Englewood, Tuesday

Today it rained for the first time in 2 weeks. It was hot before the rain began. Gardening crew continues landscaping around the swimming pavilion. It is looking really nice. It is good to see the progress.

Construction crew finished the repair of the ceiling of the pavilion and was ready for power washing. The power washing machine failed to operate, so the fire department rescued them by bringing a truck with their high-powered hoses. During Jim and Nancy’s craft time, Jim had a God moment. He felt the desire to give his cross to a challenging child. The little boy returned to find Jim 2 or 3 times during the rest of the day. The theme was Kindness, and the children decorated the sun visors with the words: kindness, compassion, meekness, humility, and patience. They discussed the meaning of those words. Karen, Sara, and Rod continue being challenged by a few of their group but are not letting it get them down.

We all attended a worship service tonight after enjoying a delicious meal provided by the church. Worship was led by leadership from two different churches. A choir named Voices of Divine blessed us with their inspirational music.

FBC Elkin, Tuesday

Stories for today will be from groups instead of individuals to save time on typing. Your continued comments, prayers and support are very much appreciated and felt.

Nursing and Pre-school music: Sharon

Today was another good day with only a few minor injuries. The children are so appreciative of the first aid and attention. Most remember to say “thank you” and “yes or no ma’am” with any question I ask. I’m thankful for my nursing skills and to be able to use them in this way. Oh, in case you’re following my little Helena clinic, the patient who tangled with the weed eater is doing fine. His injury is healing and he was back at work in the garden today.

A note for my preschool music time: During the storm after the 5 years old had left the church, I had the opportunity to talk with the young man who joined the church on Sunday. I was playing the piano while wait for my next group he walked by and told me he could play a song. He played a very simple song for me and that he likes music. We talked about his interest in the drums and that he had played in the school band until last year when there was no band program. He (out of the blue) said, “I’ve never been anywhere but Hope, Arkansas.” I have thought a lot about that conversation. We are so blessed in Elkin and we all take so much for granted.

Bible Stories: Evalynn & Rebecca

“A breeze, a breeze, our queendom for a breeze” – and so the breeze blew, keeping us “cooler” than the 90-some degrees the thermometer registered. Each group of children immediately wanted to know which character we were today. Our answer of “Mephibosheth” was usually echoed with “Mephibo” who? After lunch, thunder rumbled in and approaching gray clouds sent the camp into Plan B. In * hour we had broken camp and taken the 150 children to the Community Center, where we continued our Bible stories in the laundry room and the computer room. Although it has been an abbreviated day, it has been another good one. Tomorrow brings another day, another story.

Blessings Ministry: Ellen

My thought for today is a continuing thought for this week. How beautiful it is to see this group of Christians come together to give back a portion of God’s blessings. How thankful I am to be a part of this group. Every church represented here can be proud of their messengers. You have certainly exemplified the Christian walk. A special thanks to members of First Baptist Church, Elkin, NC. You opened your arms and hearts by accepting me into your group. You have shown nothing but Christ’s love. At Bass Chapel UMC in Greensboro, NC, we have a mission statement: “To love God, to love people, and to transform lives through service.” Most certainly you are doing that this week!

Crew leaders—Orange group: Adam, Frank, & Jane

The improvement of the kids today was tremendous. They were active participants in all stations we did and they were better listeners also. The interaction between the leaders and orange children was fun. We got to know each other a little better and began forming bonds with them. Our day was cut short because of thunder and rain but was still a blessed day, nonetheless. It did start off hot but the rain seemed to cool things down quite a bit. Once again, the team appreciates your love and support of us.

SOW (Stories on Wheels) Crew: Amanda, Sue, Betty to Elaine-

Brother Chester started our morning at Elaine with a BANG – singing,
dancing, clapping – to the tune of the “chicken dance”. The children
came “out of the woodwork”. We had 26 children today! We had 3 new
helpers, including Catherine Bahn’s mother, and all hands were needed.
The music became electric when we did the electric slide. Miss Betty was
a “man” again today for our Bible story about the kindness of David. “BE
KIND – CATCH A WAVE.” Your prayers have helped – we had a breeze today! If you see kids or volunteers wearing blue foam visors BE KIND to them –CATCH A WAVE. All kids and volunteers were able to decorate their visors with foamy pieces and including words from our Bible verse for the day, “As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.” (Colossians 3:12). Going to “catch a wave” now. Be surfin’ with you later.

