Ashley and I were discussing mission and my new blog so I thought I better write stuff down before I forgot! Ashley, my youngest daughter, has been on two youth mission trips. Last year her dad and sister and her went to Little Rock, AR for their mission trip. They stayed at Camp Ferncliff and worked at the PDA (Presbyterian Disaster Assistance) headquarters. They also worked in a soup kitchen and went to Heifer International. Pretty cool trip - they got to see the materials that get sent to all the disaster sites. But Ashley said her favorite was the 2010 SLY mission trip to Leadville, CO. Her favorite part...Susan's house! My favorite too I think or maybe that day was my favorite day.
I have to back track a little. Two years ago SLY (St. Luke Youth) went to Leadville to First Presbyterian Church to fix up the church. They had been without a pastor for a long time and the congregation itself was struggling. One of their members died the day they left in 2008 too. Tim Lacey, the man who had been our guru and organizer of mission trips for the youth, made contact with FPC Leadville. God was definitely in control and we went back this year.
I was one of the adult sponsors and let it be known that if I could go on all the mission trips I would! I love mission trips. Anyway, our job was to put on a retreat with a lunch for the community for middle school age youth. It was great and we planned quite a bit before we left. I assisted with the small group leaders and they were awesome! We taught them energizers with a team of our youth (Ashley was one of them), we had a team of recreation (Nicole was part of them), we had a music team, a work team, and food team (Bob and Roger did that). Every day we started at 9am greeted our guests or campers, moved into energizers and music then keynote speaker (our youth director, Carisa) and small group discussion. Break for lunch, maybe a team did some community service projects, then recreation and goodbye. Then the afternoon was ours!
Some went into town, some went swimming, some went to the cemetery to tell ghost stories, some went down to the community field for play. It was great! Leadville is the highest incorporated town in the USA, I think that's what I was told. So altitude was over 10,000 ft and we drank lots of water. It's funny how creative kids will get on a mission trip. Presbyterians in an old cemetery telling ghost stories and laughing... FUN! Of course there's the story of Michael and Sweet Betsy. In town there is a shop by that name and he and Keegan apparently had a weird experience there. And of course as the story was told it got better, so much better that most of us could tell the story ourselves. I got most of it on video too!
Well, when we arrived at the retreat center of the church Pastor Peggy met us. She's a neat mountain woman! And her faith story is quite interesting. She told us she went on a hike to Windsor Lake and offered herself to be our guide if anyone was interested. Wednesday was the day we went for the hike. Many of our youth were getting tired so only a handful of us went. Sarah, one of the members of FPC, and her dog Sugar went with us. She actually drives the church van for their "bus ministry" to low income kids so she drove us in the van. Our drive was about 10 minutes down the road. Lynnette, another member, met us by Twin Lakes which was about halfway to our starting point of the hike. Pastor Peggy brought Kodiak, the mighty yellow lab also referred to by many as "you dawg!"
Along with us was Pastor Jim, Lily, Keegan, Ruth, Ashley and myself. We began the hike crossing a waterfall. It was quite a hike! We ended going up 1.5 miles and close to 2,000 ft. At one point we played in the snow and threw snowballs, the mosquitoes were bad, the thunder moved in, we hid in a cave (stinky cave full of very cold water!), and Pastor Jim and I weren't sure we were going to make it. But Pastor Peggy gave us small goals to achieve and we made it to the summit. I also might mention that when we arrived at FPC Pastor Peggy said "Welcome to God's country!" and she was so right when she said the hike is so breathtaking and worth the hard work to get there. We sang, laughed, got wet by Kodiak shaking off the water from his swim in the lake, took pictures, and marveled at this beautiful place. This place God created for our enjoyment. The trip down took far less time but we were still late to dinner. Bob and Roger had brisket waiting along with members of FPC and lots of good food.
