to engage in various craft activities.

Monday through Thursday Barbara, Ginny, Pat and Maryalis will lead sewing/craft work with the women while Millie, Kay, and Joan will help in the medical clinic. Dick hopes to spend some of his time coaching basketball with interested children. The rest of his time will be spent with John as he explores all the branches of Faith Ministry's work with Deantin Guerra, founder of Faith Ministry. Their pictures and information will be used to present an overview of the work done there to the Covenant congregation during the Sunday School hour (9:45am) Sunday, April 19. Visitors are most welcome!!

The team will stay in a motel in McAllen, TX and cross the border each day to work. Going on a mission trip is a little bit like going to camp. You "live" with the others who are there. The team shares devotions each evening in one of the motel rooms. They eat together, work together, travel together, and--in short--get to know each other very well! The bonds that form from common work and common spirit are strong indeed!

Trip to Outley House in Philadelphia

2008-09-10T09:59:00.003-04:00

11 members of Covenant went to Outley House September 6 to serve lunch to about 100 men at this rehab shelter in Philadelphia. Three of the crew also took some of the food to a women's shelter, which took 1-1/2 hours round trip because they ended up taking the long way around. Because of the distance (even with using the short cuts) the Covenant team is discussing alternating between the two facilities rather than serving both on the same day. ...TBD (To Be Decided).

The day was hot and humid and there was no air conditioning. A big fan was nearby but didn't blow on Kevin who was cooking the ground beef on the grill. He was heard to say, "I think I lost 5 pounds in sweat!" One team member reported that "four of us cried over the chopped onions while we solved the problems of the world.""

Beefaroni, green beans, rolls, "dessert medley" and iced tea made up the menu and was really appreciated by the men. As always--the emphasis was not only to serve good food (including a healthy portion of meat), but to treat those served with respect. Servers are instructed not to say, "You can have only one serving of dessert," but "Which kind of dessert would you like." It seems like a very subtle difference, but is both said and heard in a different way.

Continuing the practice of serving Saturdays of holiday weekends, the next trip will be November 29. Call the church office if you'd like more information and/or to sign up. (610-648-0707)

WRAP-UP FROM CAMT IN WV

2008-08-28T15:11:00.002-04:00

Our final segment of news from the WV mission trip is about the work done by the young people for whom Covenant mission team was providing meals. As one of the team members put it, “We serve you (the youth) so you can go out and serve the community.”

The area in which the young people worked has many families who are in the lowest economic segment of our society, and one of their greatest needs is a safe and secure home with electricity and running water. While the youth can’t claim to be professional builders/painters/ etc. they have energy (well—most of them!) and good intentions, and the people they help are grateful for the improvements they make. And, of course, there are adults on hand who have the know-how to direct their efforts.

Some worked on a home that was being built on land so steep that those riding in the 4-wheel drive truck had to get out when they came to the steepest grade so the truck could make it up the last stretch. Now that’s steep!

Picture a two story house “in process” with no water or final plumbing yet. However, a grandmother of the family lived up the hill (yes there were a few more houses even higher!) who had a hose long enough to run down to the new house. This would provide water until the plumbing could be completed. The plan was to first complete the second story which would have bedrooms and a bathroom. Consequently the group was hanging drywall on the second floor before the 1st floor was completed.

The other thing needed was a deck which may sound like a luxury but was a necessity for this family. From the front door there was a significant drop to the ground which required at least a small deck with steps down to the ground in order for them to get the U & O certificate needed before they could live there. (U & O stands for Use and Occupancy, folks! When you write about mission trips in needy areas, you learn about all sorts of things!)

Rain the first day meant digging in the mud for the foundation of the deck. This was decidedly unpopular with the youth who would almost certainly have had a ball with such a task when they were 5 or 6 years old. However the weather cleared, and progress was resumed.

One of the most conscientious workers was a 14 or 15 year old girl who was absolutely dedicated to the work and stayed with whatever was the task at hand. Who knows—in this world of disappearing stereotypes, she could end up a contractor and build the house of your dreams!

Next in the mission trip schedule: providing lunch at the Outley House shelter in Philadelphia on Saturdays of the next two holiday weekends: September 6 (Labor Day) and November 29 (Thanksgiving.)

MORE TO COME FROM FROM WV

2008-08-20T21:50:00.003-04:00

Everyone arrived home safely from WV, and the stories continue to circulate. At the top of the list is Quintin's fall over the canyon rim with the horse he was riding. Everyone is very grateful that both are safe, and neither has injuries which, considering the circumstances and what could easily have been a less fortunate outcome, many consider a miracle.

Check back Monday, Aug. 25 for Rich's recollections from his time working on house repairs and construction with the youth during the week. He's a high school biology teacher during the school year and works as a carpenter during the summer, so both backgrounds prepared him for the week. (I trust you remember he also worked all week helping to prepare, serve, and clean up meals along with the rest of the team!)

The next mission trips will be led by multi-talented Rich and will take place Saturdays Sept. 6 and Nov. 29 (a Dec. date TBA) where the team will prepare and serve lunch to the residents of Outley House, a drug rehab shelter in Philadelphia. Call Covenant (610-648-0707) if you'd like to join in.

After that--a team will travel Feb. 21 to 28 to Naranjito, Mexico to work with the women in the Presbyterian Church teaching them crafts and sewing skills. Once again, we plan to have reports for the blog--so be sure to tune in!

LAST DAYS...

2008-08-11T23:03:00.004-04:00

West Virginia - Part 4

Wednesday August 6, 2008
Raindrops Keep Falling on My Eggs - A Company Store - Two Good Samaritans (Job #1)

When you are up at 5:30 in the morning you see so much more of your surroundings. The griddle we referred to in previous emails is actually outside under an 8x8 tent cover. Because it is propane we keep it and the fuel tanks outside. Because it is gas it also has an open flame. So for safety we are outside.

Daylight arrives around six o’clock. We seldom see the sun that early because of the surrounding high mountains. But the light filters through the haze that covers the top of the mountains. On good days Carl and Quintin are treated to an array of colors as the haze burns off and the mountaintops appear.

Today is not one of those days. It is overcast and we can hear thunder coming our way. On the griddle Wednesday morning we do eggs over easy. We are just into serving breakfast at 6:30 when the rain comes in torrents. The tent cover cannot take the deluge and is leaking badly. So much water is pouring onto the griddle that my eggs over easy become poached eggs. It is impossible to continue. And then, just as quickly as it started, the rain stops. We continue.

You may remember that Wednesday afternoons everyone has off. The teens work until one o’clock and then are free until curfew at 10:30. Luckily it clears by noon.

Rich has fallen in with a work group working on a new house. Rich’s carpentry skills have made him an integral player in building a deck on a new construction. We pick him up and drive to a town named Whipple and a building named “The Company Store” which is now over 100 years old. It’s design and the remnants stored in the building in that time are now on display. The guided tour and artifacts help us to understand what life really was like back then. Carl, with his interest in history, just delves right in with question after question. On the other hand Rich looks at the building as a carpenter and thinks they should just tear the building down. But he endures the tour.

Around five we return to the school to tackle two projects. First we make creamed dried beef for Thursdays breakfast. Then Pat pulls out the novel she is reading because Carl and Rich are going to do a service project for Brenda the school custodian. In the main hallway there was a water leak that destroyed ceiling tiles several months ago. The tiles are still not replaced because they have sprinkler valves and smoke alarms protruding through some of the tiles. This involves close measurement and cutting. We spend the next two hours measuring and cutting. We complete all but one opening. We need to turn the fire alarm off to do that opening so we wait to talk to Brenda on Thursday.

I think the above project points out the big difference between our schools and the one we were in here in WV. Could you see some one in Great Valley School District asking two guys off the street if they will fix something in the school? Yes even we think it is a strange request but with all Brenda is doing to help us with the food here we do not want to let her down.

As it turns out Bonnie (the school cook helping us) also has a request.

Thursday August 7, 2008
Good Samaritans (Continued) and ER Visit #2

Bonnie and Brenda have a head start on breakfast by 5:30 am. Brenda has already cooked the sausage to go with the pancakes from the griddle. She has also baked cinnamon rolls for breakfast and a sheet cake for tonight’s dessert. I couldn’t ask for better, but I can’t help to wonder if she will be a whirlwind if we come back next year. Yes even Bonnie and Brenda are talking about a come-back by PACE (PA Christian Endeavor) next year.

The school principal initiated that sentiment just yesterday when he expressed how happy he was with what we were doing.

After dinner Rich and I tackle the last ceiling tile. Brenda doesn’t know how to deactivate the smoke alarm. I trace the control panel and spot where the ac power is converted to dc and disconnect. I can’t believe I am doing this. We replace the tile with the cutouts falling just right. And turn the alarm back on. My only hope is the school doesn’t burn down this week.

Rich and I look at Bonnie’s project. She needs a gatepost reset. Sounds simple, but not really. The post was set in cement but only three inches was actually in the cement. That is basically why it did not last very long. We need to think about it, and we only have tomorrow.

During the last few days I have had a pain in my left back. When I would stand up it would hurt but I was able to wiggle this way and that and it was gone. I was able to continue with what we were doing.

That is until Thursday night. Lying in bed no matter how I tried to move I was in severe pain. There was no solution except to call an ambulance. Quintin (remember, he's 13 years old) went down stairs to the lobby and asked the night clerk to call an ambulance. It was midnight.

