So it was after the summer that I found out about the Canada trip. Paul Kostner was asking if I was interested in going and I had two questions, one being serious and the other facetious because I already knew the answer. I asked who as in charge and whether we were driving or flying hah. Paul said he was heading it up so I was very eager to go as well as I knew we'd obviously be driving up.
It wasn't long before I found out that I'd be leaving earlier than the rest of the crew with Dave Charron, Lasta and Dorci. Lasta and Dorci are Indonesian staff serving in Canada and Dave Charron is one of our Canadian representatives from the Ontario base which is being moved). We were leaving early so we could take a load of things in the trailer from the Windsor base and meet the rest of the group leaving the following Monday in Woodstock (near Chicago). We were going to be taking this old Chevy conversion van (basically was like a little mobile camper in the back) but it needed a lot of work before we could go.
So we finally think we're ready, I guess it was the Thursday before the rest of the crew. Dave drove first so he could feel out the van because we didn't even have time to give it a proper road test. Then again, I suppose we did have "time" because we only ended up making it to Titusville (45 mins ish north) before the waterpump gave out and stopped cooling the radiator. We were able to go some back ways back to TMI so it wouldn't overheat. We spent the whole next day fixing the van and left again the following evening.
Things were finally starting to go well and we were making headway. Then, we hit Tennessee and the mountains were really not good for that old van lol. We pulled in to get gas and then the sucker wouldn't start up again. I suppose it was a blessing that it didn't break down on the interstate and that God allowed it to get us to a "convenient" place to break down, if there is such a thing heh. It was the fuel injector/line/something or other. The gas was there but it couldn't be taken to the engine. Anyhow...there we were, right off of I-75 in little old Jellico, Tennessee...not a spit's flight from Kentucky lol. Go ahead, look it up on a map....it's seriously right on the border.
Anyways, it was Saturday evening at this point and no tow truck was gonna make a weekend call in this little town. We inquired at the gas station and called around but really got ahold of no one despite some help. It was really just a God thing because it got us in contact with W.H. Bolwin. It's W.H. who pretty much "own's" the town. In fact, it was his gas station we broke down at, which his son runs, and the one next door...which his daughter runs. He was also the town sheriff and owned about 40% of the property in Jellico and some of the mountainous land around. Anyways, he had a wrecker truck which he volunteered to take the van to the nearest mechanic to have it worked on first thing Monday...meanwhile we checked into two motel rooms and were able to go to church the next day at Crouches Creek Baptist Church...one of the cutest little southern baptist churches you could ever go to. Honestly I've never been to a more welcoming church full of people than right there in Jellico. It was a great time and we even got some rides back and forth by a guy who lived behind the gas station in a mobile trailer and acted as night guard for the station. Sounding like Mayberry yet? :)
Anyhow, there were more complications to the vehicle so we made some calls to Paul and we decided that Shirley (Dave's wife) should come down from Ontario and pick us three up while Dave would stay with the van. So Shirley came down with her neighbor Ross and then Ross and I spent the night driving back up. The humorous part is that the other group who left Monday was not making good time and they also had some tire issues with the trailers they were pulling as well as when you have about 12 people traveling together there are definitely bathroom and gas breaks. So Shirley, Lasta, Dorci, and I make it Canada, spend the night and head west for Chicago. We get to Chicago pretty much the same time that the other crew does. Now here comes more humor/irony whatever you wanna call it.....Dave Charron gets the van going again and he makes it up to the Detroit border by this time. Now he finds out on the Canada side that they won't let him drive the vehicle there because it's an American vehicle and he's Canadian....he's stuck in Detroit lol. Maybe some of you are starting to see what's gonna happen :P
After a nice restful night in Woodstock, Illinois....I get word that Sean Deegan (who was with the other crew) myself and Shirley have to drive right back from where I started (Windsor) and get Dave across (he needed an american driver) load up a trailer full of stuff and make a switch....(being Dave and Shirley) and go meet up with the group in Woodstock...because did I mention... a trailer tire blew right upon arrival. I mean talk about Murphy's Law :P Also, certain paperwork was not done and the border was not notified of crossing 72 hours in advance which was necessary because of things we were importing so that's why they had so much time in Woodstock. Anyways....we get a trailer loaded and strongly impress that we not spend the night but drive straight back to Woodstock that evening and through the night. At this point we all make it together in Woodstock on Thursday morning. I've already been traveling for a week in what was supposed to be like a 48 hour trip (if you could drive non stop heh) We finally travel again and make it to Minneapolis and rest there for the night at one of the staffer's family's house...spend the evening at the Mall of America (America's largest mall) and get going the next day through North Dakota and cross at the border north of Minot. I already feel like I've crossed the border a million times in the last week (Lol) and I'm really excited to arrive in Outlook, Saskatchewan about 6 hours north of the Canadian border. It was a lot of driving, a lot of fun, and I have to say Teen Missions' road trips are full of surprises at every turn. I wouldn't say that necessarily things were neglected or anything like that... just that Satan really really didn't want us to be up there and working on the new property. We really did get so much work done....more on that soon!
