Hi all,

We returned around 5pm safely to the NOUMC Parking Lot. We look forward to sharing our stories and pictures with you at upcoming Ice Cream Socials and Slideshows; those dates will be announced soon.

Thank you for reading and for supporting the mission trip. We will post a couple of end-of-the-week updates, as well as some pictures, in the next couple of days, and make sure to check back in mid July for the Dove of the Desert UMC blog, also at www.itstheirmission.org!

Dan B
NOUMC

We’re post-candlewalk here. For those that don’t know, the candlewalk is the ceremony we have on Friday night where we each light and carry candles in a long winding line to form a circle, to reflect on the week and share.

We’re tired, but generally content. Our work is done, the sites have been cleaned, the tools put away, and we’re all looking forward to returning to our comfort zones. But as we circle up and we look across at the flamelit faces around the group, we think back on our experiences of the week. And we go around the circle, each person sharing their thoughts, often in very personal and emotional terms. As an adult, its a real joy to hear the youth as they explore the depths of their feelings in seriousness that they usually would not share with us. It is also a joy for those of us that have been coming to these missions for years to think back to these same youth in years past. To see the shy kid from three years ago step forward and speak of their growth in ways that put our attempts at speech to shame. To see young men that epitomize raw strength and brash bravado openly and honestly thank their friends for giving them spiritual nourishment they need. For me this is pure joy. You see the growth, you see the blossoming of beautiful souls that will make an impact on our world in ways we can’t even imagine today. This gives even cynics like me hope in the future.

But at the same time I begin to understand the growth that I’ve experienced as well. Most of this seems to come from being put outside my comfort zone, being exposed to new people, being put into situations I usually avoid. Take a step in someone else’s shoes. From that I can feel myself grow inside.

James

Wednesday night was very fun! After a hard day of working during the hottest day of the week our group got to go to the beach off of the lake. We walked up and down the beach for most of the afternoon and evening. It was perfect. The water was cold, but felt wonderful after a hard half day’s work. We did our nightly devotions at the beach, ate dinner, and got ice cream after dinner. It was a great break after a very busy and tiring week. Back to work to help those less fortunate than we are.

Elizabeth

Work Team Three Members
Dave
Addie
Cameron
Claire
Hanna
Don
Chris

This week we have all been very busy scraping, painting, priming, and trimming bushes. During this week we have also had to deal with many challenges with low wires from the telephone poles. The last challenge that we have to deal with on our work site is that the ground is very uneven and are team is working on ladders that can reach highs of 32 feet. This is what our Team has Been working on this week.

Dave

This week on team #3, my team has been scraping a lot and getting ready to prime and paint. On the work site we all are having fun and working hard at the same time. Our team hopes to get all of the work that needs to be done, done by the end of the week. Every day that we have been working, every day has involved being on a ladder. I think that I have been off the ground more than I have been on the ground. One of the days I had to use a saws-all to cut a big tree branch off. One of the things that I look forward to each day after working is over is going back to the church and relaxing, hanging out with friends, and eating dinner. Dinner is one of the best parts of the day(besides breakfast). I really don’t want this week to be over because it is just such a wonderful experience, and is a lot of fun.

Cameron

Well, actually…. Half-a-Day of work and Half-a-Day at the Beach….. sunny and clear, hot and full of people…. that’s Grand Haven, Michigan’s beautiful, sandy State Park beach…. swim, swim, swim. wade, wade, walk, walk, walk, swim, swim, swim, dinner, reports, devotions, swim, swim, swim, etc, etc, etc….. and now awaiting the ice cream finale……
paz, salaam, shalom….gk

The Arizona Representative has made it! I joined Team 3 on our house and began to Prime. There are several other Jobs that I will become aware of in the near future. After having completed my own recon trip to Albuquerque, I feel very confident about Dove’s Mission in 2 weeks, and am thrilled to be among friends in Grand Rapids. More later. Hi Dove people!!!!!!!

-Jason

The kitchen’s HOT HOT HOT!

Sharon has become one with the griddle.

Everyone gets up early to pack lunches from Barb’s amazing lunch buffet.

The beauty and variety of Judy’s salad bar has been one of the new Kodak moments.

Carol continues to discover more GFS, Meier and Target locations to keep the fresh fruit and veges stocked.

Tammy made the Turtle Delight dessert again this year, once more to rave reviews.

And we’re getting ready for 30+ guests for Friday dinner.

We enjoy hearing the creative team reports to learn what’s happening throughout this community. Jesus’ energy flows as these young people use their hands to show God’s love to the world. We are blessed!