Back track again... earlier in the afternoon before the hike Tim and Peggy were talking about visiting a lady in the church. Cool! Sounds good. We were also going to sing a few songs. Pastor Peggy had brought her guitar out and started playing and showed me her play list for the evening. It was like being at Cursillo!! She is a fellow Cursillista (someone who has attended a Cursillo weekend like Walk to Emmaus) and planned a serenade. "As the Deer", "Servant Song", "Sanctuary" were a few. It brought tears to my eyes. Peggy told Tim and I a little bit about Susan, Susan Hockenberry. She's a 57 year old faithful servant and dying of peritoneal cancer. This cancer is a rare cancer and actually is formed outside of the body over the intestines. She did not get a good report when she went to Denver and missed the worship the Sunday we arrived - she told Pastor Peggy she felt guilty and that it was terrible she didn't make it. I also had something to share - a prayer shawl for Susan.
Our church began a prayer shawl ministry this past year and I started knitting using a knitting board. I get so much out of this project! Anyway, Marlis Fisher made a shawl for me last fall and gave it to me. It was such a nice token of her love for me and I cried like always! When we left on the trip I meant to grab some extra shawls just in case. I had some incomplete ones and mine that Marlis gave me and that was soon to be Susan's. I spent some time writing the prayer for it because a prayer must accompany the shawl. Also, prayer shawls are NEVER to be sold only given. Kary, Cheri, and I are all shawl makers and we brought our looms hoping to get some kids interested and to give Pastor Peggy a shawl. Her shawl was dedicated at our church on Father's Day and I wrote a prayer for it while we were there.
Back to dinner on Wednesday... we arrived a wee bit late from our hike, ate some good food, and practiced singing for Susan. Pastor Peggy gave us instruction for the evening and mentioned we had a gift for Susan. I think we were the ones who received an amazing gift that night! We loaded up and caravanned to Susan's house. As we arrived our group seemed so much bigger; all of us from St. Luke (adults and youth) and members young & old from FPC. Pastor Peggy went in to tell Susan she had a surprise for her and we gathered at her bedroom window. We sang our songs, shed some tears in the rain, then Pastor Peggy told Susan that we were coming in. Well, we all surrounded her home on the outside, hand in hand. Pastor Peggy, Lynnette and her husband Neil, and I all went in to Susan's house and greeted her with her husband Martin and a friend. It's still so hard to tell the story without getting all choked up! Pastor Peggy introduced me and I told Susan the story of the prayer shawl. She had already been standing at her bedroom window with all her tubes and oxygen listening to us and she cried and was humble. I gave her a hug and forgot our plan... We were all physically connected and Pastor Peggy was going to pray. I never felt love like that before! You could literally feel 60+ people hugging her home with Christ's love! I held Lynnette and Neil and Pastor Peggy prayed. I stepped out as Pastor Peggy and the others were saying goodbye. Tears running down my face, cheeks all red and I see the group on the lawn, oh boy! Pastor Jim told us later we were standing on Holy ground. And we were!
Martin came out and said "Wait! She wants a picture!" So we stopped and waited and most of us couldn't keep back the tears by that point. Martin got her wheelchair out of the van and she was carried out to us on the lawn. It was like the parable of the paralytic. In the picture one has a full moon in the background and all of us smiling surrounding Susan. Pastor Peggy asked Susan if she wanted communion, so we had communion and Neil led us in several tunes we just followed. Whoa! The feeling is almost indescribable!! It was so powerful. By the end of the night we had hugged Susan, cried, sang, we did a good thing! We shared Christ's love for a woman and her family.
I immediately was on the phone to Marlis back home and she was already in bed, so I chatted with her husband as I cried. I texted Ann (another woman who helped get the prayer shawl ministry going) and my parents and friends back home. We had to debrief a little and Pastor Peggy shared with us that Martin was a non-believer and that tonight he got to see God's love through strangers. And we really weren't stranger but brothers and sisters in Christ. Several kids shared their feelings, some were still crying and not sure why, Carisa and Tim spoke, then Pastor Jim. It was hard to keep the tears from coming but that is what we were there for! To share Christ's love to our brothers and sisters. And we did it standing on Holy ground.