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Back from Canada!
Well I'm pretty sure that maybe even some of you are scratching your head because you didn't even know I went to Canada (or rather Saskatchewan, Bethany haha)...perhaps you just thought I fell off the face of the earth :) Nonetheless, I am back and it is good to be back. The reason I went to Canada was because Teen Missions recently acquired some property in Saskatchewan by lease for 30 years and paid....$1 No that's not a typo...literally 1 lousy American dollar got us what used to be Camp Outlook in Outlook, Saskatchewan. TMI had been looking for property farther west than where it's current office was (Windsor, Ontario) so that we could do more PR and recruitment all over Canada. Camp Outlook was once a Christian camp run every summer by numerous churches. As far as I know (if my information was correct) the camp was opened back in 1948 (we even saw a signature on the wall from 1949!) 2005 was the last year that the camp was used and ironically enough, even though it was a Christian camp, it was owned by the town. The reason we got such a great lease was because they wanted to see the camp to be continued in use by a ministry. There are numerous little cabins up there as well as some staff cabins, a kitchen, and a "chapel" building (large multi-use building). Mr. Bland and his wife Bernie went and saw the camp in July when the deal was made and they started making arrangements to send a work group up to do things around the property, mostly painting. I, of course, jumped on the opportunity for a roadtrip and a good time working, helping out the Reddekopps (Canadian base coordinators) get the camp looking decent. I want to make seperate blog posts about specific things and this is just the first...otherwise it would be one really long post. Anyhow, it's good to home and I can't wait to share more with you.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
An Experience I Won't Forget
So I want to take this time to share something with you that happened in Haiti that really touched my heart:
My arm was getting tired, cramping up from staying in the same position for so long. I didn't care, this was too important. Sweat beaded on my forehead and poured down my face in the warm room with no pleasantry of an air conditioner. Thoughts swarmed my mind of how blessed I am as a person; so spoiled really. As I held this infant in my arms, slowly feeding him the hot corn mush, tears welled up in my eyes and ran down my cheeks. I didn't know his name, but it didn't really matter. All I could do was just pray for him and try to smile as he gladly accepted the food I was giving. He couldn't have been more than 2 inches in diameter in his arms and legs but his stomach was bloated from malnutrition. It was so different than holding any other baby I've ever held. This little guy seemed so emotionless, void of feeling. I couldn't once make him smile, but he at least stopped crying when I picked him up. Looking around, the room was filled with people from my team, all holding and feeding babies, just like I was. Most looked just like me, tears in their eyes and smiles on their faces. That was the fastest 45 minutes of my life... I didn't want to leave. There we were, in Delmas, a region of Port Au Prince not far from our hotel where we were on our site seeing trip. The following day we were to go to Wahoo Bay. We had arranged to stay at a hotel near the orphanage which one of the leaders had been to the year previous. It was a Catholic orphanage called the Three Sisters of Charity. There were so many rooms just filled with cribs, kids on my team in each one. It was an emotionally overpowering moment. I'd never heard my team so silent as a million thoughts raced through their minds, similar to my own. Thoughts of how blessed I am, wondering what happened to their parents, how often they get to eat let alone be held. My heart was broken for each and every one of those little babies. As we were leaving, the tears started falling more steadily, especially as their cries rose from being put back down in their cribs. My whole team was dead silent for the walk back except for silent crying, not really even being able to do a full count off because their voices were gone. Several of the girls actually asked me if we could come back the next day instead of going to the Caribbean beach. I would have loved to myself actually. I'll never forget that day in Haiti, ever, and I doubt that anyone on my team will either. It's a reminder every day of how blessed we are here in the US, and also how much need there is around the world. I wish I could go back and take you all with me.
