Coweta 2006

2006-06-27T12:43:00.000-05:00

THE FACE OF MISSION TRIP

THE FACE OF EXHAUSTION

THE FACE OF FAMILY

2006-06-26T11:19:00.000-05:00

Rare shot of a construction coordinator actually working. Later, the team came back and fixed it right.

Immediately after taking this picture, Allen was once again thrown out of the girls locker room

After an invigorating swim, the teams are energized for another day of work

Filled with margarita mix, this was the most popular cooler on the site

"Hey, watch what happens when I shake this ladder really hard"

Beaming about their new board, the girls showed it off to anyone that happened by.

Can you tell which one is the parrot in this picture?

Cut ups

Hanging a towel from the rafters and calling it a ghost, Sandra scares all the boys out of the garage.

Brent shows the team how he likes to relax around the house every evening

Rex enjoys a quick snack before running off to the next event

Frozen t-shirt contest. Noone seemed to notice the buckets of warm water for thawing the shirts.

Danni downs a Coke before belching out the National Anthem. Thankfully, those were not beans.

In a cruel joke, Steven learns his team put their dirty socks in his lunch sack

Sporting a sheepish grin, Sam has just been caught making out with the paint bucket.

Janie is all smiles after learning that caulk tastes pretty good with crackers and vienna sausage

Messers Abercrombie and Fitch part 1

"Please let us get back to painting, we just can't get enough"

Messers Abercrombie and Fitch part 2

A moment with the client

Cutting soffit board. This task became more difficult after Brad cut the end off his tape measure with the miter saw.

Elated, Charles and Charlie discover the cooler with margarita mix.

Cheesy group shot part 2

Cheesy group shot part 3

Fast forward 10 years and this will be Danni wheeling Rex back into the asylum

Cheesy group shot part 4

Chris' Angels and Bosley (Clayton)

2006-06-26T07:58:00.000-05:00

More pics!!

Over the weekend, I received several CDs of pictures. Most were duplicated as copies of pictures from most were off loaded onto several computers. With about 1,200 pictures to work with, I started the task of culling out pictures with the goal of getting the total size down to 700MB where it will fit on a CD-ROM. Blurry pics, dark pics and safety pics (multiple shots of the same thing, looking for that just-right image) were excluded. The end result, 707 images taking up an exact 700MB. I will burn several copies of this and leave them in the CSUMC office by mid-week, if you want a copy, stop by the church. If they're out, email Sandra or me.

Here are a some of the pics, I'll post more as time permits.

Cooks rule and teams drool...

Cheesy group photo part 1

Team 2 tags the parsonage...

Just scraping by...

Admitting her addiction, Janie checked into rehab for power tool junkies immediately upon returning from the trip...

Hey, this is cool. I wonder how this will work on the cat?
Sparkling glasses, sparkling smile...
Dude, I think we're out of bullets...
Here the girls show off their long, transparent tongues.
String em up...
Self-cannibalism...
Note the bent board. Telepathic powers? More likely, he just cut one upwind from the lumber pile.

"These are stuck. It's like someone drove them in here with a hammer."
"Save this, I think we can use it again."

Dude, put your arms down!

Another power tool junkie...

Scenes from the hayride

The Brat Pack
When is "Karaoke Night"?

Post office
Failing miserably at this exercise, Team 6 immediately blamed Jake, who had eaten all the gumdrops while they weren't looking.

Cooks rule and teams drool, part 2

More work shots. Hat's off to Cheri, the hardest working person on the trip.

Yes Tyler, we see you napping in the background.

Despite the tight schedule, Butch managed to squeeze in a little time to shop for stylish accessories...

2006-06-23T14:56:00.000-05:00

Thanks to all who served in Coweta. I received this note today from one of our clients. It was addressed to me as the Center Director but it is really to all of those who served in Coweta for a great week.

Greetings to the Youth Group. Thank you all for your wonderful ministry in Oklahoma last week. I want to thank all your members who came to my home and worked so long and hard to make the many home improvements to my house that would take more space than this card is long to list separately. And to thank all those who worked so hard to make this mission trip possible. We had a wonderful week visiting and worshiping togehter as they worked around the house. Even 90 degree weather so humid it often felt like a sauna around her couldn't dampen your spirits or slow you down. My friends were amazed at all you managed to accomplish in just one week. Poor old Blackie (her dog) was worn out from all the excitment and slept all day Saturday. Again, thank you for all your hard work and the joy of fellowshiping with you. Love Caren.

