Home sweet home

It's 9:30 and as i'm writing, Timothy and I are safe and sound, back at home in our little house on the mountain.  I'm guessing everyone else has also taken off their shoes, had a shower (to make up for the unfrequent showers we had during the week) and are unwinding by sharing stories and photos with friends and family.  So many things rattle around in the brain - sights, smells, impressions and stories from the week.  We were relatively close to home but yet sometimes it felt like we were in a totally different world.  I think we all will need some time to process and think about all we did and talked about - and it's good to keep talking - i think some of our young people's meeting will involve discussions and followups from our week away.  We pray too that the Lord will continue to use us in His service here at home in Hamilton through many organizations and places which work on behalf of those in need - we hope already to plan another trip to the Gleaners and maybe start heading to Streetlight on a more regular basis.
We began our morning around 7:30, with cleaning up our stuff which has managed to spread over hither and yon during the week and stuffing it all back into the trucks. Then disassembling our cots and final cleanups of our dorm room and kitchen before heading downstairs for a last breakfast together. We were on the road by 9:00, only stopping to pick up two dozen preordered peanut butter filled donuts (not available in Canada).  The drive home was relatively smooth, only two stops and one little snow squall with which to contend.  In our truck, there was an intense game of "look for this" going on with helicopters, boats and smoke stacks being difficult to find items!  Sure makes the hours pass quickly.  Soon enough, we were at the border and we sailed right through - a blessing to be sure on a holiday weekend when it could have been very backed up!  Then back to the church where our families picked us up and we were separated for the first time in a week.
It's hard to believe the week is done!  I think most of us will be very happy to be back in our own beds tonight but it sure will be quiet - no late night texts from Gerald or interesting noises from each other. And no times of devotions as a group - i know that i will miss that to be sure.  It will be wonderful to join our congregation in a time of worship tomorrow morning - we felt supported and surrounded by the prayers and thoughts of our church family this week!
So until we get our last few group pictures up, we bid you a fond farewell and good night!

Last Day of work-Cameron

Hey everyone, its Cameron and i'm writing the blog for y'all tonight. 

We woke up at around 6:40 this morning tired and sore from roller blading a couple days ago, some more sore than others but other than that we were ready for whatever was in store for us today. When we were all presentable we went down to the kitchen to the smell of egg bagels that our cooks had prepared for us and boy were they delicious! After a quick breakfast we headed out to the cars at quarter after seven to follow Pastor Bob to his philosophy class at Mount Carmel School. Supposedly they were going to ask us questions and I had no clue what philosophy was so i was a little bit nervous of what to expect. When we arrived we signed in and went up to Pastor Bob's class still tired and dopey. We came into the class and sat down with all these american students staring at us ready to throw their questions at us. They started off with some more political questions, which us kids had no clue what to say, but after a little bit, we started to answer the easier questions.We told them that Canadian schools start at 9:00 and they thought we were crazy. I guess they didn't realize that our brains don't function that early in the morning yet. All the kids brought in food for us to eat which we didn't really do because we just had breakfast. After our interrogation they gave us the extra food, maybe they felt bad for making our brains work so early in the morning. While we were in the hall, the schools media crew came and video taped an interview with Tim and Danielle. Man, that guy is pretty popular around here. We went downstairs and a lady at a desk showed us the front page of their newspaper and guess who was on it! We were! We were so pumped that we went straight to the nearest gas station and bought a whole bunch of copies. When we got back to the church it was around 10:30 and we got suited up to go to work for our last day. When we got to the job site we all set out to do our jobs and finish off as much as we could. We worked together to get the second houses bedroom all painted, the drywall up in the kitchen and a first coat of mud, or speckling as they call it out here, and the whole main floor had lights and there was a bunch of new plugs installed. By the time lunch rolled around we were all finished and our cooks brought us some lunch. When we were finished our lunch of hot dogs with spray cheese :) we went home to have a shower and just hang around and enjoy our last full day here. After a while we got bored and me, my dad, my brother a