Peace-

All of us in the Kitchen

Hello everyone back at home im writing to you from grand rapids on wednesday june 24.
we just ate some delicious oatmeal this morning alond with som fruit and muffins. it is almost about time to be heading out to our work sites for onle half a day! we get to pack up around noon today and then head to our shower destinations and come back to the chutrch where we will then get in our travel vans and head off the the beach/park for the rest of the day.
im super excited and having so muvh fun here in grand rapids! talk to s you soon!
amanda d

Right now is “free time” Tammy M. and Amy have a playing a fierce a game of ping-pong, there are several youth and adults writing WOE’s (words of encouragement) some adults are hanging out in the lunchroom getting to know each other,and the rest are lounging on their beds.
Today was a fun filled day for our team scraping, scraping, scraping …. a very large house. Hopefully we will get to paint some tomorrow. We had an awesome dinner of pasta, garlic bread and a full salad bar followed by a very yummy “turtle” ice cream treat. We had a native Spanish treat called palatos(?), they are like Popsicle but with some unusual flavors such as cucumber/chili pepper. Looking forward to a day at the beach tomorrow after working in the am.
Chris

Today we did a lot of paint scraping and attempted to pull out a windowsill. We did not quite get it out all the way but we got a good start on taking the windowsill out. During our lunch time we came up with seven animal names for roll call and we all thought they were very funny. After lunch we did a lot more scrapping and then cleaned up. We also posed for a picture on the roof. That was what team three worked on during the day. Addie

Today was a bit of a slow start this morning. After a hard day of work yesterday, many of us need quite a bit of sleep. However, after a good ol’ cup of coffee and a wonderful breakfast from our kitchen crew, we are getting ready to leave for our work site.

Yesterday’s word of the day was GROW. As you can imagine, many of us had our first MGE’s (magical growth experiences) for the week–not enough materials, sizing up the enormous task before us, getting to know our team, ect. My particular team (Team Emily) found that underneath some ply board that had been nailed to the back of the house, there was clothes and pillows being used as insulation for the bathroom. It can be quite overwhelming to see how these people live and how much work needs to be done on their houses.

Today’s word is GROOVE because we need to get into the groove of things. Today our goal is to buckle down and start getting into the full swing of working. Now that we are acclimated, we are ready to take on these task with everything we have to improve the life of the people we are working for. (You might even say that it’s time to “get our groove on”).

God is Good,
All the time,
All the time,
God is Good,

Emily #1

Just finished up our chores from day 1. Our team was assigned bathroom duty. Better to get it out of the way early. Anyway today we started several projects on our work site. The house has a deteriorating exterior and we have started applying stucco to repair the damage. While that was getting started another small group started priming the side of the house for a fresh coat of paint. The project I enjoyed most today was removing the roof off of the front porch. Today we made great time and removed the shingles of the entire roof and then added a layer of tar paper over half of the area. We discovered that one of the boards on the roof had rotten through and has to be replaced. Tomorrow we hope to continue stucco work, start painting and begin laying down shingles after replacing that board.

Every thing is running smoothly.
God is good.
Phil W. (Crew Chief Team #4)

Today was a typical day for the directors. Planned our day, woke everyone up (has anyone seen Michelle’s iPod?), made breakfast announcements, ate breakfast (thanks kitchen crew!), tried to help everyone figure out where they were working today (successful), tried to fix the icemaker (unsuccessful), went shopping with Carol for groceries and miscellany, ate lunch, planned evening schedule, hitched a ride with a GRASP staffer to Team 3’s worksite, took pictures, did some work, headed back to the church, took a shower, checked with some of the new missionaries, wrote some W.O.E.s, made signs, circled for dinner, ate, blogged, and…well the rest hasn’t happened yet. I’m gonna sleep well tonight.

We arrived in Grand Rapids yesterday at roughly 7:03 P.M. and unloaded the truck. We all got settled and went to the sanctuary to be assigned to our work teams. This happened at approximately 9:17 P.M. and since yesterday was summer solstice, it didn’t get dark until like 10:30! Yeah, then we went to bed. This morning we woke up then ate some yummy bacon. And now, were going to work!
Sam D.

God is Good, All the time.

After 7 hours of travel everyone arrived safe and sound. I was placed in the second grouping of vans/cars 5,6, 7,8 and truck. We had some very interesting incidents with flying animals. One nearly missed van 7, and then the truck had an unfortunate incident with a pigeon. We shall keep the memories of that poor bird in our prayers. Most of the travel went fairly smoothly, until we arrived to an accident. Our travel team was the first group to arrive, and we were towards the first 1/2 mile of the stopped traffic. It took about an hour to travel that half mile. After passing the scene, everyone could not stop thinking about the people that were involved in the accident. There were at least 4 ambulances and a helicopter that were on the scene. We are all praying for the recovery of those that were involved with the accident.

After arrival we unloaded the truck with what seemed to be a never ending line of people. Set up beds, ate baked potatoes, got the lay of the land, found out work teams, then off to bed. The adults stayed up to figure out the work sites and plan out the events for tomorrow.
Please keep everyone in your thoughts and prayers, and I assure you that wonderful Monday stories are to come ahead!

All the time, God is good!
-Karen E.

We arrived at 7.10 pm this evening (June 21st, 2009) safe and sound, after being held up for a long spell by an accident a 1/2 mile or so ahead of us on Rt 23…. when we got here, we unloaded the truck, had a great dinner, got team assignments, chose our work sites and are all bedded down for the night…. lots of work to do at all our sites…. but i know we’re up to the challenge…. keep the folks in the accident, our client families and all of us in your prayers….. more later…
gene

Our family is just about ready to go. Phil has left to go find some memory cards for his camera. Michelle and Emily seem to be ready to go. And I’m running around the house trying to think of anything I may have forgotten. I suppose I need to give up and have faith that whatever we’ve forgotten, we’ll figure it out. I’m told they have stores in Grand Rapids…

It’s almost time…

-John

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