The ambulance crew arrived promptly and Quintin met them in the lobby. “You’ll want a stair chair or a backboard,” he tells them from his fire company experience. They are not thrilled that we are on the third floor. They transferred me to a stair chair and we started the journey down the steps.

Now I have run ambulance here in East Whiteland for fifteen years. I have brought many a person down steps in a stair chair. But tonight as the patient it was not fun. Of course my weight added something to the difficulty of the attendants

Fifteen miles to the nearest hospital, and I feel every bump. But I was lucky; it was a slow night at the emergency room. Me, a convict from the nearby state prison along with deputies, and a little girl with severe head lice. The series of events at the hospital would make a book in itself so I will merely say after the right shots I was discharged. Rich drove Pat and Quintin following the ambulance so they were ready for me when I was discharged.

It was just about 3:00 when we got back to our room.

Friday August 8, 2008
Left-overs - A State Park - An Aerial Tramway - and Good Sam Project #2

My body has a way of rebelling after just two hours of sleep. When the alarm goes off I crawl out of bed to find Rich already up and greeting me. We let Pat and Quintin sleep and head out for breakfast.

Here is where my description of Bonnie in yesterday’s events really pays off. Friday is “anything we have left over” morning. And she has almost everything ready. Rich makes pb&j sandwiches and I do French toast on the griddle to use up all the bread.

Rich has to go on site even today to set stair supports for the deck they are building. But he is also very tired. He judges he can be done by noon. We arrange for someone to bring him out to the store and I will pick him up at noon.

A little sleep can work wonders. Pat, Quintin and I pile in the car and head out to pick up Rich. Then all of us head to Hawks Nest State Park. We ride the aerial tramway down to the river to talk to someone whose church was the beneficiary of our left over food. A quick lunch at the lodge and we head back to Gauley Bridge.

Rich and I discuss Bonnie’s project. Is there really enough time to start the project. Friday night is a snack night so we have to be in the kitchen for that around 8:45. We have the time between dinner and snack. We’ll try it. So off to the hardware store to pick up supplies.

As it turns out there is enough time to do the project. All I have to do is keep the principal busy as he watches us work and of course talks with us at the same time. 8:30 as it is getting dark, we mix the concrete and complete the project.

Saturday August 9, 2008
Cold Pizza - Homeward Bound - Zzzzzzzz

Cold pizza is always a hit as the teenagers file in for breakfast. In the meantime I am grouping boxes of left over paper goods to be packed in a trailer to take home.

The left over food products will go to the Senior Center here in Gauley Bridge. The mayor, who is also Brenda’s brother in law, will be here at 8:30 to pick it up.

Rich, who rode down last Sunday with someone else is leaving at 7:00 with them. Maybe he will be able to sleep on the way home. One thing is for sure; he needs to get home to get some rest.

We stand outside the school with Bonnie and Brenda and hug all round. They really hope we will be back next year.

Carl Lotz

2ND WEEK OFF TO A GOOD START!

2008-08-07T23:32:00.003-04:00

West Virginia - Part 3

Sunday, August 3, 2008
A mist is coming off the water from the falls. It’s a quiet Sunday morning. No trains, no trucks hauling coal, just quiet. It reminds me of a Johnny Cash song – “Sunday Morning Coming Down.” Later today we are going to do our laundry from the week, but we have some things to do first. We put on our cleanest dirty shirt and head out for a tour of Thurman, a railroad town within the National Park. Going the 20 miles to Thurman we pass many, many small churches, all with just a few cars in their parking lots.

Pat is dropped off at the local Laundromat with piles of clothing. When you cook for the masses you go through a lot of clothes. Since the cell phones do not work here we set a specific time for us to return to get her. Quintin and Carl head up to the school and start making meat sandwiches for Monday morning. 48 ham and 48 turkey. Boy is this easy--preparing for 115 compared to last week's 200 plus.

We return to the laundromat to find Pat not quite done. It’s hard to find washers and dryers that work much less work well. “Can we get something to eat?” she requests. The only problem now is Quintin and I ate sandwiches while we made them. We better go to plan B.

Rich Smith from CAMT (Covenant) is due in about 4:00. We wait at the elementary school for him. When he does not show up we head to the check-in table to see if he is around. Yes, he is here. But we can’t find him.

In the meantime, the driver of the car Rich is in misses the turn off into Gauley Bridge. They are down the road to Glen Ferris. Rich recognizes the Inn where we will be staying, so he drops off his bags.

Luckily, Rich read our blog before coming, because as soon as they turn into Gauley Bridge they get stopped for speeding. Rich is a little more overt than the rest of us and asks the police officer to take them to the school. He does.

We have dinner at the Glen Ferris. If we had brought our church bulletin with us they would have given us 10% off our check.

At 9:30 Rich gets introduced to the routine at the Sunday night ice cream social. He handles dipping strawberry. There is very little demand for strawberry compared to the other flavors. The new guy always gets strawberry.

Monday August 4, 2008
We are now all up at 5 am since there is now only one car. On site at 5:30 everyone starts their assignments. Pat lays out the breakfast bar, Rich joins Tracy Farmer, a young woman who came just to work with us, in making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Carl and Quintin cook French toast on the griddle while Bonnie does bacon. Bonnie, the custodian, also handles the dish washer. This is easy. This is almost too easy. Pat and Carl are almost in shock how easy working with these numbers are. If it were not for the fact that we had to replenish the salad bar items for dinner, we would have been out early this morning.

Rich Smith is a biology teacher at Haverford High School. During the summer he works as a carpenter. He decides he would actually like to do double duty. He is going to work in the field during the day and help in the kitchen early and late. When we finish we transport him to a work site in Montgomery about 15 miles away.

Actually this is good because the local hospital is in Montgomery and we need to have Quintin checked out. He is having some residual problems from the horse rolling on him. It seems it is only swollen glands, probably from the bee stings. He is told they’ll see him again in 10 days, but we say he’ll be home by that time, so he’ll see his own doctor then.

At 3:30 then it’s back to work getting ready for dinner. Tonight it is salad, chicken corn soup, sloppy joes and peas with white cake for dessert. Everyone is so appreciative you’d think we were doing them a big favor by feeding them. It’s still daylight when we get back to the Glen Ferris and early to bed!

(More to come…..)

FOOD, FUN AND A VERY CLOSE CALL

2008-08-03T01:46:00.004-04:00

West Virginia—Part 2
Received August 2, 2008

BACK IN HARNESS
Carl and Pat and their 13 year-old grandson, Quintin, plus Mary, Molly, Millie and her friend, Nancy, have prepared meals together now for several years and work together like a well-oiled machine. Pat and Millie do the breakfast bar in the morning and the salad bar at night. Nancy does the baking of deserts plus the cookies for lunches. Mary and Molly can spot an area that needs help and fill in immediately. Gloria from Lancaster and Sylvia from the Pittsburgh area handle sandwiches, assemble other items that go into the bag lunches and do other jobs as necessary.

Imagine a bunch of people you never saw before coming into your kitchen and taking over the preparation of meals. Bonnie, the head cook at the school where the meals are prepared and served, was in this position. However, she finally got used to the idea and became part of the team along with Brenda, the maintenance person who was on hand “just in case.” Bonnie also had to get used to Nancy who heads her own school kitchen back home. However, they quickly made the adjustment and really enjoyed working together. (FLEXIBILITY is a key attribute for anyone on a mission team!!)

MONDAY: Breakfast: French toast and bacon. Bag lunches are assembled complete with fruit, cookies and a soda. Others do their assigned chores including building sandwiches for the next day, and pre-prep of dinner items. Kids are out the door by 8:00.

The team planned on going for a walk during off time in the middle of the day, but ultimately, they just rested. (First mornings are always a bit of a drain!) Returned to the kitchen at 3:30. Dinner: chicken corn soup, salad bar, sloppy joes and cake.

Serving 208 people in a place that seats 140 forces eating in shifts. (“Welcome to my cruise line,” says Carl.) 4:45 salad bar, 5:00 dinner for groups from Lancaster. 5:30 second seating salad bar, 5:45 dinner for those from the Pittsburgh area.

The team retires to the hotel by 7:00 pm. Pat, Mary, Millie, Molly and Nancy play games in the hotel parlor game room whenever they have free time: cribbage, card games, rummy cube, etc.

TUESDAY: Breakfast: PACE McMuffins (sausage, cheese, scrambled eggs, on an English muffin.) Kids have been away 2 days. The team wants them to feel close to McDonalds. Bonnie and Sylvia cut up 4 flats of strawberries for tonight’s dessert: strawberry shortcake with whipped cream.

The young people sign up for certain jobs. They help clean up after breakfast by sterilizing tables and seats, cleaning under tables and mopping the floor. The clean up crew at dinner also mops the kitchen.

Supper: chicken breasts over rice with carrots and Carl’s Country Tomato Soup (Campbells tomato soup mixed with chunky spaghetti sauce. (Don’t laugh! It was served at Covenant’s gourmet Ladies Night dinner and got rave reviews!)

WEDNESDAY: Breakfast: scrambled and over easy eggs, syrup for scrapple (If you like it we’ll tell you what’s in it…), left-over bacon from Monday, home fries. (Carl likes to bring scrapple to the south. He says grits is cream of wheat with sand in it.)

The Covenant women went shopping after breakfast, and Quintin and Carl planned to go swimming, but because it rained they got haircuts. Quintin had his hair shaved off almost to his scalp in preparation for playing football when he comes home (an event that played a major role two days later.)

