Having lunch at Culvers in Newton, IA... just about to finish up and head out. It's 2:58 PM CST.

By the way... if you click on a photo, it will enlarge. If you're looking for your teen and don't see them, you will if you look at the full-sized picture. :)

The Last Leg

We're about to finish our breakfast here at the hotel in Mishawaka, IN, and will then head out on the last leg of the trip at 8:00 EST / 7:00 CST. Mapquest says it's a ten hour and 19 minute drive, and we'll need to stop and gas up 2-3 times, as well as eat lunch. So... barring any unforseen issues, we'll likely roll in between 6:00 - 7:00 tonight.

See ya then!

Another great day!

That video is Andrew and Ben riding a great ride at Cedar Point.

Right now we're at a fast food court outside Toledo having supper... Hardees and Mexican food. Yum. We'll spend the night in Mishawaka, IN, getting there in a couple of hours.

A few photos before we head out...

We're off!

Coming to a close...

We were able to pull out of the OVU campus at around 9:30 this morning- an hour later than usual. It was cool and comfortable outside, a welcome change from yesterday!

As one crew would finish up their house, they'd be re-assigned to another work site, and by and large, everything got finished. Tonight they hosted a banquet in the OVU gymnasium and had a slide show of before and after photos of the nearly 50 homes that were painted this week. Some of them didn't even look like the same places! Several of the homeowners said a few words about how touched they were that anyone would do such a thing for them. Some thought, when first approached, that it was a scam and were very skeptical, but that they now have a renewed faith in young people. It was extremely touching.

Tomorrow morning (well, THIS morning- it's after midnight) we head out for Sandusky, OH at 6:00 AM. We'll spend the day celebrating all their effort at Cedar Point, a well-known amusement park on Lake Erie, and will head back towards York afterwards, stopping at Mishawaka, IN for the night.

We haven't talked about what time we'll pull out of Mishawaka on Saturday morning, but chances are it will be at around 7:00 AM EST. It's a 10 hour drive, but we'll make several stops on the way and we'll have an hour time change. It's conceivable we could be home between 7:00 - 8:00 Saturday PM, but that's a rough estimate.

Hopefully the kids who brought cameras will turn over their disks for awhile tomorrow, and we can get more photos uploaded. Since everyone scattered all over the region every day, only those at worksights closest to East Hill's photogrpher were able to be photographed with a lot of frequency... Toby, Taylor, Daniel, Brady, Janae, and Kay. It will be nice to see if the others also took pictures to share with you.

Until tomorrow...!

Hi Ho, Hi Ho...

Do we go off to work today or not? That's the question on everyone's mind. It's been raining for awhile, and they've moved us into the gym for breakfast. The past two days have been full of hard, hard work. Some have finished their houses and are being re-located to other job sites.


Tonight OVU will host a banquet for those whose houses we have painted. The will pick up the homeowners in limousines and bring them to the OVU campus, where they will be our guests of honor. Betty, an elderly woman whose house is being painted by two from our East Hill group got teary-eyed when she learned that there was even more to this experience for her than just getting her house painted.

Here are a couple of videos of some of our kids cooling off after a hot day of work...




Until tomorrow... or tonight....eosdphfre'fr

A few pix from yesterday...

It's a Blessing to Be a Blessing

First, some photos from our trip up here that refused to upload last night...

Getting there is half the fun...


Hiking to the devotional/communion spot we found in Clear Creek Park...


Sharing our dreams for the week...



On the road again...


Yesterday - Monday - was a great first day. At first, we were all apprehensive about the fact that we were going to be divided up in different work groups. Our East Hillers were in pairs and assigned to other teams of 7-14 people. It's turned out to be an awesome experience. The people whose houses we are painting are so, so grateful for the assistance. Some are elderly and on fixed incomes and their homes haven't seen a fresh coat of paint for many, many years. Their stories and histories are all so different, but the bottom line is that what we are doing for them is more than paint deep.


And the same can be said for the impact they are having on us.




So many of them have said that they just can't believe hundreds of kids would give up a week of their summer to stand in the West Virginia heat with paint running down their arms to help out people they'll never see again. We, on the other hand, are amazed at the machine it takes to run a project like this. The city of Parkersburg donated $15,000 towards supplies, paint, etc. Panera Bread, Burger King, Papa John's Captain D's... the food has been great. Churches in the area host scads of kids for lunch each day in their fellowship halls as they are bussed over from nearby work sites. It's amazing and heartwarming!



Our East Hill kids.... Wow. Talk about second-milers. They work so hard, and yet still have so much enthusiasm and energy each night as they share the highs and lows of the day. We all meet for some group sharing time at around 10:30 PM, and each of us gives one high and one low of the day. Ben didn't have any lows and just gave two highs... and that sort of gave others permission to do the same. They are all so glad for the opportunity to participate in a service project that's not just contrived to give teenagers something to do with the moniker "Service Project" tacked on it to make it sound substantial. This is the real deal. No doubt about it.

Today - Tuesday - was more of the same. Hard work, appreciative recipients, a lot of sweat, and a lot of satisfied smiles.

This evening was the "Night on the Town" during which each group was supposed to go off campus to eat. We all wore our camp t-shirts and showed the city of Parkersburg how much we appreciate all that THEY do to make this happen by patronizing their businesses. A co-team leader of Janae and Brenda's recommended a place called Kokomos. He said if you have a group of six or more that they will pick you up in a limousine at no cost. Yep. No cost. Since there were definitely MORE than six of us, and the price range was right, how could we not go there?? :)

The restaurant was on the Ohio River, and we got to eat outside and watch the boats go by. The weather was gorgeous and the food really good.

