Still Traveling North

This was another good day of travel. We started north out of Pueblo early this morning and are now in Rock Spring, Wyoming.

Since our travels today were in areas that we have already been too and seen, we went off the beaten path (translation interstate). When we got to Denver we headed west on US 40 and saw some beautiful mountain scenery that (we think) rivaled the Rocky Mountain National Park. There was a lookout at 11,500 feet and it was spectular. We met a couple of young men from Oklahoma and Texas (flat land USA) that had ridden their bicyles up the mountain from Winter Park. They asked to have their pictures taken. They then took our pictures and said we could use their bikes to make people think we had ridden up---yeah, sure!!!

Where drilling for oil products is permitted, they are working hard at putting down new wells---oil and natural gas (we think). In Wyoming it appears that the wells are almost on top of one another. We don't see sights like this back home.

Tomorrow, we are heading north again to the Tetons and Yellowstone. Since the daylight hours are long, we will probably leave early in the morning.

We're on Vacation!!

Around 8 this morning, we bid Kim, Chris, Luke, Hannah & Drew goodbye. What a wonderful, hard working week we had with all of them!! It was hard to leave but we now have much to look forward too.

As we left Wichita, it was foggy and the fog just got worse for about an hour or so until in spots it was near zero. However, when the sun did shine, we were almost immediately met with 100+ temperatures. Most of the afternoon it was 101-105. The skies were perfectly blue and for about half the distance the grass etc was green. Now, everything is nice brown color but that might be normal for this time of the year.

We are now in Pueblo, Colorado, for the night after driving 434 miles today. Oh, the sights that we saw----fields of cotton, soybeans, corn, milo, vegetables of all kinds but particularly onions; oil wells; pheasant "farms"; huge beef factories; lots of beef cattle feeding lots (maybe not quite as many cows as in the past) and horses. One of the saddest places of Greensburg, Kansas. This is the town that was almost totally destroyed by a tornado with some deaths probably more than year ago. What wasn't newly built there was gone. The places where buildings had stood was mostly all that was left. We drove past the "hospital" which was only FEMA trailers plus tents with a red cross painted on the top.

What time is it---our bodies don't know. We gained another hour today when we crossed the Colorado line. We are now 2 hours behind HC time.

Tomorrow is still in the planning stage. Right now, we are thinking we will head north to Wyoming. Our next destination will probably be the Tetons.

Our project at Camp Tracey is now but a memory. We completed our work there on Tuesday afternoon. The men finished putting siding on a fairly large house. As the work progressed, the question was “Will we be able to finish this before we leave?” Prayer kept them safe as they climbed high scaffolds etc. The ladies finished all the work that had been asked of them. On the final day, more pecan pies were made for the students.

Leaving a RVICS project is the hardest thing to do. Over the period of a month lasting friendships are made. We always hope that down the road we will have that privilege of being together again soon. Since (for example) this past project we were from 5 different US states it is hard to visit often.

The “students” became very special to us. We ate with them and heard the stories of their “family” life. It was very hard to listen to because it broke your heart. We became like grandparents to them. Our prayer for them is that they might soon leave this camp and have a normal, stable life.

However, we had much to look forward to in leaving. On Wednesday we drove to Kim’s in Georgia and are now playing with Luke and Hannah! We can’t believe how much they have grown and changed in just a couple of months. Chris is in Hawaii for a few days and probably won’t get home before we leave. Since they are now possibly headed for Wichita in the near future we probably won’t have the opportunity for these stop ins.

Thank you for your prayers and continued support for our work. Right now, we plan on continuing this work beginning in the fall. Miracle Camp is on the list for September and we are hoping to be assigned to that project.

Time Is Flying By

Today is really beginning to feel like summertime in the south! We aren’t complaining because this has actually been a very cool week. However, it is reminder as to how close we are getting to finishing up our work here and beginning the trip north in a couple of weeks.

This week was much like the week before as far as our work is concerned. Don and the men worked hard on putting siding on the house. The house is very crooked which is presenting many problems/decisions. Sharon and the ladies worked on cracking the pecans all week. That project is nearing an end. One day, a couple of the ladies made 10 pecan pies. We shared them with all the campers, staff and all the volunteer workers. We can’t do that very often. Ha!!

The highlight of the week was an ice cream social that all the volunteers put on for the girl campers. We really have fallen in love with these girls. There was much interaction with everyone. The volunteers (RVICS, SOWERS and another volunteer couple) all sang songs to them. In return, the girls sang to us. Everyone thought that it was a success---with ice cream with all the extras you can’t go wrong.