THURSDAY: A highlight was dinner which featured a classy chopped steak (7 oz.) with sautéed onions and peppers, real mashed potatoes, and green beans with watermelon for dessert. (Now you know why some teams schedule their work in WV when Covenant's team is preparing the meals!)

A VERY CLOSE CALL!!
FRIDAY: Carl and Quinton had to beat it out at 9:00 because they had booked a 1½ hour trail ride at 10:00am with a man who owns Canyon Rim Ranch. Carl and Quintin were to meet Pat for lunch at noon. They mounted two of the seven horses at 10:00 and planned to literally ride through a coal mine near the rim of a canyon.

The group took a break at the half way point. Quinton was on the horse in position 6 and Carl was number 7. The number 1 or 2 horse kicked a yellow jacket nest. From that point on yellow jackets swarmed and stung some of the riders as well as the horses who responded by bucking. Quintin’s horse (1200 lbs.) accidentally backed over the ledge. As he went over the ledge, he rolled over Quinton (150 lbs.). Thankfully, Quinton was not injured by the horse, but he went over the edge, too! Luckily, he was able to grab a tree limb. The horse landed about 1000 feet down in the canyon, and Carl said he never expected to see horse again.

Fortunately, they were able to rescue Quintin, and after they got things all together, they spotted the horse which amazingly was able to work it’s way back up to the top by itself.

After filling out accident reports, it was almost time to go back to work. (Picture Pat waiting at the restaurant for Carl and Quintin and worrying about whether something terrible had happened!)

Now is the time to remember Quintin’s shaved head. Because his hair was almost gone Carl could see the yellow jacket stingers in his head. He took a credit card out of his wallet and was able to scrape the stingers off. (Remember the American Express credit card commercial, “Never leave home without it.”) Both Carl and Quinton had learned this use of a credit card in Boy Scouts.

Most of the riders decided that, in view of the circumstances, they wanted to walk, rather than ride back, but the trail leader knew he’d have difficulty controlling 7 horses and said it would be helpful for some to ride. First volunteer: Quintin, followed by Carl and then a few others.

By the time they got back to the school, everyone was sitting outside waiting for the door to be unlocked. After hearing of their adventure, Pat decided she was not going to let Quintin out of her sight! (Probably should keep an eye on Carl, too!)

A TRAFFIC TICKET – ALMOST!
Carl was stopped in Gauley Bridge for doing 35 mph in a 25mph. The cop took Carl’s license, etc., reviewed them and asked if he was headed back to PA. Carl explained why he was in Gauley Bridge. Turns out the cop lives across the street from the school where the team was working. Result: no ticket!

SATURDAY: Everyone (except Pat, Carl and Quintin) will return home after a cold breakfast (except for slightly warmed left-over pizza.) It wasn’t the worst day for the electricity to go off as a result of a storm. Noting the ambience of the emergency lights, Carl—in his make-the-best-of-everything, find-the-humor-where-you-can—view of life says, “Why didn’t I think of candlelight dinners before?”

Molly, Mary, Millie and Nancy leave for home by 8 am. Next week Richard, who leads Covenant mission teams that serve lunch several times a year to residents of Outley House in Philadelphia, will join Carl, Pat and Quintin. Even though there will be “only” 115 young people next week, Carl is hopeful that a few of their adult leaders will be able to give extra hands in the kitchen.

Pray for safety (!), and a wonderful week of witnessing--and check back in a few days for more news!

What's Happening in WV -- Part 1

2008-07-31T23:14:00.002-04:00

(Received Thursday evening, July 31, 2008)

PROLOG
PACE asked Pat and Carl Lotz if they would consider covering three weeks in West Virginia this year. Unfortunately, not possible. As a result they laid the background to initiate someone that would be willing to cover one of the three weeks.

This led to a trip to the town of Gauley Bridge WV to scope out the facilities. This year the facilities are intriguing in that the groups are staying in an old High School that hasn’t been used in three years. (It’s now a Community Center) But we are cooking in an Elementary School that thank heavens is just across the street.

Now that we knew what we were up against, we met the woman (Bonnie) who was willing to cover the first week. She had a little experience but was willing to do Carl’s menu which is a little complicated.Quintin Lotz (13) volunteered to go down with Bonnie and handle the griddle. Carl would order the food from PA and Bonnie would carry out the menu in WV.

You don’t realize just how complicated it is to feed 130 people who would be there with PACE the first week As a result Carl & Pat and Quintin drove the 450 miles to Gauley Bridge July 20th to help Bonnie get started. We staying until after breakfast on the 21st to help her and her volunteers get settled. However enthusiastic a person is, there is always more than meets the eye in bringing all the pieces together every meal and as a result there were almost daily phone calls from WV to Frazer. But they got through the week.

CAMT Service Starts
Pat and Carl headed out Friday night so we could arrive in Gauley Bridge early enough on Saturday to take inventory. We had the option to modify our food order as late as Sunday morning noon. When we finished inventory the food order underwent major revisions. Luckily the food supplier is open on Sunday afternoons so we made the adjustments.

Once again we are in an area where cell phones just don’t work due to the mountains around us. One of the PACE workers did get two bars by climbing a ladder inside the school and through a trap door that led to the roof of the old school. No, we’ll just wait for our group of CAMT volunteers to arrive this afternoon (Sunday). They’re due here around 4:00. Pat Lotz waits at the Glen Ferris Inn (the home base for CAMT for the week) a great place along the falls of the convergence of the New River and the Gauley. The Inn only serves dinner until six on Sundays so when they arrive dinner is first on the agenda.

Carl had to attend the leaders meeting of the groups that arrived during the afternoon. The main highway through Gauley Bridge runs along the river. So do the railroad tracks of the Norfolk and Southern Railroad. In the 1870’s, the railroad laid the tracks thru the valley connecting Richmond VA to Cincinnati OH. By the way there is no bridge at Gauley Bridge. It was burned by the confederates during the Civil War in 1862. Since the road and railroad take up the flat land most houses are built clinging to the steep hillside. And the school is no exception. To get to the school you cross the railroad tracks and traverse a cutback.

Invitation to a Party
Sunday afternoon while setting up at the school Carl had a conversation with a husband & wife out for a walk. The outcome was an invitation to a Church gathering along the river at five o’clock followed by a picnic. Although I had to meet with the leaders at six I wanted to squeeze this in. You see it was a Baptism in the river.

When I arrived, it was like any other picnic. The women of the church gathering food to the picnic tables as it arrived. The men bringing in grills on trailers. The children down at the river bank trying to fill the river with stones. At 5:30 the call to Baptism came, and we all gathered by the river. What song would you expect us to start with? “We will gather by the river”, of course. Two people were to be baptized. The Elders waded into the water to slightly over waist deep. One person was in a wheelchair so they picked up the whole chair and carried it into the river. The other waded in. After the challenge from the preacher both persons were submerged. One emerged from under the water with loud Hallelujahs. The Minister and several of the Elders then turned around and dove into the river and swam for a while.

When the picnic dinner was ready, I was afforded the honor of first in line. I just finished a piece of southern pecan pie at six o’clock, so I ran off for the leaders meeting.

Ice Cream Social
We always start the week with ice cream on Sunday Night for the Dori Gillstrom Memorial Ice Cream Social. 200 people devour a lot of ice cream. Vanilla, Chocolate, and Strawberry, not to mention chocolate syrup, nuts and butterscotch toppings. We finished by ten o’clock. We start breakfast preparation at 5:30 in the morning so we head right to bed.

No News Is Good News. (We Hope!)

2008-07-28T21:05:00.001-04:00

Team leaders Pat and Carl traveled to West Virginia Friday to make sure the kitchen was in good working order and that the food they ordered for the next two weeks had arrived safely. Their grandson, Quintin, had been there the previous week to help a team from another church who were new to the job of feeding 100+ young people for a week. He’s only 13, but wants to be a chef, and if you’ve ever seen him in a kitchen, you know he’s well on his way. He knows his way around a kitchen, keeps up the kind of pace necessary to feed large crowds, and occasionally comes up with a menu idea all his own that usually turns out to be a hit!

Mary, Molly, Millie and Nancy drove down Sunday to get ready for the youth teams they would feed this week beginning Monday morning. Carl said he’d call in the news of the trip, and I expect that will happen—but as of right now (9:00 pm) Monday night, we’ve not heard a word. Check back tomorrow….

New Ventures July and September

2008-07-18T02:40:00.002-04:00

CAMT Heads Back to WV

A Covenant Adult Mission Team will be headed for Gauley Bridge, WV the weeks of July 27 and August 3 to prepare meals for PACE (PA Christian Endeavor) youth mission teams who will be doing home repairs in the area.

Team leaders Carl and Pat will be there the weeks of July 27 and August 3, and six others will work one or the other of the two weeks: Quintin (Carl and Pat's grandson), Molly, Mary, Millie, Nancy and Richard. Pray for safe travel and for the witnessing of Covenant's love for all God's people.

We're never quite sure what the email situation is in new places--but, once again, we hope to have reports of their experiences during the time the team is there.

Check back for news of the team starting the week of July 27.

Outley House Shelter

CAMT continues to serve lunch on Saturdays of holiday weekends at Outley House Shelter, a rehab center in Philadelphia. Richard is the team leader and plans the menus. 3 people from Covenant helped serve March 29, 4 served April 12, 3 on May 24, and 7 on July 5. The next visit will be Sept. 6.

