Only 2 Days Left

Where has the month of February gone? We had looked forward to getting out of Indiana and starting work. Now, the month is nearly gone and it has gone very quickly. Tuesday is our last working day at Blue Springs Conference Center.

This has been a very predictable month for our work. What we were doing on the first day, it appears that we will doing on the last day. The men have painted the whole project the interior of a dorm, painted and hung numerous doors and, to finish, will be painting some overhang on another dorm. The women have done room cleaning, laundry etc the whole month long. Since they had a small group of guests here this past weekend we will probably have that to do again the next couple of days. They currently have no paid staff to do housecleaning and it is all volunteer at this point.

Since we have experienced a very cool month in northern Florida (yes, we have been told Indiana is worse!), we haven’t spent as much time outside interacting with other members of our team. However, for the first time since we have joined RVICS, we will be moving to our next project with the exact same couples that are now a part of this team. One member of our group lost her sister this past week. They left early but will be rejoining us soon. It will be hard to say goodbye to the COM group that we will leave behind also. We have joined together for some of our activities and the women have worked have all worked together daily. One of the COM ladies commented that it was going to be lonely around here when RVICS left.

One of the great bonuses of doing what we do are the people that we meet along the way. Roberto is one of those people. For the past 8 years he has done maintenance at the camp. We had kind of gotten to know him but last night he and his wife invited all 16 of us into their very small house for a sit down meal. What great people they are with a huge testimony---growing up in Porto Rico with drugs, witchcraft etc--- and to be the outstanding Christians they are today is a miracle! In fact, with the exception of one brother the whole extended family are Christians. We’d have to say that was one of the high lights of our time at this camp.

It always hard to move to a new location but we have new and exciting adventures ahead. On Thursday, we will pulling out of Florida and heading north about 250 miles to Shocco Springs Conference Center in Talladega, Alabama.

Thanks again for your prayers.

Paint & Clean

Paint, paint paint and clean, clean, clean. We can put a ditto mark under the work that we did in week one to show our duties for week two. However, one day Sharon (in addition to the cleaning) did do some kitchen duty while Don pushed the vacuum around the dining room. These jobs are what is needed at this time. We aren’t complaining because this is what we came can to do---whatever is needed.

The weather finally has gotten more Florida like. It was good to get outside and enjoy some of the sunshine in our off hours. As we are out more, we spend less time in our RVs and get to know the others in the group better. That is always one of the highlights of doing these projects. We have our scheduled social night and Bible study nights but yesterday one of the special things we did was play games and eat real (yes, with real lemons from Florida) pie. Delicious and fun!

In addition to RVICS, Campers on a Mission have 4 (now 3 couples) that are volunteering here too. Once again, they represent the different states of North Carolina, Missouri and Pennsylvania. Our devotions in the morning are done with these couples. We have found it good to work with the individuals from the different groups. Our objectives are always the same. Plus, here in Blue Springs we could not do all the work that needs to be done with just the 6 couples in our group!

This week has flown by. Can we be this deep into February? We are looking forward to the coming week. Thanks again for remembering us.

Our Team

Once again we are with a great team of RVICS that represent 5 different states from left to right Michigan, New York, Indiana, Pennsylvania and Tennessee. When we arrived we met 4 new couples that we never knew before. It is great.

Just Like Home

The first week here at Blue Springs Conference Center flew by. I guess that we are having fun!! There wasn’t the great variety of work that we sometimes find on projects but we certainly are benefiting the center. Since times are hard, the non-profit organizations sometimes are the first to be cut from giving. That is true here. The conference center was notified this week that the whole budge for the Florida Baptists has been cut $4 million. Therefore, they have a very limited staff at this time.

Sharon and the ladies have been working housekeeping this past week. She is totally experienced since she has been doing it most of her lifetime. All the housekeeping staff (at the present) is volunteers. Since they had 200 Fellowship of Christian Athletes here this past weekend, the same work will be there this morning. Don and the men have painting all week long. They are making progress and will probably finish the building sometime this week.