MUSIC: Brittany, Luke, & Sharon

Second day of music! Day one was good, but day 2 blew day 1 out of the
water! We had more kids today and they were really getting into the
music. Luke and Brittany are having a great time and are looking forward
to the days to come! Pre-School music with Sharon went well today. The
5 year olds were so smart! They were learning their words very quickly
and most definitely loved the movements. During the loud thunder the 5
year olds enjoyed playing the instruments from our church and making
beautiful music with God. We missed the 3 and 4 year olds, however.
They were sent home early due to the storm. We thank you again for all
your support and prayers! Keep ‘em comin’!

Construction: Bruce, Charlie, and Chuck

We had a good day putting siding on one side of a farm house and framed in around windows on the front. Mrs. Wells cooked lunch for us…it was right up there with Granny D’s…delicious! The rain soon followed forcing us to cut our day short around 2:00.

Crew Leaders — Gray group: Bill & West

Our morning began better than Monday. Our group of 13 boys, ages 9-12, did a good job on their craft visors that represents God’s kindness and really enjoyed Ralph’s soccer station. Once again, the boys thoroughly enjoyed their swim. Just as lunch was ending, a thunderstorm approached so everyone (140 campers and volunteers) headed to the Helena Community Center where they played games and did some creative things in the Center’s Imagination Station. We ate dinner at a local church. Four of our youth went to the pool to teach lessons to adults and teens. We all worshipped at New Haven Missionary Baptist Church and celebrated communion. We thank everyone for your prayers and support. We look forward to our return to your fellowship.

Library Crew: Susan & Libby:

We were asked to come back to the park to help with registration again today. We stayed a couple of hours until the camp reached its capacity of 150 children with the addition of a few new kids. Then it was back to the library for more book cataloguing. We had 2 local teenagers, Mychelin and China, who are volunteering with us in the library. They seemed thrilled that Libby offered to treat them to lunch at a local restaurant. The afternoon storm closed down camp and moved everyone to the community center, including the library. Our scheduled job changed from processing books to crowd control, as kids took over the library to play board games. It was a little unstructured, but it gave us a chance for more interaction with camp kids. Susan was able to give her cross to a well-behaved little girl named Kaitlyn while playing a game.

Swim Instruction Crew–Lakenn, Laurenn, & Sarah N:

We taught lessons again today. Several kids volunteered to pray and said they were thankful to have us here. It stormed about lunchtime so camp was moved inside. We were disappointed that we didn’t get to see the kids for the rest of the day.

Preschool Crew: Sarah S & Rebekah:

We have been working with 3 & 4 year olds. We are in the process of getting all the children’s hand prints on 10 different shirts, which is definitely a challenge!! We have messed with paint all day today. We first painted wind catchers and then the T-shirts. The rest of our day was spent at the pool.

Soccer Crew–Ralph, Austin, and Kenton:

Every day seems to get better. Today Swim Camp had to be closed during lunch because of a thunderstorm. What was amazing was that in just about thirty minutes the camp was evacuated to the Community Center, and the supplies and facilities were secured. The only complaint I heard was that we did not get to complete the day and see all of the children. One of our young people wanted to know if we would be able to make it up.

This evening we were hosted for dinner and worship by the New Haven Missionary Baptist Church. We were blessed with wonderful food, prayer, singing, and preaching. In a discussion with one of the ladies of the church after the service, she remarked that wasn’t it great that we could travel over 700 miles and still find a brother and sister.

Finally, it is a real privilege being on this mission team. Everyone is becoming closer as a team. It is a special honor being associated with the young people who are such fine examples of what we should be as servants and workers