Call the church office (610-648-0707) for more information or to sign up.

Looking Back--and Ahead

2008-04-29T23:41:00.002-04:00

Fall 2007:
1½ million Mexican children and youth do not attend school, mostly because of the cost involved. Parents don’t pay tuition for public education in Mexico, but they have to pay for uniforms and school supplies which, given the level of poverty, is a hardship for many families. Of those who begin, most don’t go beyond 3rd grade which, of course, limits their being able to escape the cycle of poverty.

Faith Ministry has an active scholarship program supported by churches in the U.S. CAMT sent $1375 to provide scholarships for Rosa, a second grader, Juan, a 5th grader, and Jhoan, a high school student. A Murder Mystery fundraiser helped provide the needed funds.

Spring 2008
Outley House, Philadelphia
Richard, one of Covenant’s new members, prepares and serves lunch six Saturdays a year at Outley House, a drug rehab center in Philadelphia. Fellow teachers and students from the high school in which he teaches as well as several members of Covenant have helped, but he's hoping others will sign on, too. There's always a need for more hands! Richard provides the food, so all volunteers have to do is commit 9:00am to 2:00pm on scheduled Saturdays to help with preparations and serving. The next date is May 24, so if you’re interested, call the church office, 610-648-0707.

Summer 2008
Gauley Bridge, WV
Plans are being made for a mission team to go to Gauley Bridge, WV to continue work with PA Christian Endeavor (PACE) youth teams who work in impoverished areas. Carl and Pat will again lead Covenant’s teams in preparing meals for the young people. The weeks of July 27 and August 3 are scheduled. More help is needed for the second week, but you’re welcome to sign up for either one. Team members make breakfast and bag lunches in the morning, have the afternoon off for “fun/relaxation time,” then return to make dinner. Call the church office if you’d like to join one of the teams. (610-648-0707)

Winter 2009
Faith Ministry, Mexico
CAMT continues to support the work of Faith Ministry in Mexico financially and with prayer. For five years, beginning in 2003, a mission team visited the 1st Presbyterian Church in Reynosa and spent a week teaching sewing and craft projects. Items made were sold either to supplement the women’s own income, or to benefit special needs at the church. Since the women are now working very well independently it did not seem practical to return even though we miss our Mexican “sisters,” so this year we sent money to help them replenish their supplies.

However, the women in neighboring Naranjito Church have asked that we teach them similar skills. Consequently, CAMT is making plans to go in February 2009 to work there for a week. Interested in joining in or supporting the work financially? Call the church office: 610-648-0707.

Upcoming News...

2007-07-13T02:01:00.000-04:00

We hope you have enjoyed reading about Covenant's most recent mission trip to Kentucky where the team prepared meals for youth teams who worked in impoverished areas.

In case you missed it, page down below this message and read KY1, then KY2, etc. You'll follow the adventures of the team for two weeks as they managed to get a key to the Dixie B&B which doesn't serve breakfast and whose new owner never did show up, dealt with a substitute minister because the first one cut a gas line while mowing his lawn which blew him into the air and set his house on fire...and...you get the idea! It reads like a novel!

Join us again in October when we'll give you news about a Murder Mystery fund raiser for scholarships for children in Mexico. Mexican families have to provide uniforms and school supplies for their children which costs $400 to $500 depending on the grade. Many families can't afford to send their children beyond 3rd grade which means they do not have the skills to escape a poverty level life. Covenant cares and hopes to support at least 4 chidlren next year.

Then, tune in mid-January for news about the next mission trip to Reynosa and Naranjito, Mexico.

KY 19 - July 7 - Saturday Last Day

2007-07-10T12:49:00.000-04:00

Breakfast on a travel day is at six am. When I arrive at five some are already up and packing vans. I let both Pat and Quintin sleep in this morning. We usually serve only cereal, juice and mixed fruit. But last night some were lobbying for cold pizza in the morning. I can’t eat cold pizza, so they had hot pizza to start them off.

They are on the road a few minutes after seven. It only takes me until eight to have the kitchen clear and my car loaded. Of course I know the women of the church will be in to re-clean the kitchen. All I can say is- – “You should have seen it BEFORE we cleaned it”.

THREE CHEERS

FOR THE COVENANT MISSION TEAM

FOR GRACE UNDER PRESSURE

THESE PAST TWO WEEKS!!

KY 18 - Friday, July 6

2007-07-10T12:44:00.000-04:00

The menu for breakfast calls for whatever we have leftover. This means French toast from the lunch bread and shelled eggs. This is a morning that waffles become popular again. We offered waffles each day but Monday and Friday were the popular times.

In preparation for the funeral we moved every item in the kitchen we use to a storage room with our food. We then thoroughly clean the kitchen including sweeping and mopping.

The women of the church arrived and as expected thoroughly re-cleaned the kitchen. I wanted to say to them, “You should have seen it BEFORE we cleaned it”.

The funeral is at two o’clock. They again inform us they will not be done in the kitchen until after six. I delicately advised them that I had to feed my group at six o’clock and we would be back to the church at five-thirty. At that time we would do anything necessary to help them complete their activities.

This is where staying in the B&B pays off. Pat bakes the two cakes that will be desert tonight in the B&B kitchen oven. We later in the day brown the twenty-five pounds of hamburger used for the Tacos and keep it warm.

With this completed I am off to the IGA because my Tony’s cheese pizza is stored in the walk in freezer. The IGA has given me total access to the back areas including the freezers and coolers. All of my products are marked with a yellow label which is the route number of USFoods. During the past two weeks I have had to re-gather my items to keep them together because they kept getting moved around. When I found my pizza box it was opened and only contained 48 of the 90 slices. Since it is before five o’clock the full staff is in the store. The manager sends his assistant with me and I explain how we identified my products, etc. We proceed to the display to find the eight slice sections from my carton wrapped and offered for $5.95 a unit. There was enough left for me to recoup 70 slices for tonight.

We arrived at the kitchen at five-thirty to find the women within minutes of being done. We served dinner of salad bar, chili, Tacos, and pizza at two minutes after six. Everyone was done in time to maintain the seven o’clock schedule.

KY - 17 - Thursday, July 5

2007-07-10T12:41:00.000-04:00

This group of campers actually reads the menu we post. They already say they can’t wait to try the chili that replaces the soup on the salad bar. The only problem is I miscalculated last week. I bought one carton (four pouches) of the institutional chili and found we needed all four. I had planned on using two this week. I called the USFoods salesman to see what we could do. In order to have it delivered to Salyersville the order has to be fifteen items or three hundred dollars. OK plan B. He will deliver the one carton to a restaurant in Prestonburg for us. Only Prestonburg is eighteen miles away.

So after our morning nap, we head for Prestonburg. Have lunch in the restaurant while waiting for the delivery to arrive. I could not have asked more of the owner. When the truck arrived he had the driver offload this one carton for us ahead of everything else.

The chili was scheduled to go with the Tacos and Pizza that we serve on Thursdays. BUT due to the funeral on Friday we move spaghetti to Thursday because we will not have the time in the kitchen to cook 10 lbs of spaghetti.

It is an ill wind that doesn’t blow someone some good. As it turns out the chili is frozen hard as a rock and doesn’t thaw until Friday morning. We would have been hard pressed to serve it if there had been no change in the menu.

Unfortunately four of the campers were working cement during the day and did not get back for dinner. They had McDonalds and then joined us for our Thursday night ice cream.

And here we go again. In the past, the ice cream has been almost too soft. This church has a chest freezer. When I fish the ice cream out it is so hard we could not dip it. We sat for an additional fifteen minutes to let it soften and then dipped the scoops in boiling water. Even then it took a strong man to dip.

Did I tell you earlier how well we were doing?

KY16 - Fourth of July - Evening

2007-07-10T12:37:00.000-04:00

The Burning Forks Church has a big Fourth of July Picnic/Party. Eddie (that is how he introduces himself), the minister of the church, told me last week when we were cooking in his church that he calls for a collection on Sunday to buy fireworks. We should be sure to be there. We wouldn’t miss it. Apparently there is an open invitation to the surrounding area because when we arrive there are multitudes. Every church here seems to have a pavilion. The pavilion is crowded with the older crowd. The field has groups playing volleyball. And there has to be at least 20 teams lined up to egg toss. Eddie is trying to organize the egg toss but he is not too busy to greet Quintin and me when we arrive around eight o’clock. He grabs Quintin and pairs him up with a young girl to participate in the egg toss.

There are two men of retirement age standing on the edge of the parking lot near the pavilion somewhat by themselves. One of them is very tall. I gravitate toward them and they greet me as if they know me. We discuss many things while waiting for it to be dark enough to start fireworks. Most of the topics are answers to my questions.

I’ve heard of Burning Bush in the bible but where did Burning Forks come from? (The natural gas in the area that surfaces,) What is the philosophy of the Southern Baptist Church? What does “Free Will” Baptist mean? I’ve only seen two blacks in town, why is the black population so low? The area seems to be a hot bed for Pentecostal Churches. Are the Pentecostal Churches really as described by the Northern Media? And on and on.

Eddie apparently received almost $1000 in his collection on Sunday. He has a contact for fireworks in Paintsville that gives him “buy one get one free”. Not to mention sparklers and an item that pops when you throw it hard against the ground. The last mentioned items are distributed to every kid in attendance. For the next ten minutes there is total chaos while they chase each other around. The adults have to be on their toes.