My arm was getting tired, cramping up from staying in the same position for so long. I didn't care, this was too important. Sweat beaded on my forehead and poured down my face in the warm room with no pleasantry of an air conditioner. Thoughts swarmed my mind of how blessed I am as a person; so spoiled really. As I held this infant in my arms, slowly feeding him the hot corn mush, tears welled up in my eyes and ran down my cheeks. I didn't know his name, but it didn't really matter. All I could do was just pray for him and try to smile as he gladly accepted the food I was giving. He couldn't have been more than 2 inches in diameter in his arms and legs but his stomach was bloated from malnutrition. It was so different than holding any other baby I've ever held. This little guy seemed so emotionless, void of feeling. I couldn't once make him smile, but he at least stopped crying when I picked him up. Looking around, the room was filled with people from my team, all holding and feeding babies, just like I was. Most looked just like me, tears in their eyes and smiles on their faces. That was the fastest 45 minutes of my life... I didn't want to leave. There we were, in Delmas, a region of Port Au Prince not far from our hotel where we were on our site seeing trip. The following day we were to go to Wahoo Bay. We had arranged to stay at a hotel near the orphanage which one of the leaders had been to the year previous. It was a Catholic orphanage called the Three Sisters of Charity. There were so many rooms just filled with cribs, kids on my team in each one. It was an emotionally overpowering moment. I'd never heard my team so silent as a million thoughts raced through their minds, similar to my own. Thoughts of how blessed I am, wondering what happened to their parents, how often they get to eat let alone be held. My heart was broken for each and every one of those little babies. As we were leaving, the tears started falling more steadily, especially as their cries rose from being put back down in their cribs. My whole team was dead silent for the walk back except for silent crying, not really even being able to do a full count off because their voices were gone. Several of the girls actually asked me if we could come back the next day instead of going to the Caribbean beach. I would have loved to myself actually. I'll never forget that day in Haiti, ever, and I doubt that anyone on my team will either. It's a reminder every day of how blessed we are here in the US, and also how much need there is around the world. I wish I could go back and take you all with me.
Hey, I'm back!
Greetings Greetings, I know I've been home for a few days now but this is my official entering back into blog world after going to Haiti. Several of you have asked for blog postings so here goes because I've had a couple days to sort of figure out how I want to do this. Firstly,
Haiti itself was sooo beautiful! I would say it's pretty much the most naturally beautiful country I've ever been to aside from Switzerland and the only reason being was the snow in Switzerland in the Alps is pretty much unbeatable. Haiti is filled with such a diverse culture of people with half of the population living in the nation's capital, Port-Au-Prince and the other half in other cities and in the mountains. Our team was actually located in Boukan, Haiti; a very secluded and mountainous area of Haiti about two hours away from the P-a-P airport. I'll get more into our location in another section. The people of the mountains are a lot poorer and live off the land as their source of provision for their families. The people are so friendly and you can say "bonjour" (which with Haitian Creole comes out like "boe jhoo") to anyone (which means good morning)and they'll say it back. They are so accomodating of "blancs" (white foreigners, but really just comes out as "blahs" haha) and they insist on giving us all the "conveniences" when there are any. Transportation is mostly done in public transport vehicles called "tap-taps" because there is a driver and an assistant. When someone wants on or off, the assistant hanging onto the back of the truck taps a coin or cup or something on the side and the driver stops. I had several opportunities of hanging onto the back of the tap tap because our team was so large and we could hardly fit into one of the canters (the biggest kind of transport truck) when traveling.
Okay so back to our location. We were about a good hour's walk away from the nearest road and it was definitely quite a hike. Let's just say we did a lot of walking this summer haha. Also, one of the hardest things about the summer was just the physicality necessary for daily necessities. The greatest example of this is water. Every morning we had to have our kids go down the side of this mountain (a 20 to 30 minute venture depending on the kid) with a 5 gallon bucket of water to collect it from the river in the valley and then haul it back up. This was for our dishline water, cooking water, and drinking water. (Note, all water consumed was filtered...just throwing that out there lol) We also had to go down every day to bathe and do laundry. A cold river makes a chilly bath but we were grateful as it's a lot easier than bathing out of a bucket like at Bootcamp. It also was easier to grab a rock and start scrubbing on this red clay stained jeans.
