Hope Hill ~ Day 3 and 4

Day 3 ~ Water, Water Everywhere

The third day we went back to the fence to chip away more paint and apply new paint which I think was actually tar. But soon after we started some dark clouds came rolling in. After a few drops of rain started falling, our team leader came down the hill with the truck to take us back to the bunk house. Soon after it started pouring heavier than I've ever seen rain pour down. There was a lot of lightning and loud claps of thunder. We stayed inside most of the morning just relaxing. The power went out in the bunk house for awhile. At noon we met up with the girls again. Another person on our team shared her life story with the girls. Then they did another art project where the girls painted on stones that had been painted white. One one side they painted words and images of the negative things that happened in their lives. On the other side they painted what they wanted their lives to be like in the future. The idea for the white stone comes from Revelation 2:17: "Let the person who is able to hear, listen and follow what the Spirit proclaims to all the churches. To the one who conquers through faithfulness even unto death, I will feed you with hidden manna and give you a white stone. Upon this stone, a new name is engraved. No one knows this name except for its recipient." After the girls painted on the stones and had a chance to dry, they were placed outside the chapel among some of the flowers and plants that grew there.




That evening we had to clear some weeds away from a grape vine. The vine didn't even have a lattice or an arbor to grow on. We got all those weeds cleared out of there though. After that we went back to the bunk house to get as much rest as we could for the next day.




Day 4 ~ Back to Work

The rain wasn't so bad on Wednesday. We went down to a storage barn to separate the junk from the good stuff. All the junk went to the trash heap while all the good stuff was consolidated into a large barn.



On Wednesday, they have a chapel service at the school. most of the girls at the school attend this every week. There was a guy and a girl who came to lead the group in a couple worship songs. Then one of our team members gave a message. Then the girls had to go back to their classes. Shortly after all this happened, the little ten year old girl was attacked by two large white dogs pictured below:



No, she wasn't really attacked, unless you consider getting covered in doggy slobber an attack. They were the nicest dogs. We did another arts and crafts project with the girls after the chapel service. They were given small notebooks to use as journals, but since the notebooks were spiral-bound they couldn't be given to the girls. But then we worked something out, we took all the metal coils out of the notebooks and tied them together using ribbon. You see, the girls at the school can't have anything that they might use to harm themselves or others. That includes the metal wiring on a notebook. So when we altered them they were able to keep the notebooks. They spent time doing artwork on the covers of the notebooks.



Later that evening we went into town for more supplies and I had to pick a few things up as well. I got a chance to call my mom and my girlfriend while we were in cell phone range. While we were at Wal-Mart I was walking around with two of the girls that were on the trip. The one accidentally walked into the mens' room. When she noticed she was in the wrong place she started to walk out just as someone else was walking into the mens' room. She looked at him and said "I don't know where I am." It was hilarious. Then I was walking through the womens' clothing section with them because one of them needed socks. Two of them went around the corner to look at more socks and I saw a pair that looked really soft so I touched them. I said "Those are nice" as I peeked around the corner to tell them. They weren't there, but there was a girl standing there I didn't know who was looking at bras. That was a little embarrassing. After Wal-Mart, we stopped by Dairy Queen for some treats. Look at how determined we are:


After we finished up a DQ, we went back to the bunk house to turn in for the night. But when we got there we found out we had a little more work to do. Our leader and his son had gone over to the cafeteria to wax the floor. So we went over to help by moving all the furniture and everything else back into the cafeteria. It ended up being a pretty late night, we didn't finish until midnight.


I'll have the rest of the story up later, hopefully tomorrow.

Hope Hill ~ Day 1 and 2

I'd like to talk about the mission trip I went on a couple weeks ago to the Hope Hill School in Hope, Kentucky. I might take the next 2 or 3 days to talk about it since there is so much to talk about. I'll section it off into the 7 days we were there. I'll tell you a little bit about the school first. Hope Hill is a school for teenage girls between the ages of 12 and 17 who have been abandoned, abused, or may have been into drugs and alcohol. Many of the girls have behaviors and can lash out violently or verbally. I've never seen it in the two years I've gone there, they're usually well behaved when work camps come, especially if the work camp is there to spend some time with the girls and do activities with them. The goal of Hope Hill is to give these girls a second chance at life, to try to turn them around so the don't end up dead or in jail. The program is Christ centered. There is a chapel at the school and the girls are encouraged to attend, but not forced. About 85% of the students attend. There is also a Bible study during the week and about 50% of the girls go to that.




Day 1 ~ The Arrival

We packed up our two church vans with supplies and luggage and started out around 7am. It's a 7 hour trip. I spent most of the time in a sleeping bag in the back seat because the air conditioning was blasting. I spent the time getting to know my teammates better, working on my laptop, reading my Bible and Relevant Magazine, and messing around with my cell phone. When we arrived we got unpacked, pictured above is the bunk house we stayed in. Some of the team members wanted to walk around the campus. I was there the year before so I gave them a tour. I told them about all the different buildings on campus and showed them the horses. They have a horse therapy program at the school.