Yes, we accomplished a lot of much needed work on 10 homes but more than that, we grew spiritually as we made the commitment to help someone else. No one slacked off, everyone worked and adults and youth worked as teams. I think God would say to you all, "Well done, good and faithful servants." By the way, we all slept all day on Sunday!

2006-06-23T08:00:00.000-05:00

While I wait for more pics from last week, I thought I might update you with a bit of a postscript from our host church. First, they report that the smell in the main building (men's sleeping area) was now beginning to go away. Only exception being the nursery room where the construction coordinators were sleeping.

The church in Coweta is still abuzz about our visit there and how our students conducted themselves. The Oklahoma conference's version of CTCYM is called Youth Force, and thanks in part to you, Coweta UMC will likely send a team out on mission next summer.

On Sunday morning after we left, Allen Carson made an announcement to his congregation that we would provide a list of unfinished work from last week (which he has now been provided) and that in July and August they are going to finish some of the things we could not get to in our brief time there. Several members responded immediately that they wanted to help. I have no doubt that Daniel and Chris were the first to respond. It was hard to leave sites knowing there is more we needed to do, so this commitment by their church means a lot to me.

Also on Sunday in separate worship services, Caren and Lu spoke before the church of their experiences with us. Allen reports it was really moving to hear them talk about what you did in five short days.

2006-06-22T08:10:00.000-05:00

Here are some more pictures I found on my camera last night. We went out early Saturday morning to see the finished jobs in Redbird that we weren't able to go back to in all the rush to finish on Friday.

2006-06-20T16:42:00.000-05:00

For those of you wondering if we would create any additional posts to this blog now that the trip is over, hang on. We will post more pictures and make more commentary on this incredible experience. The delay has been the result of 1) utter chaos at the end of the trip last week, 2) sheer exhaustion upon our return home and 3) the need to get all our pictures organized and select the best ones to post. While we've yet to see the final CD/DVD containing what we've collected from everyone's cameras, I'm going to estimate that the final pic count is going to be around 1,200-1,500. Just a tad more than we can post here or that anyone with dial-up access could view in my lifetime.

What a week. Twelve different worksites. We built 5 separate ramps, built or rebuilt 6 porches, and 4 sets of steps. We used over 50 gallons of paint on interiors, exteriors, a barn and still had a couple of gallons left for me to stripe the streets of Redbird from the bed of my pickup.

At one site, we had 4 teams (28 people) scurrying around like fireants getting things done. While this was not quite an "Extreme Makeover", I would classify it in the "Severe Makeover" category. At another site we completely tore out a rotting porch and ramp and built new ones in three days. We went behind past mission teams (not CTCYM) to redo work that was of poor quality. We repaired work previously done by contractors who appear to have taken advantage of the elderly and disadvantaged. We hung drywall, taped, bedded, textured and painted walls with professional quality.

All in all, we should be proud of what we made last week. But lest we get too proud, we must realize that what we made for those we served probably does not matter to God. I doubt he is that pleased with the material things we've given those whom we served. Rather than caring about the quality or quantity of work we did last week, I think what really matters to God is the degree of His love shown through us in the effort we went to in serving others to the best of (or maybe even a little beyond) our abilities. Each team took the care and effort to do quality work. The quality work serves those whom we served well, but its the care and effort that means the most to God (in my opinion). We enter this world with nothing and leave this world with nothing and the only measure that counts is the love we give and the love we receive. The quality of both last week was off the charts!

As I mentioned earlier, keep watching for additional pictures and comments as we remember the good things we witnessed last week and look forward to the good things we will do from this week forward.

Some pictures of your groups and your work:

2006-06-16T05:55:00.000-05:00

Once the job is completed the construction coordinator had to test it for speed.

2006-06-16T05:28:00.000-05:00

More pics from yesterday. At the end of the day, the people of FUMC Coweta took us on a Hay ride in wagons pulled by antique tractors. Then we experienced outdoor worship around a campfire. Of course, being outdoors, some of our youth got to experience their first ever "Outhouse." Afterward, some of our youth got to ride on a pony.