Speaking of red stained jeans, one of our main projects that we did in Haiti was leveling the side of this mountain for a future basketball court/retreat center. This was such a huge project as it including digging one corner down 5 feet and raising the opposite corner 5 feet. The whole surrounding mountain view really skews your perceptions of what level really is. We used a water level set up and string line to stake out the land. I really wish I knew just how much dirt we moved but they got it finished in their last workday and it is amazing to see the before and after pictures.
As I mentioned in my last post before I left for Haiti, I said that the work project was very much a construction based project. Well, God definitely has a sense of humor and definitely had me there for a reason, knowing I'd be fine. When we got there, we could see there were lots of cinder blocks ready to start building walls and already a start on the foundation and hole in the ground for a future cistern. Unfortunately, the missionary there already had hired masons who were his brothers in law because his wife, Mona, is Haitian. He didn't want to step on our toes or their toes so basically the kid worked alongside the Haitian masons to a point but they wouldn't even let us work ahead on anything and everything was at there pace. There simply wasn't enough work for a team that size so we asked for more projects and that's how we came up with the basketball field. All the kids did get rotated to help work in the cistern, leveling it out and pouring concrete floor. Some also got to work with rebar for building and pouring columns and then finally building the rock walls. It was hard for the kids (and even me and Tommy) to not get to work on the thing they thought they came for, but God just kept teaching us cultural sensitivity and patience. It also taught the need for flexibility which is so key in life. All in all, a lot of good work was done and I'm really proud of the team for all they accomplished. We often reminded them that God could use that basketball court for so much good, maybe more so than the actual orphanage building itself. They have plans to be able to hold retreats there as well as even concerts or anything else they can think of.
Before the summer, I felt a lot like Moses did when God called him to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt. I really just felt like I was to pray for my "Aaron" the mouth of Moses, and honestly pretty much just a security blanket haha. God definitely answered that prayer differently than I was expecting, because I was just thinking on the building project aspect. However, God gave me such an amazing leadership to lead with that really just kept us all going through all the different challenging aspects. Linda had so much team experience as it was her 11th team with TMI...even she said this Haiti team was her hardest yet lol. Amelia's (commonly called Amo) French became invaluable for certain times of needed translation. Haitian Creole is very similar to French and one can generally understand the other for the most part when speaking slowly haha. Tommy was what I initially thought was my construction "Aaron" but really with the project not being that difficult, I realized he was also very much a "spiritual Aaron." What I mean is, is that Tommy and I grew so close as brothers in Christ...really just being there for each other for encouragement and spiritual growth. I couldn't have picked a greater guy to lead with and he was such a blessing to me. I could not have made it this summer without his ever present smile and positive attitude. God really gave me exactly everything I needed this summer but also those stretching and challenging times that caused us all to grow. Life wouldn't be life if we weren't growing, right?
Haiti itself was sooo beautiful! I would say it's pretty much the most naturally beautiful country I've ever been to aside from Switzerland and the only reason being was the snow in Switzerland in the Alps is pretty much unbeatable. Haiti is filled with such a diverse culture of people with half of the population living in the nation's capital, Port-Au-Prince and the other half in other cities and in the mountains. Our team was actually located in Boukan, Haiti; a very secluded and mountainous area of Haiti about two hours away from the P-a-P airport. I'll get more into our location in another section. The people of the mountains are a lot poorer and live off the land as their source of provision for their families. The people are so friendly and you can say "bonjour" (which with Haitian Creole comes out like "boe jhoo") to anyone (which means good morning)and they'll say it back. They are so accomodating of "blancs" (white foreigners, but really just comes out as "blahs" haha) and they insist on giving us all the "conveniences" when there are any. Transportation is mostly done in public transport vehicles called "tap-taps" because there is a driver and an assistant. When someone wants on or off, the assistant hanging onto the back of the truck taps a coin or cup or something on the side and the driver stops. I had several opportunities of hanging onto the back of the tap tap because our team was so large and we could hardly fit into one of the canters (the biggest kind of transport truck) when traveling.
Okay so back to our location. We were about a good hour's walk away from the nearest road and it was definitely quite a hike. Let's just say we did a lot of walking this summer haha. Also, one of the hardest things about the summer was just the physicality necessary for daily necessities. The greatest example of this is water. Every morning we had to have our kids go down the side of this mountain (a 20 to 30 minute venture depending on the kid) with a 5 gallon bucket of water to collect it from the river in the valley and then haul it back up. This was for our dishline water, cooking water, and drinking water. (Note, all water consumed was filtered...just throwing that out there lol) We also had to go down every day to bathe and do laundry. A cold river makes a chilly bath but we were grateful as it's a lot easier than bathing out of a bucket like at Bootcamp. It also was easier to grab a rock and start scrubbing on this red clay stained jeans.