After the tour we went back to the bunk house and just unwound from the long trip. We played some board games and read from some journals that people who have stayed in the bunk house have written in. There were some funny entries left in there, mostly by some teenage kids. One entry said: "Dear Journal, These last few days have been very weird. First yesterday Hillary got run over by a van and went to the hospital but nothing was broken, and I'm really glad nothing was because me and her were best friend for six years until middle school, but were still good friends. Then after that, the second bathroom in ours got flooded and then leaked through the wall into our room and got all over our stuff. That was bad plus today we looked at horses and one of them bit Rachel on the arm. And now its bruised. Plus its been raining pretty much everyday, all day. But I think God does everything for a reason and I'm glad that I got to come here. It should be all uphill from here. I feel that God brought us here for a reason and is doing his work. This is a very blessed place. I hope to come back next year. Bye." I think my favorite part is where she said "It should all be uphill from here." That's hilarious.



Day 2 ~ The Work Begins

We met the groundskeeper, Andy, to find out what jobs he had for us to do. The first job he had for us was to scrape the old paint off a fence and then repaint it. He told us we should have it done by noon. Here's the fence:


Noon? Oh, he must have meant noon next Thursday. I just want to say we were not done by noon. By the way, there are about 5 or 6 more sections of the fence that go out of frame to the right. But we did finish it before the trip was over as well as many other jobs I'll talk about later. We worked on the fence for a few hours and then went back to the bunk house for lunch. Then we met up with the girls at the school in the cafeteria. There were 45 girls attending the school at the time. One of our team members told her story about her life, it was pretty heart-wrenching. At one time her 10 year old daughter who came with us got up and gave her a hug while she was talking. All the girls at the school gave a big "Awwwwww." It was so sweet. That little 10 year old girl was the heart and soul of the trip, she got along with the girls at the school very well and she made a lot of friends. After the talk we did an art project with the girls, we tie-dyed bandannas. I wish we could have spent more time with the girls at the school but we only had limited time each day. We worked on the fence a little while longer and then went back to the bunk house to eat dinner and play some games and talk for awhile before going to bed.



I'll continue this story tomorrow.

Pennsyltucky

I have come to the realization that I have been laid off from my job at just the right time.

"But Dan, what do you mean by that? How can anytime be the right time to get laid off?"

Well, I'll tell you. I was laid off at just the right time so I could help out by taking pictures at VBS this year. I wouldn't have been able to do this if I was still at my job. Also, while I was still at my job I wasn't able to get the days I needed off to go on a week long mission trip to Kentucky, but now I can.

"But Dan, what will you do for income?"

Well, for now I'll be collecting unemployment. Things were very stagnant at my former job and I felt uncomfortable there because my boss and I didn't get along very well. I think it's a good thing that I'm not there anymore.

"But Dan, aren't you worried that you might not find another job?"

I don't think that this should be a time for worrying, in fact no time is a good time for worrying. How does worrying help anything? Like I said before, I was let go at just the right time so I could help with VBS and go on this mission trip. I get a chance to serve God in ways that I was not able to while I was working.

"But Dan, how will you live if you can't find another job?"

How will I live? Well first of all, Christ is life. It is not a job that will provide me with life. Too many people put too much emphasis on how important their job is to the point where their job becomes their god. Yes, I know that I need to eat, sleep, and pay the bills, but I also need to trust and have faith that God will provide. God has provided me with a family and with friends who won't let me end up in the gutter. I pray for those who aren't as fortunate as that. But I also know I can't just sit on my butt and wait for God to drop things out of the sky. I need to meet God halfway and get out there, do things, make things happen. I know that God will provide me with a new job, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't be looking in the newspaper or online because I feel those are sometimes the outlets he chooses to reveal these things to us. How pointless would life be if God just handed us everything we wanted while we just sat around?

"Well Dan, you make a good point. Thanks for clearing things up for me."

You're welcome.

"Hey Dan."

Yes.

"Uh, don't you think people will think you're a little schizo talking to yourself like this?"

No comment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So yes, I will be going to Kentucky next week, so there will be no blog posts next week. I will be out of range. No internet. For a week. Pray for me. Seriously, I will have a great time. I'm going to a school called Hope Hill. The school takes in teenage girls who have had a rough life. Many have been abused, abandoned, been into drugs and alcohol. So we're going there to do some maintenance work on the buildings they live in and the grounds. Weed whacking, painting, hammering nails and all that good stuff. But we'll also spend time with the girls teaching them about God and about what he has done in our lives. And we are going to talk with them not just at them. I find that the best way to connect with people is to interact with them individually and show them and tell them what God has done in my life. Just standing on a stage and talking at people and telling them what God is about without mentioning any personal stories is not as effective. We'll also do some fun stuff with them. We have some activities and games planned out. We need to let those girls know they are not alone in their suffering and that they can overcome whatever they've been through. Hopefully those who never heard of Jesus will come to know him and those who have heard of him will truly come to know who he is and what he came to do. He came to liberate.

I'll be back after next week, keep me in your prayers. God bless.