2006-06-16T05:04:00.000-05:00

We're headed down the home stretch. Our heroes are amazing, but of course, you know that, right? Miracles have happened in the lives of our new friends this week.

2006-06-15T05:14:00.000-05:00

Days 2 & 3 Are Complete

Sorry for the delay in reporting Day 2. In addition to posting these blogs, I'm also a first-time worksite coordinator for the Coweta Living Center and as such, the meeting the Day 2 (also known as the "We've run into a problem" day) and Day 3 (also known as the "Oh, Lord, we've really got a lot to do to get done with this by Friday" Day) challenges means a late night and missed activities. Experienced coordinators know all the little things it takes to get all this handled and still get to the showers before midnight. I'm still learning. Hopefully this will catch us up and allow us to continue posting every night going forward.

When we last left our heroes (as they used to say in the old radio serials), Day 1 was in the books without any real catastrophies or injuries. You can already see kids (a term which I use more for typing convenience than anything else as they truly give justice to the term "young adult") starting to act like they've know each other for years. About the only problems within the center revolved around a couple of people getting sick and missing the festivities to rest and recover.

Day 2 brought the first two completed jobs. One was for our host church. I've mentioned this before, but it bears repeating. This is a wonderful, active church. We have church members lending us much needed tools, providing us meals, providing us a fantastic drummer for the worship music team, and providing us with a tremendous outpouring of God's love. We've helped the church trim some trees where they were rubbing on the roof of the building, we've repainted some areas of the church, and washed some of the brick (I say some because this is a really tall church). This job was one of the first assigned and one I considered a priority because of the outpouring mentioned above and a minor repayment for the utter chaos we're creating around here this week.

The other completed job involved work we did for one of the sweetest ladies in town that involved trimming the biggest hedge I've ever seen, painting her barn, repairing some rotted facia board (fyi, that's the board that comes down just below the end of the roofline and a term that our kids now all know) and removing carpeting in the garage that did not react well to rain coming in under the garage door. At the young age of 80, this lady told us about her late husband and his having won the medal of honor in WWII. With some high school-aged youth, that might not have meant a whole lot, but this team thought that was about the coolest thing.

Day 2 also begins to show the true character of the participants we're dealing with on this trip. After two days of scraping paint, waiting for materials and running into "fix-it" situations most of us have never seen before, it's understandable if a little grumbling occurs. But that's not the case here. Kids are ready to go out every morning and meet whatever challenge they're presented. Adult team members are showing incredible skill, compassion and creativity in supporting their teams and our support staff (personally, I'm not that big on the term "Leadership Team" because we're just here to serve those who provide the real service this week).

At the end of Day 2, the teams got an opportunity to swim and have fun at the water park in Wagoner. No, that picture of Allen is from mission trip, not from his vacation in the Bahamas last year.

Once the teams identified all the "challenges" that some of the jobs presented on Day 2, Day 3 brought the stark realization of what it's going to take to get done by Friday. Here are some pictures from Days 2 & 3:

2006-06-12T23:14:00.000-05:00

Day 1 is complete

All is going (fairly) well here in Coweta. After a hectic Sunday night of announcing teams, going through the orientation and inflating air mattresses, we still woke up (pretty much) on time this morning, (eventually) found our work sites, and got started. Only exceptions were the fire in the kitchen that Beth started, the fire in the high school (not our fault, it occured before we got here, but we only learned of it about two hours before shower time) and the house that Charlie's team burned down.

We all love the people we're serving and those members of the church that are helping us out greatly. Today's theme was Alter the Body of Christ with a focus on One Body / Many Members. We are in fact, coming together as a group. Currently, there are no China Spring UMC's, University UMC's, Christ UMC's, or FUMC Gatesville's here. We are now all Coweta Living Center.

Here are some pictures from Day 1:

2006-06-11T23:26:00.000-05:00

More pictures. For those who didn't get a call this afternoon, everyone arrived safely and all is going well.

2006-06-11T23:03:00.000-05:00

Here are some first-day pictures...

2006-06-06T10:35:00.000-05:00

CRUNCH TIME!

D-Day is only five days away! Don't forget that we're loading tools Thursday at 6:00pm (that's only the day after tomorrow) and loading suitcases Saturday morning at 11:00.

