EDITOR'S NOTE:
Correction from team "Gold Digger" and playground worksite. No bobcat was brought in to finish off the job. A song was created at the site that said, "We want bobcat!" because their had been talk of bringing one to get the last "big polls" because the staff thought that would be impossible. However, FUMC surprised them and manually dug 3 feet and lifted concrete cinder blocks from the dug hole by using a rope. They worked as a team and played tug-a-war with the concrete until it was pulled out.
The morning was kicked off with Morning Glow from Abigail and Lauren. They talked about our "holy ground." In early years Jesus had church tent meetings, so the church community moved from place to place. This was significant because this is a reminder of how we should still live out our faith in every circumstance, even though we have sanctuaries to worship. On this trip we were encouraged to be hands and feet of God by the work we are doing at The Baldwin Center. Even though we are only here for one week, our impact and examples of our Christian faith will be left on Pontiac for many years to come.
At our work sites today we symbolically left our mark as a reminder of our devotion this morning. Many of us taped crosses to our sites to constantly remind us of our faith. We had many worksites today that were examples of Holy Ground.
At the playground site much progress was made. A total of TEN poles were dug and at the conclusion of the day, the removal of the playground set was complete. It was a satisfactory for those involved, as well as others who had been a part of the process earlier in the week or those who had heard or witnessed the progress. What an awesome accomplishment, especially on something that seemed impossible on Monday.
The relocation of the fence was quite successful today. The entire fence was moved and assembled in the new location except for one rotten panel that will need to be replaced. They anticipate completing this project tomorrow. The relocation will be beneficial to the Center in the winter months when the snow is extremely high and needs to be cleared from the parking lot.
Since the fence project on required a few extra hands, the others first assigned to this project created their own project. Abbey Horne, Lauren Long and Catherine Greene decided that a brick patio would be a nice touch to the freshly painted shed our group painted earlier in the week. They tirelessly cleared grass, framed the patio and toiled the soil. Next they added tons of sand and began to set the bricks. Even after passing up their ice cream surprise, the tedious project was not completed at the end of the day. Lauren and Abbey were determined to finish what they started though, and requested to finish it on Friday. The boys at this site, Clay and Sam, trimmed a TON of trees to beautify this site.
The wallpapering group made substantial progress at the house on Thursday. All the wallpaper was removed from the bottom level and the stairs. Much was removed from the upper level of the house and they anticipate completing the project by the end of the week. The group took great pride in their tasks and even created an additional project that will be finished on Friday. The decided to remodel a bathroom in the house. To begin this project, they removed hardware from bathroom appliances and also began removing tile. They look forward to completing this on Friday.
The Clothes Closet group continued demolition in one room of the place. They knocked out all of the dry wall and replaced a majority of it with new dry wall. This was a labor intensive project and required much time and effort. Although they felt like much wasn't accomplished yesterday, we can promise that this group was extremely successful, complete with plaster in their eyes. At the end of the day they wanted to do more, so they applied sheet rock compound to the walls, which will be finished tomorrow. Erin Ingle would like EVERYONE to know that she used a SAWSALL to chop PLENTY of wood, with proof in her sore wrist.
Another group helped a new member of The Baldwin Center staff decorate her office. This new fundraising director started her job the day we arrived, so we immediately had a special bond with her. This group painted her new office Carolina blue. The woman was more than thrilled with the paint and exclaimed she felt right at home. They also helped her unload her supplies and set-up her new place. After this job was completed, Brittany Helm and Hannah Williams helped pack and organize non-perishable food for elderly adults in the community.
Another wonderful day was had by the children that attended Camp Sunshine. They learned through a variety of activities that they were all a creation of God and molded into the beautiful children they are. The children and youth also enjoyed another sing along, complete with Little Sally Walker, Cha Cha Slide and Beach Beattitudes.
After another successful and enjoyable day of work, we were excited for showers. After we were refreshed, we split into groups to enjoy a delicious meal of Panera or Wendys. The short dinner time allowed for a meaningful and moving evening devotions that evoked much emotion from our entire group.
Continuing with the theme of Morning Glow, we were reminded that Surely the Presence of the Lord is in ANYPLACE where we mark as "holy ground" as we serve our Lord. Jim reiterated these sentiments by sharing a story from the book, "Same Kind of Different as Me". Through illustrations in this book we became aware that people from all walks of life can walk beside us in our Christian journey. Our leadership team symbolically showed us of our journey this week through an inspiring and deeply meaningful footwashing. This was a tradition that dates back to the days of Jesus, as He washed the feet of those He served. We learned through scripture that the washing of the feet were not by chance but by a conscious decision by Jesus. Those He served in the time traveled mainly by foot, so this was the dirtiest part of their body. The footwashing not only cleansed their feet but also washed away their sins, negative thoughts, concerns, etc. Once their feet were washed they were cleansed both literally and spiritually. This tradition that we continued during devotions evoked so many emotions and were extremely memorable since our feet were washed by our graduated seniors and rising seniors. Again, we closed this time with journal and prayer time using our prayer beads. We closed in a circle and holding hands. Our group has grown closer together because of this trip, and our group is extremely grateful to have others in our group who can hold their hand and cleanse their spirits by simply being a member of this unique and special group. We feel very fortunate and privileged to be a part of such a special group where we all feel loved and accepted, and most importantly share our love for God. As a symbol of our love for one another, we joined hands and closed in prayer.
Continuing with our moving devotions the guys and girls spent time apart separately and enjoyed the bonding experience. Again, it was another great and full day in Michigan.
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