Wednesday, March 09, 2011
First of all, I would like to give a shout-out to my mom, Kathy, who is most assuredly a faithful reader of this blog. Thanks, Mom! J
This morning started off with an early wake-up call, 3:30 AM early. We headed to the mission to cook and serve breakfast. Don (AKA – Mr. Monopoly, Pops, or Donathon), being the kitchen expert that he is, finalized the menu and handed out the tasks. We decided to serve pancakes, scrambled eggs, sausage, hashbrowns, biscuits, muffins, cereal, fruit, coffee, etc. Let’s just say it was a breakfast fit for champions (minus the wheaties). Some of the residents, Kevin and Travis in particular, helped us figure out where ingredients and other supplies were. It was great to spend time “behind the scenes,” learning about some of the day-to-day operations of the mission. The residents seemed to enjoy the food and were appreciative of our hard work and sleep-deprivation.
After breakfast, we headed to men’s chapel. We sang a few songs, read some Scripture, and Josh gave his testimony. Then we found ourselves with about forty minutes of time before women’s chapel. What were a bunch of college kids to do with a piano and some hymnals but have a good, old-fashioned hymn sing! Luanne played the piano and we gathered around, shouted out hymn numbers, and sang to our hearts’ content with all sorts of creative harmonies. I must say it was my favorite part of the day. I enjoyed praising the Lord together with songs we don’t sing nearly often enough.
Women’s chapel was up next. Again, we sang some songs and had a testimony, this time by Becca. She shared some of her struggles and read Bible verses that have helped her. We ended the service by standing in a circle, holding hands, taking song requests from the women.
Then we headed to nearby Greenville for a tour of some other Miracle Hill sites. Led by Jim and Frankie, people in development for Miracle Hill, we toured the administrative offices, Shepherd’s Gate (women’s facility), Overcomers (men’s facility), and Renewal (women’s facility). Shepherd’s gate is much like the site here in Spartanburg. Overcomers and Renewal are places for people with addictions. Men and women are placed for 6-7 months in the programs at these facilities and taught how to live in healthy ways. I found it interesting that Miracle Hill has a 75% success rate at these sites. A person is considered a success if, one year after leaving Miracle Hill’s care, they are still free from their additions. We also toured a food distribution place, where 25 families a day can come and receive food for two weeks. We also did a bit of shopping at one of the thrift stores run by Miracle Hill. A few people in the group bought some books for some reading during our travels.
By this point in the day, we had a 45 minute drive back to Spartanburg and we were exhausted, having been up since 3:30 AM. Don and Luanne stayed awake, but the rest of us dozed off on the way back to Abner. We were less than coherent when we arrived, so we took a couple hours to nap and process the day. We had a fend-for-yourself kind of dinner, scrounging up whatever food was available at the church. Most of us had an ultra-nutritious meal filled with Lunchables, Spaghetti-o’s, ravioli, oatmeal, or cereal.
After dinner we headed to nearby Barnes and Nobles to get internet access to post the blog you are reading right now. We spent nearly an hour wondering through the shelves and books, enjoying the solitude. Next, we felt some ice cream was in order. We got to Dairy Queen 10 minutes before it closed, but the workers were gracious enough to serve us anyway. A spontaneous game of telephone and group devotions and talk time topped off the evening.
Well, I guess that concludes this blog post. Thanks for reading all the way to the end of this! We are excited to see what God has in store for us tomorrow as we head to another Miracle Hill facility in Gaffney to eat with the residents and share in chapel. God has been as faithful as ever on this trip so far. He has blessed us in countless ways and revealed Himself to us in the lives of His people.
May He become greater and we become less,
Abby Korthals
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Another awesome day here in the Upstate! We slept in and headed to the shelter around 9am. The girls went to Bible study while the guys hung out with Mr. Calvin. Then the guys had some pretty tasty coffee with chocolate flavored creamer. Josh is becoming quite the coffee drinker. Around 9:30 the guys headed outside and began organizing the shed. The girls worked on the women’s side scrubbing floors.
I love Josh and Don. We had so much fun organizing the shed. One of the guys at the shelter, Tracey, had finished building shelves that I helped him with on Wednesday. Josh and Don teased me all morning, so when I wasn’t sneezing from the dust I was laughing my head off. They called me a sexist. Hahaha. (Long story.) We stacked boxes of sheets, lots and lots of sheets. After we had found a place for everything and put everything in its place, we skipped inside to eat food of the gods. After lunch we had debriefing session with Kamran. He talked to us about the ministry and shared with us some of his vision of ministry. After that we came back to the gym and got some stuff, including our SSP shirts, and met up with Miss Cindy.