Alex, Uncle Sid, his kids Crystal and Mike, and Andrew went to go and check out the stores round the area. We went to the Dollar General but that didn't last long as Uncle Sid stunk it up in there pretty quickly...When we left there we walked around and checked out the surrounding area and then went back to the church. When we arrived the old-er people relaxed while us kids explored the church more and found another secret section we hadn't explored yet. After we explored, dinner time rolled around and we had Chicken Pot Pie and pizza, oh and salad (we are eating our greens mom =) ). We enjoyed dinner with Pastor Bob and his wife and a woman from the congregation named Angela. When we were all full we decided to finally do something we were dying to... ring the big bad noisy church bell. Me, Uncle Sid and Mike went up to the rope and pondered weather to do it or not...finally, i pulled the rope and DING!! Then mike grabbed the rope and pulled it a few times and then Uncle Sid grabbed the rope and gave it a huge pull. We all heard a big DING!!!! and Uncle Sid's face was beaming. He went back and forth and kept ringing the bell until everyone showed up to take their turns at causing a ruckus in the town at 7:30 at night. After we had our fun, we went back to our quarters and finished our shuffleboard tournament. Tim and Danielle came in first, Me and Leah came in second and Alex V.V. and Alex B. came in third. When we finished that we filled out a paper for World Renew about what we did on our trip and how it went. Then we did devotions and talked about our stay here and how our mission trip was and also talked about our highs and lows. Finally, we went to bed feeling a little sad to leave here but also feeling happy and accomplished.

The name of the organization that we worked with

Leah putting up the bulk head and Chrystal smiling away

Checking out the finished room

The creek that overflowed and caused all the flooding

Intense semi-finals competition for our tournament

Handy Man Tim hard at work

A well seasoned hot-dog topped off with american spray cheese

"Hey mom! im getting my calcium intake...or so the bottle says"

The bedroom where we did most of our work

Shamokin's welcome sign

The girls were tired after a short day

Tim and Danielle on the church roof

The view from the church roof

See mom?? Salad =)

Friday morning

Good morning from Shamokin.  Presenting an update on our exciting Friday morning.  This morning we rose before the sun, got our yummy breakfast of breakfast sandwiches into us, and were off.  Pastor Bob teaches a philosophy class to seniors at the local high school and invited us to come and answer some of his student's questions about life in Canada, in Ontario and in Hamilton.  After passing through the "warden" as Gerald called her (the attendance lady), we headed on up to the second floor.  For some of us, it had been a long time since the call of school bells and the rush to classes!  We were welcomed warmly by Pastor Bob's students who even laid out a feast for us, complete with iced tea and "supies",  a local Italian homemade dried sausage.  We answered questions about our health care system, our politics, Justin Bieber, Rob Ford and what we like to do for entertainment and the differences and similarities between schools.  We didn't even know what a sophomore is but we learned!  After class was done, some of us were interviewed about life in Canada, our likes and dislikes here in the States for the local school tv station.  We drove home past a local gas station where we picked up several copies of the "News Item", the local paper - there our team was on the front page, with a nice accompanying article about what we were up to in Shamokin and Mount Carmel.  I think everyone was pretty excited to be minor "celebrities" and to share our work with the community.  We pray too that the Lord may move the hearts of more people to help in this work of restoration!  

Yummy breakfast sandwiches

Mount Carmel Junior and Senior High School

We're actually in school on our week off????!!!!

The school

Our front page appearance - Alex was a little sad they cut him out of the picture - though he wasn't sure why he was posing "wiping" the wall after it was just painted!

The Ambassadors

Where should I start?  It's Timothy and I'm the designated blog writer for tonight.  After winning a decisive victory in our two semi-final games in the shuffle board tournament, it's time to write about today.  We started with bacon, eggs and hashbrowns and a note from home.  Colossians 3:12-14 set the tone for our day, to put on love above all things and be patient with one another.  When we got to the job site, Andrew, Alex and I continued our work on rewiring the main floor and running power upstairs.  Gerald and Cameron put the finishing touches on the house next door in the bedroom and Sid, Leah, Alex and Mike started painting in the upstairs bedroom in the end house. Gerald was delighted to see his wish come true as Danielle and Angela arrived somewhat unexpectedly with coffee and two dozen Dunkin Donuts.  They have some truly delightful new flavours of donuts here!   Sid, Mike, Leah and Alex managed to get a second coat of paint on the upstairs room in the end house and we got to the primer stage in the house next door.  Ron, our contact at the Susquehanna Conference was very pleased with our progress when he came by for a site inspection.  There was anticipation when Andy announced that we would be getting a visit that afternoon from the News Item, the local Coal Township newspaper. When Larry, the reporter arrived, we showed him our work, answered his questions and posed for a few pictures.  Andy, our foreman, had suggested inviting the press in order to make local residents aware of ongoing disaster restoration work.  Cameron looked like a star as he posed with the cordless drill in hand.  We'll be sure to bring back some copies of the morning paper for everyone to read.  We finished work at around 3:30 and headed back to the church to get ready for volunteering at a local dinner drop-in.  Through pastor Bob,  we made contact with Jim at the Shepherd's Table ministry where once a week, a communal meal is served to needy residents.  They also provide meals on wheels to shut-ins and provide clothing for those in need.  Our job was to serve the meals and to help with clean up after a dinner for approximately 150 people.  Some of us served the hot food, others distributed desserts, and a few of us were in the kitchen washing dishes.  We also sat to eat with some of the people that came for dinner - we heard little pieces of their stories and told them where we were from - most people don't know where Hamilton is!
After we returned, there was time for coffee, Peter got walked around by most of us and the girls joined in the praise and worship practice downstairs.  Shuffleboard tournament started again at 9pm and there was some intense play - who knew that Angela is so competitive?  We're off to devotions in the sanctuary.