Speaking of red stained jeans, one of our main projects that we did in Haiti was leveling the side of this mountain for a future basketball court/retreat center. This was such a huge project as it including digging one corner down 5 feet and raising the opposite corner 5 feet. The whole surrounding mountain view really skews your perceptions of what level really is. We used a water level set up and string line to stake out the land. I really wish I knew just how much dirt we moved but they got it finished in their last workday and it is amazing to see the before and after pictures.
As I mentioned in my last post before I left for Haiti, I said that the work project was very much a construction based project. Well, God definitely has a sense of humor and definitely had me there for a reason, knowing I'd be fine. When we got there, we could see there were lots of cinder blocks ready to start building walls and already a start on the foundation and hole in the ground for a future cistern. Unfortunately, the missionary there already had hired masons who were his brothers in law because his wife, Mona, is Haitian. He didn't want to step on our toes or their toes so basically the kid worked alongside the Haitian masons to a point but they wouldn't even let us work ahead on anything and everything was at there pace. There simply wasn't enough work for a team that size so we asked for more projects and that's how we came up with the basketball field. All the kids did get rotated to help work in the cistern, leveling it out and pouring concrete floor. Some also got to work with rebar for building and pouring columns and then finally building the rock walls. It was hard for the kids (and even me and Tommy) to not get to work on the thing they thought they came for, but God just kept teaching us cultural sensitivity and patience. It also taught the need for flexibility which is so key in life. All in all, a lot of good work was done and I'm really proud of the team for all they accomplished. We often reminded them that God could use that basketball court for so much good, maybe more so than the actual orphanage building itself. They have plans to be able to hold retreats there as well as even concerts or anything else they can think of.
Before the summer, I felt a lot like Moses did when God called him to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt. I really just felt like I was to pray for my "Aaron" the mouth of Moses, and honestly pretty much just a security blanket haha. God definitely answered that prayer differently than I was expecting, because I was just thinking on the building project aspect. However, God gave me such an amazing leadership to lead with that really just kept us all going through all the different challenging aspects. Linda had so much team experience as it was her 11th team with TMI...even she said this Haiti team was her hardest yet lol. Amelia's (commonly called Amo) French became invaluable for certain times of needed translation. Haitian Creole is very similar to French and one can generally understand the other for the most part when speaking slowly haha. Tommy was what I initially thought was my construction "Aaron" but really with the project not being that difficult, I realized he was also very much a "spiritual Aaron." What I mean is, is that Tommy and I grew so close as brothers in Christ...really just being there for each other for encouragement and spiritual growth. I couldn't have picked a greater guy to lead with and he was such a blessing to me. I could not have made it this summer without his ever present smile and positive attitude. God really gave me exactly everything I needed this summer but also those stretching and challenging times that caused us all to grow. Life wouldn't be life if we weren't growing, right?
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Proverbs 16:9
Well folks, if any of you first looked up the verse in the title, you probably have all experienced at some point multiple times where you've planned something out, (maybe even what you thought God was leading you to do) but God closed the door and in turn opened another. At Teen Missions we always half heartedly joke (but are serious on the other half) that you're never officially on a specific team until that plane leaves the runway. So it is for me this year.
We here at TMI have been praying for head leaders for the Haiti Orphanage team for quite some time as the previous allocated head leaders are unable to attend this summer. It is the largest team out of both Bootcamps with 29 kids. From what I know of Haiti, it can be a rough, and even in some places, dangerous country. It's not going be what we would refer to as a "Holiday Inn" team. Anyhow, as I'm sure you've figured out by now if you didn't already know, is that I've been asked to step aside from Ecuador preteen and be the head leader to Haiti along with another lady who is being pulled off an Africa team to be the head female. This is really an intimidating thing for me as I've never led a teen team before, let alone having 29 kids on one! It's also a really construction based project so that's not really my forte either. All I know is, that God is giving me a peace about it and I'm pretty much the only viable option they have (pretty obviously or I don't think they would have asked, hah!) I'm just trusting the Lord, knowing that He must have something great for this team, and Satan is trying to hit full blast to keep it from happening.
