Welcome 2013

Christmas is past and a New Year has arrived.   Once again, we begin another calendar year with RVICS.   The New Year's Day found us picking up our RV where we had stashed it a month before and headed for the comfort of the southern US.   No, it wasn't hard to say good bye to the cold and piles of snow of Indiana.

January 2013 finds us in Lakeland, Florida, at the Florida Baptist Children's Home.   This is our second time to work here.    We have found this place to be an unbelievable ministry to hundreds, if not thousands, in the area.   As the name implies, this is a home for children who have been found in difficult home situations.   On campus, they live with a family in a home and function as a normal family would with public school, school activities, church, etc.   In addition, this has become a huge distribution center for donated  food and other items to other Christian agencies across the area.   They are truly the feet of Jesus.

Our RVICS group for the month consists of 5 couples representing Pennsylvania, Iowa, West Virginia and 2 of us from Indiana.   As always, we were excited to meet new faces and old friends.   In this case, half were new friends and half have become "old" friends.   After worshiping, working and playing together for a week, this is a great group!

We hit the road running last Monday and much was accomplished.   The ladies worked in 2 different locations.   One set worked in the pantry, dating, sorting and rearranging items plus sorting a half dozen large, chest freezers.   The other group sorted and put away items in the 2 story donation center.   Even though there are a few other items on our "to do" list, much of our time will be spent in these 2 areas the next few weeks.

When we arrived the Christmas decorations were everywhere on campus.   The first full day was spent undecorating everything and storing them away for next year.   The next 3 days the men found muscles they never wanted to know they had, tearing out an old, broken sidewalk.   A tractor for hauling away the broken concrete, sledge hammer and large pry bar were the tools used.    After some feet, it was found that some of the concrete was a foot thick.   A jackhammer had to be rented to help!    All of this was done in record high temperatures of 80+ for the week!   The good news is the old sidewalk is now gone.   This week the forms will be built for a new walk and new cement will be poured.

It is good to see progress and know that we make a difference.   This week, we will do it all over again.