So... Ashley and I agreed that Susan's house was the best part of the mission trip. The feeling of surrounding her house, people coming together and doing a good thing. Like I said the feeling is almost indescribable. It's Holy, humbling, somber, laughter, sadness yet joy all wrapped in one piece of God's quilt woven with His love.
I have to back track a little. Two years ago SLY (St. Luke Youth) went to Leadville to First Presbyterian Church to fix up the church. They had been without a pastor for a long time and the congregation itself was struggling. One of their members died the day they left in 2008 too. Tim Lacey, the man who had been our guru and organizer of mission trips for the youth, made contact with FPC Leadville. God was definitely in control and we went back this year.
I was one of the adult sponsors and let it be known that if I could go on all the mission trips I would! I love mission trips. Anyway, our job was to put on a retreat with a lunch for the community for middle school age youth. It was great and we planned quite a bit before we left. I assisted with the small group leaders and they were awesome! We taught them energizers with a team of our youth (Ashley was one of them), we had a team of recreation (Nicole was part of them), we had a music team, a work team, and food team (Bob and Roger did that). Every day we started at 9am greeted our guests or campers, moved into energizers and music then keynote speaker (our youth director, Carisa) and small group discussion. Break for lunch, maybe a team did some community service projects, then recreation and goodbye. Then the afternoon was ours!
Some went into town, some went swimming, some went to the cemetery to tell ghost stories, some went down to the community field for play. It was great! Leadville is the highest incorporated town in the USA, I think that's what I was told. So altitude was over 10,000 ft and we drank lots of water. It's funny how creative kids will get on a mission trip. Presbyterians in an old cemetery telling ghost stories and laughing... FUN! Of course there's the story of Michael and Sweet Betsy. In town there is a shop by that name and he and Keegan apparently had a weird experience there. And of course as the story was told it got better, so much better that most of us could tell the story ourselves. I got most of it on video too!
Well, when we arrived at the retreat center of the church Pastor Peggy met us. She's a neat mountain woman! And her faith story is quite interesting. She told us she went on a hike to Windsor Lake and offered herself to be our guide if anyone was interested. Wednesday was the day we went for the hike. Many of our youth were getting tired so only a handful of us went. Sarah, one of the members of FPC, and her dog Sugar went with us. She actually drives the church van for their "bus ministry" to low income kids so she drove us in the van. Our drive was about 10 minutes down the road. Lynnette, another member, met us by Twin Lakes which was about halfway to our starting point of the hike. Pastor Peggy brought Kodiak, the mighty yellow lab also referred to by many as "you dawg!"
Along with us was Pastor Jim, Lily, Keegan, Ruth, Ashley and myself. We began the hike crossing a waterfall. It was quite a hike! We ended going up 1.5 miles and close to 2,000 ft. At one point we played in the snow and threw snowballs, the mosquitoes were bad, the thunder moved in, we hid in a cave (stinky cave full of very cold water!), and Pastor Jim and I weren't sure we were going to make it. But Pastor Peggy gave us small goals to achieve and we made it to the summit. I also might mention that when we arrived at FPC Pastor Peggy said "Welcome to God's country!" and she was so right when she said the hike is so breathtaking and worth the hard work to get there. We sang, laughed, got wet by Kodiak shaking off the water from his swim in the lake, took pictures, and marveled at this beautiful place. This place God created for our enjoyment. The trip down took far less time but we were still late to dinner. Bob and Roger had brisket waiting along with members of FPC and lots of good food.
Back track again... earlier in the afternoon before the hike Tim and Peggy were talking about visiting a lady in the church. Cool! Sounds good. We were also going to sing a few songs. Pastor Peggy had brought her guitar out and started playing and showed me her play list for the evening. It was like being at Cursillo!! She is a fellow Cursillista (someone who has attended a Cursillo weekend like Walk to Emmaus) and planned a serenade. "As the Deer", "Servant Song", "Sanctuary" were a few. It brought tears to my eyes. Peggy told Tim and I a little bit about Susan, Susan Hockenberry. She's a 57 year old faithful servant and dying of peritoneal cancer. This cancer is a rare cancer and actually is formed outside of the body over the intestines. She did not get a good report when she went to Denver and missed the worship the Sunday we arrived - she told Pastor Peggy she felt guilty and that it was terrible she didn't make it. I also had something to share - a prayer shawl for Susan.