This past week was extremely cold here with a low of 22 degrees one morning. We had hoped that we had left all of that kind of “stuff” when we left Indiana. However, by the end of the week, we were no longer freezing and were actually able to build a campfire one afternoon/evening and enjoyed some time outside.

Yesterday, we ended (or would it be began) our week with a visit to a church we will never forget. The Dothan Community Church (Alabama) is a place that RVICS have worked on for 3 different projects and we have heard that it is a special place. We can verify that it is. Dr. W. Charles Lewis (black man) after graduating from DTS felt the call to begin a new church in this town and asked a fellow graduate, Chester McFarland a white man, to join him in this venture. This church is definitely alive and growing. We were welcomed like we have never had a welcome before.

Thank you for thinking of us this past week. Please continue to do so.

RVICS in the Wintertime

After a winter of ice and snow and cold, we are now at our new RVICS project in Marianna, Florida, at Blue Springs Baptist Conference Center. You might think that February in Florida means warmth and sunshine, we can say that is only about a half truth. Since we have arrived, we have had beautiful clear, blue skies for the most part but it isn’t totally warm yet. Still better than Hartford City, Indiana. We were very concerned about being able to drive the RV out with ice on the ground. However, the 2 days before we decided to head out, the sun came out and it got to around 40 degrees. Most of the snow and ice came off the RV with a little help from Don. He got on top and threw the last ½ inch of ice off to the ground. We had a very nice, safe drive south and just missed the terrible ice and snow storm that just went through the south by a couple of days.

We are still learning about this conference center that we will call home for the next month. On this particular project we are from five different states---New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Michigan and, of course, Indiana. This is the first time that we have worked with any of these couples. In addition, to the RVICS, Campers on a Mission have 4 couples volunteering here also.

Already we know that we have wonderful couples to work with. We are the “youngins”. Today, we started our official work. The ladies cleaned and did laundry At this time, I don’t believe they have paid staff to do this work but are dependent on volunteers. The men are painting and doing some chair rail. On Wednesday, a shipment of doors are to arrive that will need finishing and then will be hung.

Please pray with us as we do our work -----for safety and health. We are aware that some of the older ones of the group have limited physical function in some areas due to their health.

On Top of Old Smoky

Work is progressing quickly. This past week the men completed a sewer line from a house straight down (literally) a hill. There are now 3 new lights around the chapel. Building no. 1 is now demolished and the second building is now almost down. One group of ladies is still cleaning chairs. They have figured there are over 700 chairs in the chapel---they have a few to go. Sharon and another lady are still working on the walls and painting the room for the cleaning ladies’ office etc.

On Tuesday night, our group made a large campfire (yes, it was needed!) and got the hot dogs and all the fixings out. Delicious. On Friday night the director of the camp invited the group to his home for a spaghetti supper.

One of the highlights of the week was our tour of Bush Brothers factory nearby where the Bush Beans are canned. In fact, Ball Brothers has a can factory right out the back door that sends the cans to Bush Brothers. It was very interesting hearing the story of this family. Included was a tour of the family home that was built a hundred years ago but had been totally renovated. The company is still family owned. Jed Bush is a fourth generation member. Duke (in all their ads) is now the fourth one being used and is the first male Duke. Yes, we did bring home beans and some chili!

The leaves are getting more and more color to them daily. Today, the everything is crystal clear. Gaylene Holloway and I had been looking at the mountain behind our RVs since we have been here. This afternoon we climbed it! It took a little bit of time since it was a steep grade. There is a rustic camp at the top that goes with Carson Springs. It was more than worth the trip the climb.

It seems almost impossible that we are moving deep into October. Please continue to remember us in prayer.

PS from UP of Michigan

We recently received a picture of Piatt Lake in the UP of Michigan where we served in September from (believe it or not) from a friend from Upland, IN. If you look on the right hand side of the lake there is a beach. Our RVs sat not too far from that location. Isn't it beautiful in the fall? At the top of the picture is Lake Superior and, if you look closely, Canada can be seen at the very top just under the clouds.