When the campers turn 18 years of age, they have the freedom of leaving on their own. Bradley is an 18 year old that has been here for 5 years and has chosen to stay on. As a gift from him to us, he is washing all the vehicle of all the volunteers here. He is a success story of Camp Tracey.

Thanks for continuing to remember us as we are away.

Another Good Week of Work

Camp Tracey has been our home for a week. Time just continues to fly by. We are thankful to be able to spend this part of winter in Florida. Right now, the weather certainly is much better here than in the northern part of the US. However, it is pouring down rain today with the storms that come with it.

Once again, we had a productive week of work. Sharon spent 2 days of the week tutoring girls at their school. Don and the men are putting vinyl siding on a house. The ladies spent a couple of days cracking pecans. The nuts came from trees on the property. There is, also, a small garden where the students grow a few vegetables for use in the camp.

The RVICS couples love interacting with the students that are here. We are invited to eat lunch and supper with the girls or the boys (they eat separately). In talking with them, their lives are full of broken homes and troubled backgrounds. In talking with a girl yesterday, she calls Camp Tracey her home. An uncle (who adopted her) told her not to come back. It breaks your heart. They are here because of the trouble that they have gotten into. They have entered this camp because the family has sent them here or (in rare cases) a court has sent them. However, the good news is that if they are here for at least a year there is a 90% success rate.

There is an international flavor to this project as there are 2 couples of Canada that are serving here with a different RV mission group. It has been fun getting to know them. The men have worked separately but he ladies have spent a couple days with the RVICS ladies doing the pecans.

Thanks, again, for following our ministry with your prayers.

An Ending and a Beginning

Our Lake Swan project has been completed. This will go down as a favorite. We loved the staff, worked very hard and left the camp in a better physical condition than when we arrived. The electric company had not arrived to bring the power from the pole but that is OK because those that follow will enjoy it. Everyone in the group said that they wanted to work there again in the future.

As is always the case, the hard part of the project is saying goodbye. Larry & Gaylene had to return to Indiana (snow & cold!). Everyone is missing them already. The remaining couples along with us have gone to a new project that we will begin on Monday at Camp Tracey, Glen St. Mary, Florida. Another couple from Michigan have now arrived to make our group 5 couples once again. We worked with them on a Michigan project last year and they are a great addition to this group. In addition to our RVICS group, there are 2 couples here from the SOWERS (Canadian) plus a young couple staying here that do prison ministry. The campsite is full!!

In a future blog I will tell more about this camp as we learn more. Basically, it is a ministry to teens that are one step from jail. (One boy was really interested in our truck---can that be good?) It is a working farm and the kids do all the work etc. Our view from our back window is of cows and barns. We will be eating meals with them (boys and girls are separate) and have already had lunch with 4 boys. We will learn alot, I am sure.

Please continue to pray for us as we work here. Right now, we have no idea what we might be doing but we wish to be useful.

What a Week!

Another week has passed –can that be possible?? Our time here at Lake Swan Camp has flown by before we knew it. We are now down to the last few days here. Tuesday afternoon will be our last work day before we move to a new location.

The electrical work got under way in a big way this week. When it was found a ditch witch couldn’t do the trenches for the electrical lines, a back hoe was brought in. (In this case, bigger was better!) After all the digging, the RV parking lot looked like a huge mine field that had blown up. However, no RVs had to be moved and nothing was hit. RVICS hours were thrown out and the men worked long and HARD days. It was amazing to see all of these old men digging and the other hard work involved. The women (in the afternoons) served them coffee and cookies, moved dug up roots, did misc. help and were the cheering squad for our hubbies. They have alot done but it is unlikely that we will benefit from the final hook up. The ladies continued in their painting etc. The finished walls/rooms make it worth the while.

Yesterday (our tour day) the group traveled 50 miles to THE BEACH (Crescent Beach on the Atlantic). All of us were like teenagers. We had the absolutely most perfect day to do this. We packed lunch, chairs and flew a kite, played bocce ball, picked up sea shells and walked barefoot in the sand!! This week, we played just as hard as we had worked! The sun was out and the temperature was about 80---in February!!!! Oh, did I say, it was perfect?

One of the couples from North Carolina had to go home on Sunday. They found the problem to be related to his back rather than an old hip injury. It was hard to loose one of the group. We are now a group of 10 (5 couples).

Thank you for all your prayers. It was amazing that no one suffered any permanent damage etc. from all that was accomplished.