Special thanks go out to everyone in attendance at Sunday's FUSE! celebration and a really special thanks to Charlie, Clayton and Brad for helping the band/sound/lighting guys set up and take down their stuff. I hope everyone enjoyed By The Tree as much as I did.

Last week, Brad and I went to Coweta to look at potential jobsites. At this point in time, we're still tight on the number of jobs available, but every team should have someplace to go on Monday morning. We continue to work new leads and I expect we will have a full week once we get there. Please be prepared to be flexible in what you are asked to do and expect that work scheduling for the entire week may be "fluid" as we continue to receive referrals and changes to work orders.

Since most who read this post are in the process of getting everything together for the trip, I need to put the call out for us to bring as many step-ladders and extension ladders as we can.

Most of you know by now that late last week, Allen came down with leprosy (actually it's the shingles, but neither are much fun). Things are going okay, and he expects at this point to be able to go on the trip. It's a good thing he doesn't actually have to do anything once he gets there and we're bringing a registered nurse. Keep him in your prayers and be sure to complement him on the new beard he's growing so as not to shave over the bumps on his neck (actually, I think he really trying to look more like Charlie, Charles and me).

On our trip last week, Brad noticed the following sign on the road between Porter and Coweta:

I don't recommend you drink that water.

This also may be why they recommend getting your yellow fever shots before entering Oklahoma. Janie will have vaccine and can give inoculations (that means a shot, Clayton) to anyone wanting one on Sunday morning before you leave.

~Neal

2006-05-30T11:58:00.000-05:00

Some thoughts on packing for Mission Trip…

With only 12 days left until we leave, it’s time to start thinking about packing and preparing for the trip. Here are some things to consider:

· Packing extra shirts will not make up for not packing enough underwear, and washcloths are not a good substitue for towels (ask Brad)
· Wearing “My Little Pony” and “Ninja Turtles” pajamas will not go unnoticed, so pack carefully
· Oklahoma no longer requires a passport, but certain vaccinations against the following diseases are still recommended: Dengue (pronounced “dingy”) Fever, Scarlet Fever, Yellow Fever, Saturday Night Fever and Lotto Fever.
· Ski jackets are optional due to recent Oklahoma weather conditions
· Guys: wearing those pants that droop down over your rear-end will not be a problem – we have plenty of duct tape
· Girls: wearing those pants that come up to about three inches below your belly-button will not be a problem – we have plenty of duct tape
· Allen: no speedos this year, please
· It’s always a good idea to pack an English-Okie translation dictionary
· Jeans with holes in the knees are always cool looking, but just remember those holes are like bullseyes to cockroaches and fireants
· Rex: be sure and bring a ratty looking hat this year
· Neal: wear a hat, please
· There will be no need to pack your teddy bears this year. When you get there, Charles will make one for you from scrap lumber, safety glasses, string and any duct tape left over from pants-fixing
· Wyatt: be sure and bring a ratty looking cap this year
· Brad: there won’t be enough room for your Six Flags sombrero – we only have six trailers and three pickups for stuff
· No firearms allowed; waterguns welcomed
· Sam: you may want to bring your own first-aid kit (we know you’re a little accident prone)
· Packing enough soap is always appreciated by others

2006-05-26T18:10:00.000-05:00

Commissioning of Missionaries

Allen has asked me to let everyone know that a week from this Sunday (June 4) we will commission our mission teams at the 11:00am service (the "mission commission").

Allen envisions every member of the team getting commissioned (Allen's "mission commission vision"). Please plan to attend, and if you attend, you will earn a commission. Don't worry if you show up a few minutes late, we will add you in as a "mission commission addition".

Otherwise you will go as non-commissioned, be assigned the rank of Private, and given a toothbrush on the day your team has bathroom cleanup duty (the "non-commissioned mission").

Please don't be missin' the mission commission. We may hunt down the missin' mission commission missionaries.

June 26 will be Mission Sunday. Please plan on speaking at one of the services where you will be decommissioned by Allen (also known as Allen's "mission decommission mission").

We also need you to assisting with the luncheon we are hosting for the church that day. The luncheon will be held in the fellowship hall in an event I like to call the "mission decommission commissary mission".