It's been a great day.

Apologies for the lateness of these posts and pictures. The unsecured wireless connection at OVU is a little more secure than one might think, but we're finally online. HOORAY!

Sunday morning, June 21...

Ahhhh, Breakfast!

The Quality Inn & Suites at the airport had a great more-than-continental breakfast. Biscuits & gravy, waffles, cereal, juices, coffee... it was a good thing.

After a song and a prayer we hit the road for Columbus, OH at a little after 9:00.

We plan to picnic on KFC chicken and have our own Sunday morning worship service at Clear Creek Metro Park in Rockbridge, OH at around 12:30. We'll probably enjoy the park for awhile, since it's just another 79 miles to our final destination in Vienna, WV, and we can't check in until 5:00.

Sunday Afternoon

Our trip into Ohio was beautiful. On our way to Clear Creek, we happened upon a covered bridge. It's no longer in use as a bridge, and it took about five seconds for us to make the decision to stop there for lunch. It was interesting to survey the architecture over a KFC chicken leg and a nectarine or two.

Once we'd cleaned up, we headed down the road to Clear Creek. The big, rolling hills were covered with an incredible amount of vegetation – big old oaks and walnut trees, with great hiking trails everywhere. There were some pretty incredible rocks, too!

We made our way through the woods to a clearing, and it was there that we shared communion and had a time to voice our hopes for the week ahead. Each of us took a piece of string, and one by one we wound our strings around sticks to make a dreamcatcher. This is an amazing group of teens. Some had been worried that leaving right after Soul Quest wasn't the best idea in the world, but they had all come to the conclusion that an opportunity to put their faith into action right on the heels of such an inspiring week will actually be a good thing.

The sponsors on this road trip really couldn't have been blessed with a better group of kids. There's been no complaining or arguing despite the fact that most of them were wiped out before we even left town. They're on time when we need to leave, they've been polite and... it's just been really, really good.

Sunday PM

We arrived on campus at around 6:15. After a quick hamburger supper, we found our rooms, carried our stuff in, and then headed out to a singing/devotional activity in the gym. They dismissed the adults to go be trained for their leadership roles, and ultimately everyone ended up meeting with the groups with which they will be painting houses. Everyone got to see a picture of the house they'd been assigned, and to read a little about the homeowner(s). It was really neat to see firsthand what kind of an impact we'll be able to make.

Again... it just can't be stressed enough what a pleasure it is to travel with this group. Janae said it best at our Dreamcatcher session today when she said she's just so proud to be their sponsor.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Monday

Wow - what a day!

They are treating us extremely well here. Shane made a run to Tim Horton's to get some coffee to go with our breakfast (for the adults, of course!) We were soooo excited to see that breakfast had been donated by Panera Bread. Yum! Between the muffins and the asagio cheese and cinnamon bagels, we were in great shape and ready to go with our groups to our houses and get to work!

The East Hill teens are divided into sets of two/three students and they go with various work crews. Unfortunately, that means we can't get photos of everyone, since we're scattered around the area. Whitney and Macy are way far away painting a 100+ year old church bldg. that has no running water - outhouses are the name of the game! Todd was assigned to a house in similar circumstances.

Photos don't seem to want to upload well tonight, so watch for more tomorrow.

Again....thanks so much for your prayers!

687.95 Miles... but who's counting?

Shane and Todd definitely win the Super Driver Awards. Todd's driving the van, Shane's driving the bus, and the rest of us are grateful!


We made it to Indy in good time, pulling in to our hotel at around 7:00 CST (8:00 Eastern). We were all pretty tired, and decided that eating pizza in sounded like a good idea. The kids watched tv in the lobby for awhile while the adults got hold of Papa John's.



David and Judy Lynn are in Indy for the weekend, and they picked up the pizza for us and came by for a quick hello...




A few swam, but now everyone is squared away in their rooms and our eyes are heavy. We'll worship on the road at a beautiful Ohio park tomorrow, and then finish our trip to WV.

After a prayer for safe travel we hit the road. We're now almost to St. Joseph, MO, and nobody under 21 is awake.

What's up with that?

Today's the day! 18 high school teens and 6 adults from East Hill are bound for the Mid-Ohio Valley Work Camp, headquartered in Vienna, West Virginia. We'll go as far as Indianapolis, IN tonight, stopping for a quick lunch in Hannibal, MO. The literature says it will be the best week of our lives, so if you see one of us next week, be sure to ask if the brochure was correct!

The Cast of Characters is as follows:

Matt McEuen, Whitney Wiemer, Ben Lynn, Daniel Magner, Anna Hoehn, Macy Mountjoy, Andrew Rush, Hannah Sheldon, Brady Sikes, Ryan Hinds, Ethan Owens, Jennie Magner, Lulu Wang, Ashlee Ivey, John Hoehn, Karlie Mountjoy, Toby Lewis, Taylor Wiemer, Kay Magner, Shane Mountjoy, Todd Sheldon, Nick Parsons, Janae Parsons, and Brenda Sikes.

Many of our teens are tired - no, EXHAUSTED - from Soul Quest. It's a satisfied kind of tired... but still, it's a tough way to start a long trip. Please keep them in your prayers, that they'll have the stamina they need to keep sickness at bay!

A huge thanks, again, to those who provided moral and financial support as drug lords and swine flu led us to transition from a trip to build a church in Mexico to an opportunity to paint homes for the elderly and disabled in the impoverished Appalachian region of the U.S.. Never underestimate how much you are appreciated for your part in this service!

We'll try to check in again later today. In the meantime... have a blessed Saturday!