I covet your prayers in this matter so much and am truly thankful to those of you that I know do pray for me all the time. I know that I could not do it without them and I know that God is really going to be teaching me many things as well, especially in trusting Him fully. I have to admit that when I was asked to go to Ecuador I felt pretty comfortable with the idea. It had become my comfort zone. 1. Preteens 2. Going to a TMI base 3. Small team and 4. Simpler projects It was such a shock to find out so late though and now I feel in a rush to get everything done as Haiti is an Early Bootcamp team. (Meaning it will start two 1/2 weeks sooner than I would have been) So I will be entering into Bootcamp June 6th and leaving for Haiti on June 22nd in the morning. After the project and debrief end, I'll be finished on July 28th.
Addresses if you want to write:
To Bootcamp mailed no later than June 12
Teen Missions Team 09004
Danny Stuckey
871 E Hall Rd
Merritt Island, FL 32953
To Field mailed no later than July 5th
Teen Missions Team 09004
Danny Stuckey
Hope in the Light Ministry
Mail N More B
10900 NW 21 Street Unit 130
Miami, FL 33172
It will take about 10 to 14 days for mail to travel and get to us under normal circumstances. Also check with the P.O. for international postage. (Should be .98 cents as the prices just jumped at the beginning of the month)
Blessings!
Danny
"In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps." Proverbs 16:9
We here at TMI have been praying for head leaders for the Haiti Orphanage team for quite some time as the previous allocated head leaders are unable to attend this summer. It is the largest team out of both Bootcamps with 29 kids. From what I know of Haiti, it can be a rough, and even in some places, dangerous country. It's not going be what we would refer to as a "Holiday Inn" team. Anyhow, as I'm sure you've figured out by now if you didn't already know, is that I've been asked to step aside from Ecuador preteen and be the head leader to Haiti along with another lady who is being pulled off an Africa team to be the head female. This is really an intimidating thing for me as I've never led a teen team before, let alone having 29 kids on one! It's also a really construction based project so that's not really my forte either. All I know is, that God is giving me a peace about it and I'm pretty much the only viable option they have (pretty obviously or I don't think they would have asked, hah!) I'm just trusting the Lord, knowing that He must have something great for this team, and Satan is trying to hit full blast to keep it from happening.
I covet your prayers in this matter so much and am truly thankful to those of you that I know do pray for me all the time. I know that I could not do it without them and I know that God is really going to be teaching me many things as well, especially in trusting Him fully. I have to admit that when I was asked to go to Ecuador I felt pretty comfortable with the idea. It had become my comfort zone. 1. Preteens 2. Going to a TMI base 3. Small team and 4. Simpler projects It was such a shock to find out so late though and now I feel in a rush to get everything done as Haiti is an Early Bootcamp team. (Meaning it will start two 1/2 weeks sooner than I would have been) So I will be entering into Bootcamp June 6th and leaving for Haiti on June 22nd in the morning. After the project and debrief end, I'll be finished on July 28th.
Addresses if you want to write:
To Bootcamp mailed no later than June 12
Teen Missions Team 09004
Danny Stuckey
871 E Hall Rd
Merritt Island, FL 32953
To Field mailed no later than July 5th
Teen Missions Team 09004
Danny Stuckey
Hope in the Light Ministry
Mail N More B
10900 NW 21 Street Unit 130
Miami, FL 33172
It will take about 10 to 14 days for mail to travel and get to us under normal circumstances. Also check with the P.O. for international postage. (Should be .98 cents as the prices just jumped at the beginning of the month)
Blessings!
Danny
"In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps." Proverbs 16:9
Monday, May 18, 2009
Home Sweet Home
Well after an even longer drive back (we had a few stops to make) I've made it back home to Florida, arriving around 4 in the morning. I was so wiped out from this last week's work (put in about 55 hours in 4 days) that I think most of us slept half of Saturday away. Even yesterday I was still feeling some of the effects of long travel. It's good to be back though and to know we got the job done. The Tabernacle really needed a lot of work done to it in repairs which is why we went up a week early but it was almost not enough time. We really pushed hard the final week, usually working from 6 am to 8 at night or dark. It rained so much and the ground was so wet that we had to build several water diversion systems which worked but really took a lot more time. It's supposed to be drier up there now and the rains are going to begin heading to Florida (which is good news! actually been raining this morning) which is another sign that Bootcamp is on its way! We have only a few short weeks until Early Bootcamp begins and then after that is Super/Preteen. I'm so excited for both and man this time of year goes by so fast as we're preparing. We're praising God though that we seem to be a bit ahead that we've not had to have so many Saturday workdays outside to get caught up. All the tents are still standing and the Obstacle Course is steadily making its way up and ready to go. I believe the only thing left on that is the Maze. Pretty much as soon as the summer begins I won't be on to blog much and then when my team gets in I'll be in full Bootcamp mode, living out on the property in a tent with my team. Thank you all so much for your prayers and support! I know the Lord is going to do a great work this summer and on all the teams. Please keep praying for the kids and leaders who are coming as well as all the staff here who are laboring to see this summer happen!