Monday, Greystone Baptist

Hey it’s Denisen again,

      Hope you’ve been doing well. Today, Monday, the first day of camp, we all went to our different stations. I got put into the purple group, one of the older kid groups. Our first rotation was soccer, where Rachel (from my church), coached us. Five minutes into the drills, everyone was sweating and burning up like crazy. It was still really fun, just the heat made it harder. Even though EVERYTHING we did today was so incredibly hot, soccer was the hottest. Then, we walked over to the pool, which felt amazing! I helped teach other camp kids how to do different strokes since I already know how to swim. I also got an offer to stay at the pool all week every day, which I’m sure would be really fun, so I’m thinking about that. After the pool, we went to music where we sang songs. They tried to get us to do motions, but it was so hot no one was very into it. Finally, what everyone had been waiting for, we had lunch. It included a ham and cheese sandwich with peaches and carrots. During lunch, two fire trucks pulled up and started talking to the directors. When everyone was finished eating, they told us all to go out on the soccer field in front of the fire truck. They sprayed us with their huge hose and got everyone damp – it felt so good! Once everyone cooled off and got wet, my group went over to the bible story tent and listened to the story of Gideon. We headed over to the pool for half an hour again where I taught some more kids. Our last activity of the day was arts and crafts where we colored horns and decorated bags. All in all, I think it was a successful day and all the kids in my group were happy and excited.

      Before I came, I knew that there would be kids here that had a lot less than I did. I figured it would be along the lines of smaller houses and less stuff. I was talking to one of the younger kids, and he started telling me about his home life. His mom was in jail, and his grandpa had died while he was living with him. He lives partly with his dad and some with his grandma when his dad can’t support him. He told me worse things than those, which made me feel so bad for him. He can be a happy kid, and I am so glad he hasn’t just given up. I prayed for him when he left, and I am going to keep praying for him and other kids I meet and kids I don’t meet because it’s not fair. They are some of the sweetest people you’ll ever meet, and I wish I could just find them all parents who would care for them the way they need someone to.

      Thanks for reading all this, and please pray for the kids and adults here in Helena, Arkansas. I know they would appreciate it.

Prayer for ACC

Pray for us all in the heat – some forecasts are calling for 100° weather tomorrow.  Pray that if anyone is overcome by the heat, we will be quick to recognized the symptoms and respond.  Pray for the construction and gardening crews who are going to try and start work at 7 a.m. and finish early, that as they engage in hard physical labor, they will care for themselves.  Pray for all the people who will be working registration and all the children going through registration, that it will be a process in which God’s hand can be seen.

– Ann Wall, St. John’s Baptist Church, Raleigh, NC

Greystone Baptist Church, Raleigh, NC

Greystone Baptist Church had another opportunity to come to Helena this summer to help out here. My mom told me about it and I thought it would be a great chance to teach others about God and grow spiritually. I hope to learn a lot this week. We got here by plane and car. Our travel time was about 8 ½ hours. The 13 of us are staying at the United Methodist Church. We have four men, five women, and four kids including myself. We arrived around 4:30 to unpack and go to Wal-Mart (of course!) We are all split up into different groups; kids camp, construction, preschool camp and the blessings ministry.

On Sunday, we all split up and went to three different churches – the one we’re staying in, New Hope, and New Light. I went to New Hope and loved it! The people there were so welcoming and involved with the service. It was a lot different from Greystone, but very interesting and lively.

I talked to the other kids in our group to see their opinions on this mission trip.

Rachel, age 16 – thinks it will be very successful and she is excited to see what God has in store for us this week.

Anna, age 9 – thinks it will be fun and a good experience to help out other people.

Alyssa, age 12- wanted to go on a mission trip to get closer to people in our church and felt like God was calling her to come to Arkansas.

Tomorrow, we start work and I am looking forward to helping out with the kids here. I think it will be a good experience to help them grow in Christ. I hope that this week will be successful, and I’m hoping to make a difference here. I am so glad I had this opportunity. I’ll update tomorrow to tell you what else we’ve been up to! Thanks for reading!!

– Denisen Croom, 12, Greystone Baptist Church

FBC Elkin

It was a hot day, but a wonderful day!  We all scattered to far and wide
early this morning.  About 40 minutes southwest of Helena, 3 of us went
to Elaine to set up the backyard Bible club for 24 children.  We expect
more children on Tuesday, but we’re prepared for as many as 60.  So
“bring ‘em on.”  The children listened well to the Bible story about
Gideon obeying God and then enjoyed the craft of making an etching of the
horn and lamp from the story.  We enjoyed getting to know new friends who
helped with the Story on Wheels bus, also.  After a late lunch we checked
out what was going on in the park with the Swim Camp and with the
gardening.  We are so proud of how our team is working so hard, and they
relate so well to the children and other volunteers.  We are also so
proud of how flexible our team is – if a need arises which means a change
of volunteer assignments, they are ready and willing to do what’s
necessary.  Some members of our team are in the heat all day teaching
children to swim, gardening, or walking children to and from activities,
and then they go back to the pool at 6 pm to teach teens and adults to
swim.  That’s just one example of how our whole team is being the
“presence of Christ.”  I’ve got to add a note here for our drivers for
our vehicles.  They drove all the way here from North Carolina and are
still so willing to transport when and wherever needed!  Keep up the
prayers – apparently my request for prayers for relief from heat didn’t
get through in time – only 99 degrees today!

