The ReCreation mission team:
| Youth Participants
Eric Bruck Meredith Cherry Allison Copeland Alex Emmons Caitlyn Ford |
Jenna Howe
Michael Mangano Emily Manno Laura Manno Michelle Moore Harold Platenkamp |
Martha Platenkamp
Hannah Root Caroline Sentlinger Christine Sentlinger Colin Underwood Abby Youngen |
Chaperones
Frank Ford Katie Sentlinger James Williams Jay Williams Wendy Williams |
This week’s theme is Releasing the Spirit…please pray for the twenty-two individuals leaving before the sun comes up (yes that is 5:30 am)!
The four vehicles are filled to the brim with more sleeping bags than I could count. The star goes to the Manno ladies
in that they are sharing one suitcase…we will see how that works out as the week goes on.
Thank you all for your spirit in supporting youth and adults alike in this mission.
The St. George’s UMYF ReCreation Family!!!!
We are here and awaiting dinner and our assignment!
The morning starts at 6:15 am with a gentle wake-up call (ok the girls get hugs and the guys get Jay’s famous speech! – that brought the
whole room to attention – including the guys from Johnson UMC out of TN). We had breakfast clean-up and the
newbies learned well from the masters and we were told that it was the fastest any group had done it so far this year.
Worship saw the St. George’s crew taking the front row, yes Pastor Denise if you want those front rows filled each Sunday target the youth :).
We saw all of our group "Jumping in the House of the Lord", and High-Fiving each other to show it is my time to be blessed.
Now down to the worksite…we have but one task this year…dig a septic tank!!! What an amazing site to see the crew all in a row with
shovels uncovering very hard (it hasn’t rained for a month), red dirt down 18 inches and across 254 ft. A smaller crew got the
distinction of uncovering the old septic tank that has started to leak and needs to be emptied. We are helping Glenna who at 68 finds
herself administering to her 83 year old husband with Alzheimer’s. He has been in a state of decline for 5 years now and she hasn’t left his side.
We are anxiously awaiting chicken and mashed potatoes tonight and then YES our first trip to Wal-Mart. Ask Suspender’s Mangano why we are going.
We are Releasing the Spirit one house, one home, one person at a time.
The St. George’s UMYF ReCreation Family
The night saw a few of our guys waking up at 2:00 am to the feel of rain pouring in the window… some took appropriate
actions by closing the windows where others decided that was too much work and just hunkered down into their sleeping bag a
little more.
So Tuesday morning at 6:15 am was just that much harder to awaken too…A bunch of tired a little sore and very glad
individuals woke to the smell of french toast. Worship service was all about the element of Shalom “presence” – a peace that
passes over all understanding. The learning of not being separated by things you cannot understand but to truly let it go and live in it.
God was with us in that the rain did little damage to our worksite. The one issue we had was the “professional crew” that came to
clean-out the old septic tank, in fact, broke one of the doors and we spent most of the day waiting for a replacement. To that end
we weren’t able to fill that hole back in. Instead we were able to complete one row of the septic pipeline and have actually filled
it back in. We have one more line to go. We are also going to ease Glenna’s pain from having to manage some very high and dangerous
steps off of her front porch. We will be replacing them with ones that are the right wide, depth and have a handrail. As much as this
group has accomplished in a short time there is still much to be done.
Tonight we have a date with George to play some new games…that is after our first official trip to Tasty Freeze.
We are Releasing the Spirit one house, one person at a time.
The SG UMYF ReCreation Family
To say it was a typical day off would not be the truth. Each year’s Wednesday might follow the same pattern – worship,
Krispy Kreme, Lake Junaluska (pool, paddle boats, lunch, labyrinth walk) and famous Appleby’s dinner! But due to the
mix of youth that attend we learn something new and share such an experience that it truly feels like the first time.
The weather was a little cool and rainy all day but that didn’t stop a rousing game of Marco Polo in the pool, the 22 of us
walking the Labyrinth together and then of course it is “loaded mashed potatoes time” at Appleby’s. We have recharged our
batteries to begin again a new for tomorrow. We are hoping that the rains predicted for the next few days won’t slow us down…we
want to say at the end of Friday – WE ARE DONE!!!