In Christ
Danny
In Christ
Danny
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Indiana!
But first and foremost,
Big Top 1 went up very nicely on May 2nd, a Saturday with good weather. It was a brand new tent just ordered and boy was it shiny compared to the old one. We had quite a few volunteers come out, one of which I went to school with at BMW and was on Dawn's (my sister) team to Poland in 2003. He stayed at my house for the weekend and it was really good to see him again.
On to the current situation, a group of 7 of us drove to Evansville, Indiana. It was a bit more than a 13.5 hour trip simply because we were driving a 15 passenger van, pulling a fully loaded trailer of the same length. We started up at about 5:30 am and arrived after a few stops for gas and food at 9:45 local time so that'd be 10:45 Eastern time. I think I was the only one who felt like it went by way faster....like seriously felt like maybe 5 hours ha, no I didn't sleep but an hour at the beginning. We've been working on the layout for the outer court and Tabernacle. I worked for a good part of the day repairing the outter skin covering (which water proofs the traveling Tabernacle so we don't need a tent to go over top of the whole thing) The whole area smelled so strongly of vinyl glue and contact cement that we were starting to get light headed. We're in a gymnasium at Triple T ministries (TTT) and we had all the doors open...completely ventilated. It got better after we found some industrial fans to circulate the air. We've also been repairing the bases for the outer part of the Tabernacle.
This afternoon we had a crew of college kids from a local Bible School come out to help put up the tent and do some "Grunt work" as we call it of moving stuff around and doing more layout. I must have driven in what seemed like a hundred stakes (halved tractor wheel axles) into the ground for the tent. It takes a lot of bodies to even get up a smaller version tent so we were grateful for all the help.
Biggest prayer request would be that the rains would stop (and head down to Florida too as they're in a drought!) It's not that we don't mind working in the rain but rather its turning the grounds into a mudhole!
Also, that lots of people would come out to take tours of the Old Testament Tabernacle and that people would come to know Christ through it.
Blessings!
-Danny
Big Top 1 went up very nicely on May 2nd, a Saturday with good weather. It was a brand new tent just ordered and boy was it shiny compared to the old one. We had quite a few volunteers come out, one of which I went to school with at BMW and was on Dawn's (my sister) team to Poland in 2003. He stayed at my house for the weekend and it was really good to see him again.
On to the current situation, a group of 7 of us drove to Evansville, Indiana. It was a bit more than a 13.5 hour trip simply because we were driving a 15 passenger van, pulling a fully loaded trailer of the same length. We started up at about 5:30 am and arrived after a few stops for gas and food at 9:45 local time so that'd be 10:45 Eastern time. I think I was the only one who felt like it went by way faster....like seriously felt like maybe 5 hours ha, no I didn't sleep but an hour at the beginning. We've been working on the layout for the outer court and Tabernacle. I worked for a good part of the day repairing the outter skin covering (which water proofs the traveling Tabernacle so we don't need a tent to go over top of the whole thing) The whole area smelled so strongly of vinyl glue and contact cement that we were starting to get light headed. We're in a gymnasium at Triple T ministries (TTT) and we had all the doors open...completely ventilated. It got better after we found some industrial fans to circulate the air. We've also been repairing the bases for the outer part of the Tabernacle.
This afternoon we had a crew of college kids from a local Bible School come out to help put up the tent and do some "Grunt work" as we call it of moving stuff around and doing more layout. I must have driven in what seemed like a hundred stakes (halved tractor wheel axles) into the ground for the tent. It takes a lot of bodies to even get up a smaller version tent so we were grateful for all the help.
Biggest prayer request would be that the rains would stop (and head down to Florida too as they're in a drought!) It's not that we don't mind working in the rain but rather its turning the grounds into a mudhole!
Also, that lots of people would come out to take tours of the Old Testament Tabernacle and that people would come to know Christ through it.
Blessings!
-Danny
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