At nine o’clock lightning appears in the sky to the North. Rain is eminent. The church members who coordinate the fireworks are good. The fireworks are as good as any professional I have seen. They lasted over twenty-five minutes. And then the rains came.

Salyersville has at least three stands selling fireworks. Not to mention that they are available in Walmart nearby. But as it turns out, fireworks that go off in the air are illegal just as they are in Pennsylvania.

KY 15 - July 4 - Wednesday - A Visit to Loretta Lynn's Homestead

2007-07-06T23:17:00.000-04:00

As I stated in last weeks narrative Wednesday is a half-day of work with the afternoon off. Pat and I have been going back to the B&B and napping from nine am to about eleven or so.

At noon however we set out for Paintsville to find Butcher Hollar (spelled hollow but pronounced here as Hollar). Have you ever paid attention to the song “Coal Miners Daughter” sung by Loretta Lynn? She was born in Butcher Hollow. Her homestead is still there perched on the side of the steep mountain.

What is so amazing about these mountains is the depth of some of the hollows. When you arrive at Van Lear, the old coal mining town that is down the road a piece toward Butcher Hollow, you think you should be there, but the road goes on for a couple of miles until you reach a country store in a dilapidated old building that was built by the coal company in 1920. However they have not mined coal here in the past forty years. The store is outfitted with Loretta Lynn memorabilia. That is because it is owned by one of Loretta Lynn’s brothers.

“My dad’s up at the homestead if you want to go up,” says the clerk. “He keeps some horses on the site.”

So we head on up—more miles of some of the narrowest winding road you will ever see.
So we are here. And of course it looks just like the building in the movie “Coal Miners’ Daughter.” The brother, in his seventies, is there with a grandson and another couple (friends) sitting on the front porch of the shack consisting of a living room, bedroom, kitchen, and dining area—none of them very large. Ten people. Eight children and parents. The kids slept upstairs in the unfinished attic.

The brother points out himself in many of the pictures displayed inside and is tells us what furniture was there during his boyhood. The walls are full of signatures of previous visitors.

Sitting on the railing of the front porch, which seems to be the only sturdy part of the building, I ply him with questions. About the area. About moon-shining….

Gee, his sister is a millionaire and here he sits. Wait a minute. He asks five dollars per person for the tour. He’s probably one, too.

KY 14 - July 3 - Tuesday - Adapt. Adapt. Adapt

2007-07-06T23:11:00.001-04:00

Quintin is getting tired and it shows on his face. Not entirely from helping us cook, but he is also going around during the day with Mark the work site project manager. And Monday night he went out with Jeff and some others getting in about 11:30. We said he could go only if he got up at 5:30 am without any nonsense—and low and behold he did. However when we got to the church to cook he sat down at one of the tables and went to sleep. When the other kids started coming in for breakfast he transferred to a mattress on the floor in one of the rooms. We (his grandparents) can’t complain. He met the requirement of getting up. We neglected to say, “and stay up.”

As we are finishing this morning we receive a visit from the woman who is more or less in charge of the kitchen here at the church. They have a member who died yesterday. The funeral is Friday and they always serve the meal following. We are being bumped from the kitchen. So we have a change of plans for Friday.

We switch the menu, serve spaghetti on Thursday, and plan to go with the nachos & pizza on Friday. One thing we have learned on this trip is to adapt.

Tuesday night is meatloaf night. Last week Mary and Molly baked extra loafs. We had three left over for this week. At fourteen slices each we had enough for today. But remember I stated earlier the teens were eating us out of house and home.

Pat made two additional loafs bringing the number to five. Unfortunately we overcooked one of the loaves from last week and it was crispy on the outside. When it came to seconds, crispy didn’t seem to matter. By the end of the meal we had two slices left.

I pride myself in making “real” mashed potatoes to go with the meatloaf. We buy potato chunks that are prepared for breakfast home fries in ten pound sealed bags. We cook them in water just as you would any potato you might prepare. However in the past we have been in schools that have large beaters for projects just like this. Once again, the dollar store to the rescue. Do you know they sell hand implements in the kitchen gadget department that are designed to mash potatoes? You’re not going to keep us down!

Tuesday night is Nacho night at ten o’clock. Quintin who has made it through the day now wants to experiment with quesadillas, a flour tortilla filled with cheese and cooked on the griddle. Served hot they were the hit of the evening. We definitely will be adding them into our menu for the future.

KY 13 - July 2 - Monday (continued)

2007-07-06T22:59:00.000-04:00

The menu is the same for each week. That means we can purchase cases of items for economy. Being Monday we start preparing the salad bar, soup, chicken, carrots and rice, and since I overbought the number of watermelons last Thursday, we used them up tonight.

We have a few less campers this week compared to last week. But this week they are eating much more. Each week the groups have different personalities. It is one of the distinctions that make doing this so enjoyable.

Speaking of personalities, the teen speaker this week is a hoot. When I say teen, I mean he is the pastor for youth at a church just outside Reading. He’s an energetic person who is everywhere, everywhere!

Each evening at seven o’clock the group gathers for what you would call a Praise Service.

The program starts with video activities of the day produced by a company call Wrigley Video. Curt Wrigley and his son Critter (yes I said Critter) do an outstanding job in capturing the feel of the workday and the leisure time of these groups.

Go to youtube.com/ceinpa and you can experience some of the job site projects.

After the video we open with music supplied by one of the groups. And then Jeff speaks to teen problems and religion.

Ky 13 - July 3 - Monday - Start The Week

2007-07-06T09:45:00.000-04:00

It is so amazing how much we were able to learn the first week and benefit from now. Our first breakfast of the week went very smoothly. We didn’t have the clean up help Mary and Molly gave us but we were still able to be out of the kitchen by 9:00. Pat and I pre-made the meat sandwiches Sunday night for the camper’s lunch. The Monday morning campers’ efforts to make the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches was a disaster. The three of us, Pat, Carl and Sandy decide to do them ourselves in the future. Stay tuned…

KY 12a - Back To Reality

2007-07-06T09:44:00.002-04:00

We spend the afternoon setting up in our new location, the old First Baptist Church. The arrangement is just better. We actually feel enthusiastic. The only problem with church kitchens is the fact that they are not designed to feed large numbers of people. The two-bowl sink is not big enough for many of our implements.

All we have to do now is find all the items we moved here. So we go through our boxes and then see what is available by checking every drawer.

We know where everything is now and we are ready to start the week.

With potential new help, Pat makes up a schedule for every meal to follow from set up to what to take out of the freezer for tomorrow.

At the leaders meeting I announce that we are two people short in the kitchen and we will need help. Of all people, Sandy, a young lady with the video team, volunteers. She turns out to be the difference. A graduate from Penn State just last month, she worked in the food department of a nursing home. Experience!

Ky 12 - July 2 - Sunday Is For Fishing

2007-07-06T09:44:00.001-04:00

Well, church and fishing. This county has over one hundred churches. Mostly Southern Baptists.

Quintin and I went to Paintsville to the state park, an Army Corps of Engineers flood control park located high in the hills. A beautiful day to be fishing, but not even a nibble.

Ky 11 - July 1 - An Evening At The Outdoor Theater

2007-07-06T09:43:00.000-04:00

We saw a billboard along the highway advertising a performance of “High School Musical”. This was of special interest to our grandson, Quintin, since the Great Valley Middle School did the show this year. However I have found that nothing is easy in KY. The phone number on the billboard did not say what the theater was—it just gave a phone number. However when you called the number you got The First National Bank in KY. All they said was they were receiving a lot of calls. So I went to the library in town. “That’s the Jenny Wiley Theater down in Prestonburg.” They knew all about it, picked up the phone and called to the box office for me to make reservations. So we had tickets for the Theater.

The twenty miles to Prestonburg took only a short time and we were early because we had no idea just where it was located.

“Jenny Wiley” is a KY state park. We found the theater and realized it was an outdoor amphitheater. The best part is the park has a hotel with a dining room so we were able to have dinner before the show. The show starred teenagers from the three surrounding counties and had a tremendous energy.

Ky 10 - June 30 - The Fourth Of July Comes Early

2007-07-06T09:42:00.000-04:00

Saturday is exactly what we have been waiting for. All the groups leave for home Saturday morning. We moved breakfast up to 6 am so they could get an early start for home. We were finished and out of the kitchen by 7:30 am.

And all we wanted to do was go back to bed. And we did.

However June 30, 31 & July 1 are the Fourth of July activities here. We were on the street corner down town waiting for the parade to start at one. But it didn’t. A passer-by explained that although the newspaper listed the parade at one, it was postponed to two o’clock.

The ex-sheriff of Magoffin County died on Thursday, the day the newspaper is published. His funeral was this morning (Saturday) and all the police and firemen were attending, so they postponed the parade until they were free. Don’t you just love a small town?

The parade started promptly with the sirens of the lead fire trucks. Followed by an endless number of pickup trucks with the Mr. or Miss Firecracker. This was from a pageant held Thursday night in town. Only there were categories starting at six months in increments up to 18. With the runner-ups also in line you can just guess the number of vehicles. Then came the visiting fire trucks and County vehicles followed by off road four wheelers. Hundreds of them. The drivers kept getting younger and younger. With the mountains here they are used both on and off the roads. None of which are licensed.

Finally came the local horses and riders. Again literally hundreds.

The parade started on the East end of town to the West end. And since all the participants’ vehicles were still at the East end. The whole parade turned around in order and paraded back through town from west to east.