2006-05-22T14:25:00.000-05:00

Only 20 days until we leave. Here are some important dates and reminders between now and then:

Wednesday, May 31 - Golf Tournament at Lake Waco Country Club. Youth need to be at the clubhouse by 9:00am to start setting thing up. Tournament starts at 1:00pm. Hamburgers to follow. $25 for anyone who can get a recording of Pastor Allen cursing after a bad shot (this offer good for Pastor Allen only-recordings of other adults or cheesy imitations of Pastor Allen will not be accepted).

Saturday, June 3 - Mission Team Work Day at the church. We will paint some windows and eaves, install a door in the nursery area, and do some cleanup to the church yard, youth center and storage shed. Lunch will be provided, the work will be easy and a good time will be had by all. Brent Munden will lead a demonstration on plumbing and pest control. Wear something you can get paint on. Anyone not showing up for the work day will have to ride in the van with Brad Mayes singing Lynyrd Skynyr tunes all the way to Oklahoma on the trip.

Sunday, June 4 - FUSE! Worship Concert starts at 3:00pm. We will leave from the church by 1:30pm. By The Tree will be performing. Everyone is invited, but especially anyone who has ever been on a CTCYM trip. If you have an old mission trip shirt, wear it. If you've never been on a CTCYM trip before, this will give you a taste of the closing worship rally and how to have fun at a worship service.

Thursday, June 8 - Tool loading at the church at 6:00pm. Bring your tools, cots, fans and anything else that you don't need before the vans leave on Sunday. If you don't bring your dirty tools, fans, etc. on Thursday evening, it will end up stacked on top of your suitcases, sleeping bags and pillows on Sunday morning or strapped to the outside of a trailer.

Friday, June 9 - Allen, Dedra, Beth, Susan and Neal will leave from the church whenever they can wake Neal up and get him dressed. Charles will leave on Saturday morning after his cartoons are over.

Saturday, June 10 - Van drivers will meet at the church at 8:00am (Allen will be gone, so if you want to get together and decide to sleep in and go at 8:15, feel free) to pick up the vans in the high holy city of Elm Mott at the Midway (go figure) Auto Auction. If you don't know whether or not you are a van driver, we volunteered you. The vans will need to be gassed up and hooked up to the trailers at the church. Sandra and Janie will either have gas or the credit cards necessary to get gas that morning.

Saturday, June 10 - Bring your suitcases to the church at 11:00am for loading into the vans and trailers. Any suitcases not there by 11:15am will be chained to the back of the trailers and dragged to Oklahoma. If you have personal items like makeup, etc. you will need on Sunday morning, go ahead and load everything else, and bring those items in your shower bag Sunday. Boys bringing makeup on Sunday morning will need to have a long talk with Charlie Finley or Brent Munden.

Sunday, June 11 - Vans will leave the church at 7:30am. Be there a few minutes early and remember, your moms will want to take pictures that morning so wear a hat or something. Please, no singing "99 bottles of beer on the wall" in your vans, unless of course, you just want to annoy the van drivers. Sandra especially likes that little number. Also, no playing of any music brought by Tyler Munden. This is a church trip. Since youth are not allowed to bring cell phones on this trip, feel free to use your cell phone to send all the text messages you want to those riding in other vans. If your parents complain about the charges, tell them "Hey, I was on a mission from God." Remember to hide your cell phones well before arriving in Coweta. Any cell phones confiscated after you get there will be used by Charles Prause to call "1-900" numbers that week and you don't want your parents getting that bill.

Coweta Here We Come

2006-05-06T00:34:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone is ready for this year's mission trip. Some of us went up this week and visited the living center at FUMC Coweta and toured the town. What a great church and community! Here are some pictures from the living center and around town.

The first picture shown here is our
host church, First Methodist Coweta

This is the Family Life Center of First Methodist Coweta. It will be our home base during the mission trip. Those of you who have been on CTCYM trips before will find this is going to be the best host facility you've seen yet!

As you can see from this picture, the main fellowship hall in the Family Life Center is has full-sized carpeted basketball court.

Between the church and the Family
Life Center, we will be housed comfortably.

Nightly worship services will be in the church's
sanctuary, which is equipped with audio/visual
and sound systems. Notice the drop-down screen and projector mounted on the ceiling.

Hope you're ready to go!