We then headed out to Gaffney, which is about a half hour from Spartenburg. When we arrived we were given a tour. We then broke into three groups. I went with Josh and Don to wash vehicles. We washed and vacuumed two vans. When we finished it was time for supper. After supper we helped clean and set up for chapel. During chapel we sang several hymns with Luanne on the piano and Josh on the guitar. Abby spoke of about how God has worked and is working in her life and the different struggeles God has led her through. On the way back we had a Chinese fire drill at a stoplight with Miss Cindy!! We made it back into the van just in time.
After we returned to Spartanburg and said goodnight to Miss Cindy we headed to BK for an evening snack Mamma Bear and Pops bought us kids meal toys! We had an awesome day serving and loving the homeless and each other.
By
Andrew James Schneider
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Wow, I cannot believe it is Saturday already… Can we please rewind? Oh, but time passes and there is nothing we can do about it. Let me fill you in on some of the time we’ve passed…
Each morning we leave later than we plan (and us womenfolk take no pains in reminding the boys that they are usually the last ones in the van). The ladies have been enjoying the speakers in the women’s chapel while the men are put to work. We actually had the pleasure of watching them haul boxes and other large items outdoors. Andrew and Don had their arms full while Josh carried some small object in his right hand. I’m so proud of our guys. (:
Games and laughter usually fill any down time we have. There have been a couple of times when everyone’s been so exhausted that we just crash; however, there is usually someone up and at it. One of the games we’ve enjoyed is telephone—usually the end message is completely different than the beginning because someone finds it necessary to change the message (it usually is changed to some inside joke we’ve created). Another game we have enjoyed is telepictionary. It’s telephone and pictionary combined. The game creates story lines that are usually off-the-wall and really funny.
Perhaps one of the best games we’ve played is the spoon game. Now, some of you may not know how the game goes, some of you do (the ones who were fortunate enough to have seen Extreme Days). Alyssa and I have seen the game done before, so we were ready to take on a challenger. Joshua Judges went many rounds against Amanda and myself, but it took him quite a while to get the “strategy” of the game. I don’t want to describe it all, but pretty much the beginner in the game gets a pretty bump on the back of his/her head.
Any team that wants to seal the unity and bonds they’ve created has a handshake, right? You see it in movies, on Youtube, in real life. Well, our team has created our own. If you’re lucky maybe we can play the spoon game and show you the handshake. (: Then you can experience Teslaa. No, not the guy that Edison stole the idea of electricity from. No, not the band. Not the girl who used to live in Fern. Teslaa is the name of our tribal hand routine. It’s a tradition that will now be kept with any trip Don & Luanne lead.
Of course we’ve had fun with each other, but we have had some pretty good times with the residents of MHM and the staff. We’ve laughed and shared jokes with Chef Peter, saw the meaning of big hair in a picture of Calvin, ran a Chinese fire drill with Miss Cindy, and countless other small jokes with the people we’ve met. Perhaps sometime someone will write about Maxine and Iyanna (I don’t know how to spell her name) and the joy they have together. As for me, I think you’ve heard enough from me.
Today we are venturing out into Greenville with Uncle Dan and a couple from his church. All we know is that a picnic will be involved and sometime in the afternoon we’ll be eating ice cream from the Marble Slab. Oh, and that the temperature is supposed to be near 70 degrees! (: I am looking forwardto this day and just enjoying the sun, but it is sad when I think that we won’t see our buds up at MHM for two days. Please, if you think about it, pray for them. They are more than friends, some of them have become our brothers and sisters.
Yours truly,
Charissa
Did you know that you have an incredibly powerful story for the kingdom of God? You have a chapter in God’s big chapter book. To you, your story may seem boring, insignificant or maybe painfully hard to share. But to those hearing the story of Christ in you, it just might be exactly the hope, encouragment and affirmation they are reaching for in Christ. I have learned your story is imporant and valuable to the Kingdom of God, for even more than it is your story it is God’s story.
All week we have been sharing our stories and been hearing other peoples stories. I can’t help but think about what the apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 2:1-5, which says “when I came to you, brothers, I did not come to you with eloquence of superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest of men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.” This has been lived out in our team this week and God has been glorified through and through.
You are a living, breathing, moving testimony of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. What does your story say? Take some time and share it with those around you; at school, home, work, pumping gas at the gas station. Your story is part of a much GREATER story that deserves to be shared with those around you, ALL FOR THE GLORY OF CHRIST!
Your sister,
Alyssa