Ky 9 - June 29 - Friday Is Moving Day

2007-07-06T09:40:00.000-04:00

The “Nail Benders” are finishing up and we can move everything we have at the Forks to First Baptist down town. This means the campers can walk to meals. It should make a big difference for all of us.

I grab the group that has the largest number to start moving supplies. We back up three vehicles to the door and the campers form a bucket line. I inventory items and hand them to the first person in line and the human conveyor belt activates. Ever hear “Many hands make light work?” We simply reversed the procedure at our destination and we had almost everything there. Molly and Mary did the same procedure at the B&B to load their car but without the conveyor belt.

However Saturday breakfast, mostly cereal was still at the Forks. Most of the groups were anxious to get on the road. Molly and Mary join us for breakfast and they also are on the road home.

Don’t leave us here alone…….

Ky 8 - June 28 - The First Week Counts Down

2007-07-06T09:37:00.000-04:00

Our routine keeps us humming. Mary and Molly keep the kitchen rolling including the cleanup. Pat, Quintin and Carl handle the dining room. In the morning Pat sets up the cereal bar, Quintin cooks on the griddle and Carl make waffles. At dinner the same routine. Pat sets up the salad bar, Carl & Quintin serve portion control.

Today’s excitement is looking for my food order that is due in around 2:00. Quintin and I hang out at the New church where the Nail Benders are working because that is the delivery address. The time comes and goes and no food. Some of which is needed for tonight’s dinner. We start riding around trying to find the truck. We go to the Forks church just in case. The workers there say the driver called there and they told him to deliver there or to the Dixie B&B. No food either place. My cell phone has no connection here in the hills, so we find a phone and call the salesman. He calls back to say the driver dropped our order at the IGA because that is where he took our frozen items last week. As it turns out they accepted the order. Well at least we have our food.

While we are in the Forks kitchen preparing dinner the phone rings several times. All from local people telling us where our food order was delivered.

KY-7: Half Day, With Scrapple

2007-07-02T07:53:00.000-04:00

PACE schedules Wednesdays for a half day of work and a half day of play. We no longer have the problem of everyone arriving as one group for breakfast. Even the teens are tired by Wednesday. They straggle in to breakfast over the full hour it is planned. But the scrapple we brought with us from home (courtesy of the King Street Grille) a great hit. Even though many teens did not know what scrapple is. “If you try it and like it then we’ll tell you what is in it.”

All of them have great plans for when they stop work at one o’clock and have the afternoon off. Almost all of them include swimming.

Wednesday gives us time to catch up on our sleep. Well most of us. Mary drove off to Lexington about two hours away to meet a friend from college. Mary attended college here in KY. She then went on to meet a friend who is a college professor and to sit in on a class he was teaching. She was home about seven.

Molly spent the day at her favorite spot: the front porch, reading. You can always find her and Mary out there during the day or just after finishing dinner. Often playing a board game in the early evening. We have no television at the B&B. And in a way that is good.

Carl, Pat, Quintin and Molly drove the 18 miles to Paintsville for dinner. It is the closest town that has a restaurant that is not fast food. Once again in preparation for Thursday’s meals we visited the Walmart that is in Paintsville. Open 24 hours it is the biggest store under one roof I have ever seen.

KY-6: Dollar Store Is To Salyersvile As Walmart Is To Reynosa

2007-07-02T07:46:00.000-04:00

Tuesday we open breakfast with French toast and bacon. 300 slices with nothing left over. They still arrive in one big group but we change the traffic flow around the cereal and juice bar. Mollie bakes cinnamon rolls that are as good as innabon. Everything is running like clockwork. The kids are out before eight o’clock. Mary and Mollie clean up, make sandwiches for Wednesday while Pat and I make the morning run to IGA. We had pre ordered the hamburger from the IGA at $1.29 per pound.

The hamburger is immediately transformed into meatloaves by Mary using Pat’s recipe and refrigerated to be cooked tonight for dinner. We are out by 9:30 again. Life is good.

However, there just are not enough containers for the salad bar items and storage. The salad bar is somewhat extensive. So it is time to visit the dollar store. There are three dollar stores in Salyersville and we are intimate with all of them. We have wiped them out of plastic containers. We are in the dollar stores so often that we often pass each other in the aisles.

This area has a laid back life style. The IGA has baggers that also take your cart to your car and put the items in. The hardware store clerks are waiting at the entrance to help you find what you need.

“That meatloaf is the best I have ever had.” That is an unsolicited testimonial. We “Molly baked” 80 potatoes to go with the meatloaf. Molly suggested wrapping the potatoes in aluminum foil so everyone would think they were baked. However we boiled them in the foil. It was fast, it was good and the deception worked.

We invited all the groups to the B&B at 9:30 for Nachos. A simple snack that is very popular among teens.

Now for the down side. The electrical storm knocked out the air conditioning in our third floor room at the B&B. The temperature kept climbing. I went to the person handling the place and asked her to open up a room on a lower floor. There was a four hour window while we were not in the building that she could have completed the request. But when we returned from dinner no other room was unlocked. Flag number five.

Leave it to Quintin. He knows every nook and cranny of this place. He showed me how to gain access to a first floor room. When the thermostat in the up stairs room hit ninety I moved into the forbidden room.

KY-5: You Don't Have To Suffer To Serve (Maybe A Little) But We Are Still Afloat.

2007-06-29T10:17:00.000-04:00

Five am comes quickly when you’re tired from travel and a power outage. The small kitchen is not equipped for what we are doing. Our first project is to build 90 sandwiches. The campers will build their lunches on the way out the door after breakfast. For some reason no matter the geographic location, the first breakfast doesn’t go smoothly. In the past, when everyone is in the same building, they wander in for breakfast over the hour we serve. Since they are bused in, they all arrive at the same time. On top of the small area this makes for the need for additional organization. Our hours are a little longer since we only have a small sink to wash our cooking items. We are on top of each other. We break down the various duties between the five of us. Mary handles the tables with lunch items. Mollie and Mary build the sandwiches Pat sets up and assists with the cereal, drinks and fruit on the breakfast buffet. Quintin and Carl run the griddle building egg, sausage and cheese on English muffins. Plus I have to make a daily morning run to the IGA for supplies while the others clean up. Mary organizes our storage room.

We decide to build tomorrow’s sandwiches today. We prep the chicken for dinner. Our morning is longer than normal. It takes until eleven o’clock. Our goal is to finish by 9:30 am. The church has an outdoor pavilion with a gas barbeque. The size of the pavilion makes for an easier operation. We precook the chicken. Dinner includes a salad bar with soup. Our Country Tomato, (Campbell tomato soup with chunky spaghetti sauce) is a hit. The chicken on rice with gravy along with carrots fills the bill. Earlier, Mary baked four sheet cakes.

We are back on time, we are out by seven tonight.
Things are looking up.

Check back for news sometime next week

KY-4: Getting Settled With Much Help

2007-06-29T10:15:00.000-04:00

Ok, let’s a least try to get settled in the B&B. There is no one at the building and there is no phone number to call. We knew the B&B had changed hands and has a new owner. The IGA is open, and it is just 11 am. The customer service counter girl is very helpful. The new owner does not have a listed phone number but she knows his father. We leave a message on his answering machine. But since my cell doesn’t work here in the hills I ask him to call the IGA with any response. I will check with her later. Her suggestion since the First Baptist is about to let out is that I wait outside and ask for Brenda. “She knows everyone. Maybe she can get you some action.”

So here I am, standing in the driveway in front of the First Baptist Church as their members slowly exit the front doors. “I’m looking for Brenda”. “You want Brenda Allen, she’s over there.” Small world. On one of our earlier trips we met with her husband and arranged for paper goods from his business. I also knew she was the president of the Kiwanis Club. She got on her cell phone and started to track people down.

My best efforts were setting up the kitchen at Burning Forks and we proceeded to do so. Within ninety minutes Brenda arrived with her husband. If necessary, we could spend the night with them. The more we talked the more she got indignant over the situation. Back on the phone. The Lions club has a person they call the “tail twister.” She should have been a Lion. Success. We could meet someone at the local newspaper office and they would give us the key. We are in. Around six o’clock Mollie and Mary arrive. I attended the leaders meeting and outlined our menu which included the 3^rd Annual Dori Gillstrom Memorial Ice Cream festival at ten.

Let’s go out for dinner. A severe thunderstorm is pouring cats and dogs. Pizza seems the best option. However after placing the order, another employee approachs us and says our waitress has just quit and walked out. Is this Flag number four? When we return to the B&B the electricity is off. The emergency lighting has long used up their batteries. It is dark inside. Being an old house the floors and steps creek with every step. Mollie has a reading light that clips onto her books. Mary has a key flashlight with a blue tint which makes the house even more eerie. We all go to our rooms and wait.

At ten o’clock Quintin and I go to the Methodist Church and dish out vanilla, chocolate and strawberry ice cream with various toppings. The power is still out when we return. I go to the neighbor and borrow some matches. There are candles everywhere in the building as decorations. We take the two on the edge of the tub, place them in the tub and light them so we have light in the bathroom. I find a pedestal and globe that hold potpourri. Dumping the contents, a candle fits down inside and lights the hall. We are putting it together. The power comes on around midnight.