Michael, following in his dad's footsteps!

Leah being very precise

Alex, cutting in with perfection

Looking up - getting more wiring done

Cam, you told me you wanted this picture... so here it is

Alex doing some tricky framing

Chatting with the reporter

Biggest casualty of the day - Timothy's pinkie vs the drill - guess which lost?

Getting ready to dish up some hot food at the soup kitchen

Handing out desserts

Waiting for some dishes to dry and looking happy about it

Sunset in Shamokin

Singing praise and worship songs with Karen and Angela

Day Five - A very mixed bag...

Hi there all.... we've had a slight hiatus due to busyness and lack of time and energy to post but we are still alive here in Shamokin.  Peter and Angela are down for a nap and there is lots going on at the church today - Pastor Bob is working, secretary Cheryl (who always has lots of helpful hints and info) greets us every morning with a cheerful hello, there is a whole crew here working on rehabbing the organ in the sanctuary (Angela and I got a peek in there yesterday morning - quite the works going on in there!) and there is a crew of convicts in the basement.  On to other news... wait, what?  You want to hear about the convicts?  Well, don't worry, there is a guard with them - and they come to help work on bigger cleaning projects in the church - they are friendly and say hello but we don't have much to do with them (though Angela and I both were pretty shocked when we heard they were coming - not something that we run across too much at home!!!).  We are perfectly safe in our hideaway on the third floor and no one really bothers us up here.  There are also many scout troops who meet here during the week - we are sleeping in their usual meeting room - so they are graciously meeting downstairs.  So lots of traffic and people in and out - but makes for interesting days to be sure!
So i'm supposed to update about Wednesday - it was a very full-on day, with lots to do and see and experience that it's hard to know where to begin!  Angela and I started off the day early to get breakfast into the oven and ready to feed the masses at 7:30 - we have access to the large church kitchen and have finally figured out that it takes us at least 1/2 hour to get the ovens warmed up.  So we learn by experience - our meal was a breakfast casserole - with bread and eggs and leftover sausage and whatever else was lurking in the fridge - sure turned out yummy!  We always begin our mornings with prayer and our meal together at a big communal table - it sure will be quiet when we get home and there's just the two of us!  I'll miss everyone!  Gerald has been sharing devotionals/prayers that have been sent to him and that is a great way to start our days.  Then by 8:00, the group was out the door and we were off to do groceries.  It sure is different buying for 12 people as opposed to 2 - we have estimated some things high and some low but it seems to work out in the end  - but we sure miss the Helping Hands and all the advice on amounts and times that comes with their experience!! We successfully negotiated Walmart again - my buggy nearly losing a wheel since it was so full!
The team met us back here at church at around 11:30 - they had finished a lot of sanding and priming, drywalling in the kitchen and fishing more and more electrical wire.  I think everyone's most favourite escapade of the day consisted of Timothy drilling a hole right through the wall from the outside - Andrew assured us that it worked out just fine but he took a lot of ribbing for that!  There has been a lot of teasing and banter throughout the week, keeps things light when that is needed and we are so thankful for the blessing of laughter!
We cleaned up, had a lunch of subs and were on our way to Hershey.  There is a large chocolate factory there with a museum and amusement park, rides and concerts.  We took a bit of a detour accidentally ending up at the Hershey headquarters instead of the factory but we soon remedied our ways and (being good Dutchies) took the free factory tour.  This consisted of everyone sitting in little ride-pods (kinda like bumper cars at the fair) and going through a 15 minute tour which explained how cocoa beans were processed and made into chocolate, narrated by singing cows - slightly bizarre but pretty cool too!  So cool in fact that we went around twice!  Aaaaah, free entertainment.  Then it was on to the store - a favourite for most people who got lured into purchasing all things Hershey - Kisses, Peanut Butter Cups(Yum!), and all kinds of bars and treats.  