Setting the Bar to Blow It Away

There are more volunteers here this particular week than there have been for some time. We are about 150  all together, including the delegation from Grace Fellowship Church; a group of friends from Texas, Florida, and Tennessee; a group from the Bronx, New York; and a Habitat for Humanity Group arriving just now. This influx of volunteers is much appreciated by the staff running this camp, as they are feeling the pressure of promises they made to homeowners even as the money to keep the camp going is running out.

Today, they had one particular large job. There was a park with a mulch walkway that was falling apart. The plan is to rip out the walkway, and use the mulch for all the trees and playground areas after weeding them. (They will eventually redo the walkway with asphalt.)

We used crowbars and hammers to break apart the composite barriers that were supposed to be holding up the walkway. We lifted the beams--about 6" x 14'--onto trucks, then took them to another site and dumped them. We raked mulch, and put it around the bases of easily 75-100 trees. We were thrilled that this park had a little "water playground" area. At lunch, we ran through the fountains to rinse ourselves off, then played frisbee with some neighborhood kids. (We'll be remembering Malik and Victoria in our prayers!) As the afternoon went on, a few families came to the park as well. In the midst of our work, we had the opportunity to talk to them. They asked us who we were and where we were from. (Our "northern accents" gave us away pretty quickly.) We shared our story of why we are here, and asked them about their experiences.

Toward the end of the work day, I was walking by a picnic area. A family with three young children (and one large dog!) was conversing with a few members of our group. As I walked past, I overheard the father say, "Well, on behalf of all the people of Mississippi, we thank you for your help."

We do not work for recognition. We do not work for the praise of men. We do not work so that our efforts will be praised. That doesn't mean I didn't enjoy his heartfelt declaration of appreciation. It just means that we keep working whether we hear this kind of encouragement or not.

Those who coordinate the camp and volunteer work here estimated that this job would take 40 people 3-5 days to complete. Since the delegation from our church is large (26 people, it turns out, not 28), they sent our entire group to that site. We were joined by the another group of about 4 men--so about 30 of us all together......We finished the entire job today. It's amazing what a group of motivated people can do when they are committed to the work, and the job has God's protection and provision. We are in awe of what He enabled us to accomplish today, and I'm so excited about what different adventure God will have for us tomorrow.

We're just honored to have the opportunity to be His body and share His love by helping hurting people.