KY-3: God Looks Out For Fools and Sinners

2007-06-29T10:10:00.000-04:00

We emailed the B&B to ask how we were to get the keys. No reply. But we headed for Saylersville anyway. On the eve of leaving, received a call from the executive director of PACE to say “The Nail Benders” were now using the kitchen in the old church and we were being bumped to The Burning Forks church. They had a new kitchen, rebuilt due to a flood a couple of years ago. He went on to say how much we were going to like it. Flag number one.

We met him and some of his staff for breakfast on Sunday in a nearby town. Now because of “The Nail Benders” the boys would be housed in the “new church”, the girls down the street in the Methodist Church, but the meals would be in the Forks church about three miles down the road. Everyone will have to drive to meals. Flag number two. However my food order that was delivered the previous Thursday was partially in the new church, partially in the Forks church with the balance in the IGA store freezer because there is not enough refrigerator or freezer space. Flag number three.

KY-2: Prelude To Service

2007-06-29T10:05:00.000-04:00

Last year when it became obvious Pennsylvania Christian Endeavor (PACE) would not be returning to West Virginia for the 2007 summer, Pat & Carl chose Salyersville, KY as the place to serve.

As most at Covenant know, our service group known as Covenant Adult Mission Team (CAMT) has cooked and served meals for the teenagers from throughout Pennsylvania who perform Community Service for a week through PACE. CAMT has served two weeks each year.

To lay the groundwork, Pat and Carl drove to Salyersville (about six hundred miles) between Christmas and New Year’s week to get the lay of the land. PACE was to use the First Baptist Church in Salyersville for its base of operation. The only problem was that the “New” church, a complex designed to service groups like PACE, was still under construction. More importantly the kitchen was bare with nothing installed. The only good find was the Bed & Breakfast within walking distance of the church. We immediately nailed down reservations for our CAMT members.

The first trip left too many questions. So on Palm Sunday week Carl & Pat returned to Salyersville. This time we met with Pastor Matt. We looked over the kitchen in the nearby “Old” church. We could make it happen. Matt indicated he had been informed that a Baptist group from Mississippi known as “The Nail Benders,” a group which commits to a five-week stint and travels to work on Baptist Churches in the South, would be arriving in May to help finish the church. Matt was sure the kitchen in the new church would be ready for us.

That was before Matt had to cut the grass at the manse. No one is really sure just what happened but somehow the mower actually cut a natural gas line leading into his house and then the second time around caused an explosion that threw him almost a hundred feet and burned the manse. Matt sustained severe burns and is still recuperating. As a result the “The Nail Benders” are working on the Church and the manse. Still no kitchen. But wait—it gets worse.

KY-1: CAMT Mission Team: Trials and Tribulations

2007-06-29T10:00:00.000-04:00

We’re pleased to report that the KY Mission Team (Team Leader Carl, his wife Pat and grandson Quintin, plus Mary and Molly) arrived safely in Salyersville, KY Saturday, June 23. From there, however, it was all downhill. In fact, when you read this, you’ll know why there was no time for Carl to write a blog entry until the end of the week. You’ll laugh and cry at the same time. It’s a long story, but too good to condense.

Worth wading for!

2007-02-20T16:17:00.000-05:00

Click here for more photos!

Photos are trickling in ..

2007-02-19T21:30:00.000-05:00

See the 2007 CAMT Mexico Gallery for the first photos from this year's CAMT mission trip to Mexico. Here's a sneak preview ...

NOW I understand!

2007-02-17T22:44:00.000-05:00

Saturday, February 17

Sometimes a photographer takes an extreme close-up picture of something, and because it looks so large and isn't in its usual context, we don't recognize it for what it is.

Such was my experience in seeing the mountain of sewing and craft materials Covenant's congregation was moved to give this year. All I saw was an abundance of supplies whose sorting and packing almost drove me to exhaustion and that not only filled the van, but also three large boxes that had to be mailed. While I was touched by the outpouring of generosity, I could only think that this was much more than the women in Reynosa could use in one year—perhaps even two years.

At the end of our mission week, when everyone was getting ready to leave, I took a break, sat down, leaned back, and thought about the proposed plan presented on our last day by Faith Ministry's Deantin Guerra, that the women of Reynosa and Naranjito churches would work together, share the four sewing machines and the supplies Covenant had donated, and have a sale every two months of things they have made.

Naranjito pastor's wife, Silvia, who had an opportunity to meet with Covenant's team and the Reynosa's sewing group to discuss the proposed plan, seemed accepted as the probable leader of the combined group.

The big picture started to become clear.

And when I looked back over the whole week, I realized how the timing of Becky's joining the team this year also played an important part. When Becky and the Reynosa clowns took their Good News skits to Naranjito, it was, I believe, the first time people in the two churches had ever really been together when they could laugh and share a very special experience.

Covenant people were moved to donate box after box, bag after bag because the supplies were going to have to be sufficient for women in two churches!

Connections between the two groups had begun. Four sewing machines were available. Materials were ready for creative expression, and a sewing and crafts oriented leader was available and looking forward to working with the two groups.

What an amazing God we worship!

The End...And A New Beginning

2007-02-14T23:22:00.000-05:00

Wednesday, February 14

WOW! We had an ultimate goal in mind for our craft work with the Mexican women in Reynosa, but we learned today that the “powers that be” have moved so fast, we have to run to catch up!
Deantin Guerra, founder and director of Faith Ministry arrived in Reynosa to lead a dedication service for our work done with and by the women (which we expected), but what we didn't expect was his announcement that the women of Reynosa and Narenjito (where we did the last clown show Sunday) would meet together periodically to plan and complete projects for local sales every two months!

We have a lot of questions about the details, and our heads are spinning, but we are very pleased. One of the best things about the arrangement is that Silvia, the Naranjito pastor's wife, is adept at sewing and crafts and will work with the women. Equally important is that the Reynosa women seem receptive to the new direction which assumes sharing of the four sewing machines and the mountain of materials left at the end of our stay.

Another neat development is that Pastor Tony at Reynosa, who you may remember asked that banners for the sanctuary be made, says he will work with the women to make them. We have the feeling he'll do a good job with that, and it will be good for him to work closely with the women.

During the dedication ceremony, the women proudly showed some of the things they made this week: embroidered denim jackets (especially nifty items), felt picture frames, some Christmas ornaments, a beautiful tote bag with a design drawn by one of the older children and outlined with fabric paint by one of the women, and several other samples of embroidery work in progress. We've found that, with a little direction, the women do beautiful work.

One item of interest to Covenant contributors: we didn't buy one bag of batting all week! In fact we had a fair amount left over which will be used when they finish the beautiful but time-consuming embroidered pillows Barbara taught them how to make using checkered material.

The team made it back across the border in good time, had dinner at Shoney's and arrived at the motel by about 7:30. In view of the fact that Barbara seems to have picked up the “bug,” and with an early start in the morning, devotions will be read privately.

All in all, it's been a great mission trip. Check back in about a week and hopefully by then we'll have pictures posted. Internet capabilities don't allow that as we go, unfortunately, but they will give an added dimension to what you have read.

Thanks to the many gifts of the staff and congregation at Covenant, to those who contributed to the devotional booklet, to Ed Elrod for computer support, and to all who have supported us with their prayers.

Happy Birthdays

2007-02-14T00:13:00.000-05:00

Tuesday, February 13

The day started with two maids and the cook staff in the Day's Inn kitchen singing Happy Birthday to Dick in the breakfast room. The team (still minus recuperating Millie and Joyce) stopped for donuts to celebrate the birthday of one of the Mexican women. She wasn't there today, but we'll give her her birthday card tomorrow and any remaining treats.

About 8 or 9 women came to work this morning and several more, plus about 20 children, came in the afternoon. Barbara showed the women the embroidery work she did on her denim jacket and was thrilled to see how they were able to decorate their own.

Adults and children painted vases, wood boxes and Christmas ornaments, and the children also painted designs on tee shirts. Barbara showed sample appliance covers they could make, and a final unpacking and sorting of donated materials was completed. Roman reemphasized that the women were beginning to sell some of the things they made to buy more materials and also add to their financial resources. It has seemed to take a while for that concept to take hold, but they now seem to understand what we were encouraging.

As Faith Ministry's David Rodriquez said, “You're not just giving them fish. You're teaching them how to fish.” Akin to that is that, by giving them raw materials and “starter” ideas, they can do their own thing, which is a real self esteem booster. In a macho society, women don't garner a lot of respect, and we have seen an increase in their confidence and in their ability to make decisions about how to handle materials we leave with them. Those who took part in the clowning also seemed to increase in their confidence and “showmanship.”

Frank worked this morning in the Medical Clinic popping calcium tablets out of their blister packs so Nurse Betty and her assistant, Marta, could dispense them in prescription bottles. Some churches donate used prescription bottles for use in the clinic, and Frank, on Friday, had separated about 700 of them into small, medium and large sizes while Millie helped dispense prescriptions.

Oaks Family Dental Practice had once again donated toothpaste and toothbrushes which are given to patients who come to the clinic. They had also donated large blow-ups of Crest toothpaste tubes which are about 4 feet long. Frank and the nursing staff found it hilarious to watch the children try to blow them up this morning. There was a lot of huffing and puffing, but they loved it!

Millie and Joyce finally recuperated from their 3-day “bug” and joined the team at the Olive Garden to celebrate Dick's birthday, complete with a small chocolate cake and a song by the wait-staff. The team also gave Dick and Ginny a belated wedding anniversary card.