Filled up with sugar, we went on to the outlet malls around the corner.  We(Timothy and I) didn't have any success but Gerald, Sid and Cam all ended up with such bright neon shirts that we are happy we will never lose them in a crowd!!!  Look for them in the roller skating pics below.  It felt strange in some ways to be out shopping after working in such an impoverished area - but i think a little break was good for everyone.  After an hour of roaming time, we hit the road again, this time to negotiate through traffic in Harrisburg.   Thankful for GPS and texting (saved us a few times when we got separated!!!), we made it to Shamokin Dam where the hunt was on for a place for dinner.  Fortunately, Timothy's GPS/internet on his phone told him there was a buffet in Sunbury, just down the road - that sounded good.  Unfortunately, despite meticulous directions, the location we arrived at turned out to be a fire/legion hall and the fellow whom we asked about the restaurant told us that it was located "60 miles away in Harrisburg" (in a thick southern accent).  With stomachs grumbling, baby crying and hunger pangs gripping us tightly, we turned ourselves around and headed back up the road to Shamokin Dam where a Perkins family restaurant became our dining establishment for the evening, though our waitress said she had never had such a large group of people to serve (we were nice, we promised!)  Fortified with food and great conversation, it was off to our last stop of the evening.  Sunset Roller-rink was one of the attractions we had noted on the very limited list of attractions in the area.  But it turned out to be a winner - for $25 we managed to get everyone in, into roller skates and onto the rink(including little Peter in his stroller!)  Then commenced an hour in which many of us laughed a lot at and with each other as new skills were developed and as old skills were polished up, most notably by Sid, Gerald and Timothy - just ask the kids about their moves!!!  Despite a few epic falls (Sid to be sure!) and a little bit of wobbling, a full hour of skating was enjoyed by all.  Angela and I were the designated photographers since it looked a little risky to us - but we had lots of fun hearing everyone's stories!
An hour was enough to give almost everyone a blister or a bruise or a torn knee in their pants (Alex!) and we packed up to head home.  As we opened the doors, it was to an icy blast.  The temperature had dropped to below zero and was accompanied by a nasty biting wind.  What a difference from yesterday afternoon when i was able to sit outside and steal some sunshine!  I guess winter's not over yet.
Time for devos and our highs and lows.  Devotions dwelt on the plans that we have and how God is the author and director of our plans, that our days are in His hands and that is a matter for which we can praise God.  He has directed our footsteps thus far and we pray He will continue to lead and guide us.  Tonight involved very little lows (amazing!) and lots of highs including seeing the beautiful icy, misty Susquehannah River, seeing everyone cut loose on the roller rink, learning new skills on the job site (the girls are pretty stoked about their power tool use - Alex and Leah used nail guns for the first time much to the amusement of all!) and just having a wonderful day and time of fun together.  Bed sure looked inviting and we were thankful for another great day!

Upstairs looking through the bedroom to the bathroom in the end house, taping and mudding done, ready for for priming!

Alex and Andrew going on yet another fishing trip!

Angela has lots of potatoes to share!  

Dinner on Tuesday evening - good old meat, potatoes and veggies!

Alex was a little hungry (as he always is!)

Our ultimate shuffleboard tournament - we're getting serious now - the couches have been pulled out!

Hershey's Chocolate World - smelled sweet even just inside the doors!

Alex found a kiss...

Our exciting ride through Chocolate World!

Sid is very happy with his supper!

Cam with the moves...

Timothy apparently is pretty excited, we're excited he missed Chrystal in one of her spectacular falls!

Sid looked the most polished with his rollerskating moves!

Alex caught on quickly and found it more fun to go backwards!

Gerald also had some sweet dance moves

Alex and her poor jeans - sorry Mom!!!

Leah and Cameron feeling confident!

Little Peter is sure happy - he got many rides around the circle in his stroller pushed by his dad 

Mike almost losing his balance but he was very proud that he didn't fall once!!!  Not many could say that!