– Betty Pittman

What can I do?

Many of you have likely already had this post-mission trip experience…you know, the one where people ask, well what can I do?

Here are some things we were able to do that I think can continue in anticipation of ACC ‘09:

Pray that God will lead additional volunteers that He knows can connect with those of all ages in Helena.

Bathing suits are on sale this time of year, and there is always a need for these at swim camp. (Now that I know the Newells have storage, I am pretty confident they would welcome the donations at off-times!)

Beach towels (lightweight is ideal for drying time, since they can’t be washed everyday)

Books are good too. In addition to books for the children, there are small pocket size books for adults with devotions etc. Bibles that can be given to the children are good, too.

Wish lists … there is one for New Light Church, as they have embraced Ben and Leonora and prepare to dedicate their new church home

Join us next year!

Blessing Ministry addition

Charlotte and I had the opportuity to visit some public officials with Levi and a delightful local lady whose name escapes me at this moment (who also worked hard to make sure all the ACC campers and volunteers had a yummy dinner). Ask yourself this, when is the last time you were at work and people came by the office with brownies, a sugar-free alternative, oatmeal cream pies, and wanted to pray with you. That’s exactly what we did with the public works folks (God love James, who was the only one in the office, so he joined hands with us and let us pray for he and all the co-workers whose name we could see on the timeclock wall behind us)…Also, the firefighters, the assistant police chief and the county clerk’s office. We saw firsthand the need to continue to spread the word not only about the ACC, but also the vision that we are praying for unity in the community, and the heart that Ben and Leonora have for praying and working this through with the community. Hopefully, some of those we visited are in either in the day swim camp for children, ot the evening camp for older youth and adults!

They, along with volunteers, their church, have a vision for the community that we could see growing in the community garden, in places like the KIPP School, in enterprises like Delta Jewels. We even tried to engage this in a small way by reaching out to one of the mothers we met in Lakeview, asking her to do something she loves – bake brownies that we used to bless local officials, and reimbursing her for her (Catherine, thanks for making sure she gets her dishes back!). It’s amazing the strong desire that exists for people to be connected with an opportunity to use their skills – a chance to begin to learn to “fish” versus just being “fed”!

– Theresa Norton, FBC Richmond

McGill Baptist Church

Linda Childress of McGill Baptist, Concord, NC, shares about week two.

We had a pleasant 2 day drive to Helena, Arkansas. It helped being able to take turns driving with Allen and Marsha. The Foxglove Bed and Breakfast is very nice – full of beautiful antiques. John, who owns the B & B, is very personable. He served us an awesome breakfast.

We worshiped with New Hope Missionary Baptist Church this morning. The worship service was such a blessing. One young man, J, came forward and gave his life to Christ. I gave my cross to him and prayed that he would be strengthened in his inner man and that God would use him mightily for His glory.

The weather is hot – 95-100 degrees. We are trying to keep hydrated and be careful in the heat. We have prepared totes with towels inside them for the children which were graciously provided by McGill Baptist. Thank you so much!

Joyce, Robert, Marsha, Allen and I had a nice assembly line going. I can already see that we will be a great time and work well together.

Robert and B F will be doing construction work. B F has a great sense of humor and keeps us laughing.

Continue to pray for us as we reach out to these precious children and show them the love of Jesus.

Week two begins

When Van J returned  to Helena West Helena on   Saturday, he said he had spent Friday touring Vicksburg,MS and the parts of Arkansas in between here & there.  Then he headed back to Memphis so he could be ready bright and early to go shopping for cups & other supplies for Week 2 of the All Church Challenge (ACC).