Our church began a prayer shawl ministry this past year and I started knitting using a knitting board. I get so much out of this project! Anyway, Marlis Fisher made a shawl for me last fall and gave it to me. It was such a nice token of her love for me and I cried like always! When we left on the trip I meant to grab some extra shawls just in case. I had some incomplete ones and mine that Marlis gave me and that was soon to be Susan's. I spent some time writing the prayer for it because a prayer must accompany the shawl. Also, prayer shawls are NEVER to be sold only given. Kary, Cheri, and I are all shawl makers and we brought our looms hoping to get some kids interested and to give Pastor Peggy a shawl. Her shawl was dedicated at our church on Father's Day and I wrote a prayer for it while we were there.
Back to dinner on Wednesday... we arrived a wee bit late from our hike, ate some good food, and practiced singing for Susan. Pastor Peggy gave us instruction for the evening and mentioned we had a gift for Susan. I think we were the ones who received an amazing gift that night! We loaded up and caravanned to Susan's house. As we arrived our group seemed so much bigger; all of us from St. Luke (adults and youth) and members young & old from FPC. Pastor Peggy went in to tell Susan she had a surprise for her and we gathered at her bedroom window. We sang our songs, shed some tears in the rain, then Pastor Peggy told Susan that we were coming in. Well, we all surrounded her home on the outside, hand in hand. Pastor Peggy, Lynnette and her husband Neil, and I all went in to Susan's house and greeted her with her husband Martin and a friend. It's still so hard to tell the story without getting all choked up! Pastor Peggy introduced me and I told Susan the story of the prayer shawl. She had already been standing at her bedroom window with all her tubes and oxygen listening to us and she cried and was humble. I gave her a hug and forgot our plan... We were all physically connected and Pastor Peggy was going to pray. I never felt love like that before! You could literally feel 60+ people hugging her home with Christ's love! I held Lynnette and Neil and Pastor Peggy prayed. I stepped out as Pastor Peggy and the others were saying goodbye. Tears running down my face, cheeks all red and I see the group on the lawn, oh boy! Pastor Jim told us later we were standing on Holy ground. And we were!
Martin came out and said "Wait! She wants a picture!" So we stopped and waited and most of us couldn't keep back the tears by that point. Martin got her wheelchair out of the van and she was carried out to us on the lawn. It was like the parable of the paralytic. In the picture one has a full moon in the background and all of us smiling surrounding Susan. Pastor Peggy asked Susan if she wanted communion, so we had communion and Neil led us in several tunes we just followed. Whoa! The feeling is almost indescribable!! It was so powerful. By the end of the night we had hugged Susan, cried, sang, we did a good thing! We shared Christ's love for a woman and her family.
I immediately was on the phone to Marlis back home and she was already in bed, so I chatted with her husband as I cried. I texted Ann (another woman who helped get the prayer shawl ministry going) and my parents and friends back home. We had to debrief a little and Pastor Peggy shared with us that Martin was a non-believer and that tonight he got to see God's love through strangers. And we really weren't stranger but brothers and sisters in Christ. Several kids shared their feelings, some were still crying and not sure why, Carisa and Tim spoke, then Pastor Jim. It was hard to keep the tears from coming but that is what we were there for! To share Christ's love to our brothers and sisters. And we did it standing on Holy ground.
So... Ashley and I agreed that Susan's house was the best part of the mission trip. The feeling of surrounding her house, people coming together and doing a good thing. Like I said the feeling is almost indescribable. It's Holy, humbling, somber, laughter, sadness yet joy all wrapped in one piece of God's quilt woven with His love.