Stopped at Michaels to pick up stencils for the letters on the banners and then to—where else—Wal*Mart to pick up Barbara's films. Then it was back to the motel for devotions and a sharing of how our work has seemed to reach fruition during the course of the week. Of course we use the term “our work” advisedly....

A Change of Pace

2007-02-13T11:37:00.000-05:00

Monday, February 12

We're a bit late posting Monday's entry to the blog because Millie and Joyce (who writes the blog along with editor Frank) are still feeling the effects of the digestive problems they've been dealing with since Sunday morning, and Joyce was just not up to writing. They didn't venture from the motel today except to join the team for dinner. Actually, except for a little soup, it's more accurate to say they watched the others have dinner—but they enjoyed the company.

In past years, we have planned to have dinner with David Rodriquez, who is one of the administrators of Faith Ministry and the one through which we make our basic arrangements for our mission trips. Besides his being good company, it gives us a chance to learn more in depth about their work.

We also have closed up shop early the last day in order to make a trip to Progresso, a popular tourist town in Mexico which is just across the border not far from where we are located.
Because we had to take Becky to the airport late Monday morning, we rearranged our week's schedule. The hale and hearty among us had breakfast at Denny's with David, took Becky to the airport, then headed for Progresso, primarily to buy vanilla. Mexican vanilla is very cheap and very good, and friends look forward to our coming home with bottles to share.

Dinner at the Golden Corral Cafeteria and another stop at Wal*Mart rounded out the day. We look forward to our last two days which will be spent with all the women and children of the church who are able to come to work on various craft projects. These will be very busy days!

We also will begin work on a project requested by Pastor Tony—banners for the church. We're not sure what happened to the felt banners we made several years ago, but he requested that we not use material that would get damp and stick to the wall, so we suspect that's what happened with the first ones. We'll line the backs of these in order to eliminate that problem. He's given us a list of words to put on them, such as love, forgiveness, and mercy. If we can't finish them before we leave, the Mexican women will be able to complete the project.

Sunday's Time Line

2007-02-12T00:58:00.000-05:00

(Point of clarification--given the long days, sometimes news isn't posted until after midnight which means the computer-generated day and date are not accurate. The Storm... post was for Saturday, 2/10. This one is for Sunday, 2/11.)

9:00 am: Breakfast in the Day's Inn breakfast room. Joyce and Millie eat almost nothing because their stomachs don't feel like they will welcome anything.

9:45 am: Stop at the local gas/convenience store for lunch supplies.

10:30 am: Arrive at 1st Presbyterian Church in Reynosa. The clown cast, including Dick, get into full costume, and Becky applies make-up. Everyone is excited about how great the costumes look thanks to the Four Seamstresses and Hat Decorator Ginny.

11:00 am: Frank practices the hymns he will accompany during the service. The regular pianist is no longer in the area, so they welcome having the piano for the five hymns they sing (all verses) before the service begins—in contrast to Covenant's “sprinkling” the hymns throughout the service.

11:45 am: The clowns do one skit, and the congregation responds enthusiastically. Not mentioned before is the fact that the clown cast spans three generations—from a 7 year old to her grandmother, one of the most lively of the cast! This is Becky's first multi-generational clown cast, and she's excited about how well it works.

12:30 pm: The service ends, and the team (minus Millie and Joyce who still are not feeling well) walk an incredibly muddy 10 blocks to the lot where the flea market provides a stage for their skits. Once again, they are well received and Becky and the cast hand out all 80 of the colorful bracelets she uses to illustrate the steps to salvation and eternity with God and distributes tracts inviting people to church.

3:00 pm: The team and the clowns return to the church with shoes covered with mud. Frank and Ramon go for fried chicken for all for a late lunch.

4:30 pm: Alfredo, pastor of the church in Naranjito, another of Faith Ministry's churches, arrives to help transport people to his church for a worship service that includes the clown skits.

6:30 pm: Everyone returns to 1st Presbyterian and the clowns, especially ,look thoroughly worn out. Becky reports that the women talked about ways they and the children could continue to use clowning in the church and community. (Now that's an answer to prayer!!)
A side comment: we learn that one of the 7 year olds, who went with her friend to Naranjito, had never before ridden in a car! What a ride for her first one with the rough roads and many kids bouncing in the back!

7:00 pm: The team piles into the van for the return trip to McAllen. Since Joyce (who rides in a third row seat) and Millie (who rides in the front passenger seat) have “emptied” their stomachs several times during the day, they carry with them 13 gallon bags because smaller ones are not available. Dick, who sits in the second row of seats next to the sliding door, is not in costume, but still wears his clown make-up.

8:00 pm: Nearing the end of an almost two hour traffic tie-up to cross the border, Millie loses what's left in her stomach—fortunately into the trash bag. We wonder what to say if Border Patrol asks what's in the bag.

8:30 pm: We finally reach Border Patrol who asks if we are US citizens. We respond, “Yes.” He then spies Millie's bag and asks what's in it. We all laugh, and Barbara explains that she had gotten sick. “I'm sorry to hear that,” he sympathetically responds, and then asks us to open the sliding door. When he walks around he looks in almost at eye-level with Dick, complete with clown make-up. He laughs, shakes his head and asks himself, “Why did I ask you to open the door?” You probably had to be there, but we laugh off and on for miles.

9:00 pm: Arrive back at the motel. Order pizza for those interested (and able), decide to skip devotions tonight and double up tomorrow night. Frank scrubs his very muddy sneakers in the sink using his hairbrush to get into the tough places. “The mud will wash off the brush,” he says. Joyce simply agrees.

After a 12 hour day with no real breaks, lots of laughter, lots of wonder at the power of clowning, especially under the enthusiastic direction of Becky, we are absolutely amazed at how God works His will in spite of mud, upset stomachs, tie-ups at the border, and an adventure in which one never knows for sure what's around the next corner.

Storms, Stitches, and Skits

2007-02-11T01:08:00.000-05:00

The team—along with the near world—was abruptly awakened this morning at 5:30 by a LOUD clap of thunder and a heavy downpour. The thunder sounds quite different here in McAllen, TX, probably because the land is almost absolutely flat for many miles around. That may explain why most of us were up for breakfast a bit earlier than usual. We were off to Mexico at 8:15 am, and Joyce made a call to Roman (Ro-mahn), the bi-lingual young man who is a jack-of-all-trades for Faith Ministry, doing everything from translating for visiting mission teams to escorting teams through the jungle of streets in Reynosa when necessary.

We definitely needed an escort this morning, because, with the heavy rain (which, fortunately, stopped by the time we left), we knew streets on our usual journey would be hub deep in mud. Roman met us at a shopping center not far from the edge of the city, and led us safely on a zigzag trip to the church. We are fortunate to have two team members, Ginny and Millie, who have GPS-type brains and who, at the end of the day, were able to reverse the itinerary and get us back to McAllen.

At this time, we should cite Barbara for service above and beyond the call of duty in driving our 12 passenger van through streets that are narrow and extremely rough. She maneuvered narrow streets jam-packed with cars who were also unable to take their usual routes, and never lost her cool. Three cheers for Barbara!!

Shortly after our arrival, all four sewing machines (two donated last year, two this year) were racing up and down the seams of nine very colorful clown pants. Pat and Barbara were matched stitch for stitch by two of the Mexican seamstresses, and the pants were completed by the end of the day. When coupled with colorful tee shirts decorated with fabric paint, red wigs and brightly decorated derby-shaped hats, everyone had broad smiles, and excitement mounted for tomorrow's clown skits which had a final round of rehearsals today.

The day ended with the purchase of some craft items at Michael's, dinner, devotions, and a return to our separate rooms for the night.

Send in the clowns!

2007-02-09T23:23:00.000-05:00

Last night, Thursday, the flyers, Pat, Barbara, Millie, Becky, Dick and Ginny, arrived at the motel about 7:30. The team got together to discuss travel events of the day, plans for Friday, and had devotions led by Becky. Everyone was exhausted, so we didn't linger long.

Friday morning, everyone was up and ready to leave the motel at 8:15. Pastor Tony had said only 3 women were interested in clowning, and they were there waiting for us when we arrived. Ideally, Becky needs 9 to fill all the parts in her clown skits. Hmmm...

By 9:45, four more women arrived plus 2 children. Bingo!!

It was wonderful to watch 9 very serious, not-quite-sure-what's- going-to-happen faces begin to smile, then laugh, and finally to see everyone joyously flapping their arms like a chicken, pretending to fly, and generally having a great time. Dick joined in the skits much to the delight of everyone. Within two hours, Becky had taught them five short clown skits that illustrated the good news of the Gospel.

The rest of the team, plus a few more volunteers who showed up, began making clown costumes while Millie and Frank worked at the new Medical Center.

After lunch, the team attended a praise service along with another mission team of about 25 people from Raleigh, NC who had just completed building a house (12' X 24') for a family in the area. The new house was dedicated in a service that included enthusiastic singing and a message from the minister of the church in that area. Wish you could have been there!

Stopped at Wal*Mart on the way home. (It's almost a tradtion at this point!) Where else could you buy a two-burner hot plate (a donation by one of the team members to the Medical Clinic), grapes, ModPodge, tissue paper, tee shirts, and Q-tips.

Had supper at a nearby Golden Corral cafeteria with good food and reasonable prices. Back to the motel for planning, devotions, and final preparations for tomorrow. Once again--we're exhausted, not quite sure what tomorrow will hold, but have a deep sense of satisfaction with the day's work.