We are anxious to get back to see if Glenna missed all the chattering, the singing and the good natured joking for eight
straight hours out in her yard! It is lights out at 11:00 pm tonight and I am sure no one will grumble.
We are blessed to have had such a day and looking forward to tomorrow.
One house, one life at a time.
The St. George’s UMYF ReCreation Family
As we expected Thursday saw us getting off to a slow start. Part of the reason is that three out of the seven churches
participating in ReCreation this week were only ½ weekers, which means they left today. Therefore, we had a mini-Friday
night service to see those off safely. We saw a picture montage of this week’s efforts, and yes action figure Jesus leading
the St. George’s way was prominently displayed.
Today the sermon was all about attitude reflecting leadership. Is it all about me? Should it be all about me? Jesus’ simple
act of washing someone’s feet shows us it is and never shall be all about me. It is about given so much of ourselves without
want that we give freely. We were challenged today to stop and wash someone’s feet just as Jesus did with wiping away the dirt with
the tail of our shirts. Words cannot describe the picture of a group of kids sitting on the porch as others washed their feet, but
the greatest moment was when one asked Glenna if she could wash her feet. Glenna said…”What is this all about” and the reply was “As
Jesus did to his disciples to show love I wish to share that with you”. Pretty humbling moment for all involved.
The work was harder than we expected today. The weather has not been cooperating and as such it rained hard off and on all day. The
team worked tirelessly and got the second of the two pipelines done…254 feet, 18 inches deep – three days…not bad. We ask for
prayers tonight that the rain stops and the sun comes out tomorrow. As our last project is to make a smaller path from the septic tank
to the new pipes…but due to the poor ground conditions this effort might make us come up short of the week’s goal – FINISHING THE JOB.
We also have a crew that started tearing down the old steps and the lumber for new is here. Glenna keeps coming over and saying “You
are really going to give me stairs I can use?” That is our mission!
Tonight saw this group going back and visiting a long time friend who was once our client. Guy and Peggy Vaughn have formed a
relationship with Wendy that goes beyond the week spent fixing their house. Tonight the group embraced them and called them their
extended ReCreation family…although only about three in the group can claim to have worked or even known who these people are…but
because someone ministered to them in past years they instantly became “one of us.”
So now it is a rousing game of Four Square and YES the guys are finally getting their nails painted! Lights out at 11:00 pm and
I am sure the sound of the alarms at 6:15 am will bring both excitement and a few groans.
One house, one life at a time.
The St. George’s UMYF ReCreation Family
As is the new tradition here the Friday morning service is turned into a Friday night send-off so we were all ready to leave for the
site by 7:30 AM. Now I am sure many are wondering why I am writing this message at 3:30 pm on Friday…well the weather did not cooperate with
us at all today. To say it rained would be an understatement. A group of real troopers helped finish the two pipelines already started,
some dug out the valve access for the current septic tank and another did a phenomenal job on putting in new stairs. Unfortunately the
majority of us sat on the porch singing songs and chatting with Ms. Glenna. Not that it wasn’t a good time but very frustrating for us
in that we had to leave the pipeline from the septic tank to our work for the ReCreation Staff to finish next week. The staff could not
have been more pleased in the way the team pulled together to get done what needed to be done , maintain the down time and still maintain
such a positive, Christian spirit. Ms. Glenna had tears in her eyes to say she will always remember the true Christian youth that worked
on her house…in this world of kids making such bad other choices this week’s crew left tears in her eyes. And guess what, in given the
choice between returning to the site and having “some time off” or doing work around the facility to help them get ready for year end, you
guessed it the crew decided to work some more within the facility itself. We worked in cleaning out the “tool shed” and laundry room. As
we have dinner clean-up we were also asked to help set-up for dinner – no problem. We believe we will still be done in time to be first
to the showers – which means they will be HOT!!!!
We have had an awesome week and look forward to sharing more stories and special moments with the congregation on Sunday!
One house, one life at a time.
The St. George’s UMYF ReCreation Family
St. George's United Methodist Church ~ 4910 Ox Rd., Fairfax VA 22030 ~ 703-385-4550