On Saturday morning, Ann W got to spend over an hour with Leonora in the library at the community center getting additional details and information from her to prepare for the library crew’s work in week 2.  That was both a rarity and a blessing.  It was a rarity because  during these 2 weeks  Ben and Leonora Newell (CBF misisonaries in HWH)  are pulled in  many directions by all the volunteers and logistics of multiple simultaneous projects  at different locations (and still love and care for their children and Leonora’s visiting niece from Brazil).  It was a blessing because Leonora’s a delight.

On Saturday afternoon, Van rested and waited to let our new co-residents in.  Ann made calls for Kate H (chief swimming instructor,from Hayes Barton Baptist).   The calls were a result of a wonderful new thing — they’ve pretty much been able to fill swim camp for week 2 with kids who did not get to go to camp last week.  That may be the first time that’s ever happened.  That means 150 new kids will be
served, on top of the more than 120 served in camp last week.   So, Kate had Ann calling all the families of kids who had attended week 1 to let them know that they should not come to camp on Monday.  There was a little worry about the response, but every person she talked to was very understanding.

Ann took  the library manual home and, while reviewing it,  learned that Leonora has added another learning layer to the process.  Children who become library members are being taught responsibility as they check out books.  If they bring the books they check out back on time on a regular basis, they are rewarded in different ways for having been responsible.  It might sound like rewarding them for something they should already be doing.  But for many of these kids, those positive words of encouragement and little rewards have been missing in the past.

Our new co-residents arrived last night shortly before the Week 2 Leaders  Meeting.  Instead of the 7 people from First Baptist Raleigh with whom we shared the house in Week 1, we’re now sharing with 9 people from Englewood Baptist in Kansas City, MO.  So people are now scattered throughout every available space  in the house.  Several of the Englewood folks have been on other CBF Rural Poverty Initiative mission trips, including trips to the Appalachian Rurual Poverty Initiative sites in Kentucky
and the Dakotas.  Ann and Van are both looking forward to talking to them about their experiences in order to consider future mission possibilities for the members of St. John’s.  They are a fun and diverse bunch of people and it will add joy to our experience as we get to know them better.

Sunday afternoon, we had orientation to all the different tasks.  Ann has one local volunteer helping her in the library, Michelyn, and 4 other, women, all of whom are from NC.  One’s from Hayes Barton Baptist in Raleigh, 2 from First Baptist Elkin and one from McGill Baptist in Concord.  Van also met the young men who will be helping him with his water boy duties.  He says he thinks they’re going to have a lot of fun (which if you think about it, is a little odd — the concept of carrying very heavy water containers doesn’t marry well with fun to most people, but that’s Van for you.)

The opening picnic was at the under reconstruction old pool house and soon to be new picnic pavilion.  Leonora and Kristen (Hayes Barton, Raleigh, and camp leader) met with all of the library crew and the blessings ministry crew at 5:30 (after all the other orientations and while others began to go through the BBQ line).  They explained a complicated but very promising new registration set up.  It should smooth the entire registration process immeasurably.  And Ann was really delighted to  be recognized by a local woman who remembered working registration with her 2 years ago.  Several other local women, including Michelyn’s mom will be working registration this time.

Pray for us all in the heat – some forecasts are calling for 100° weather tomorrow.  Pray that if anyone is overcome by the heat, we will be quick to recognized the symptoms and respond.  Pray for the construction and gardening crews who are going to try and start work at 7 a.m. and finish early, that as they engage in hard physical labor, they will care for themselves.  Pray for all the people who will be working registration and all the children going through registration, that it will be a process in which God’s hand can be seen.

Englewood Baptist, Sunday

Englewood Baptist, Kansas City, Mo, shares about Sunday’s events.

Our Sunday morning worship was celebrated with the people at New Light Baptist church. We enjoyed the African American style of worship and music and members of our group participated in leading worship. They were so gracious with their warm welcome to us. This very warm afternoon was spent in orientation mostly under trees. Trying to capture every breeze we could. Judy, Micah and Janette will be doing gardening. John will be doing construction. Nancy and Jim will be doing crafts with 6-9 year old children. Sara Rod and Karen will leading groups of 15 children through their activities. Leonora was very excited to receive the towels and books that we brought. The 400 books were donated by John’s Rotary Club and also our church members. We are excited about missional opportunities which keep revealing themselves. As Rod said, “To me CBF was just three letters. Now it is at least one hundred and thirty people working together in this community to make a difference in many lives.”