A little information on our work crews:

The St. Louis Ramps
Members include: Rick Ross, Hannah Rice, Randy Carrier, Sharon Wallace, Ron Krieger, Bill Lee, Claudia Gable
This team has been completing a ramp that a previous group started, and just today finished putting up the hand rail and pickets. Everyone on their team has become a power tool master, especially Hannah Rice, who has found her life's passion while using a nail gun. Ron Krieger continues to wander off the worksite to snap photos of butterflies, and Sharon is working on picking up a Souther accent from their Hinton staffer, Jason. When Claudia's not nailed down, she's been picking up all sorts of new skills around the site.

The Ishes
Members include: Jim Heidbreder, Dana Heidbreder, Lynn Schenck, Jane McDowell, Michelle Jacobcik, Michael Hill, and Emily Stokes.
This team has been doing a lot of measuring; the deck that had been installed by the previous group turned out to be more of a parallelogram than a rectangle, so the group is working to rectify this issue, as well as put the finishing touches on it. Today, the team was there when the electric company worked on the electrical box. After the electric guys left, the team noticed a smell of something hot. They called the company, and the guys returned and checked out the box, discovering no problems. They left again, but the team continued to smell the odor. Eventually, the team figured out that the smell was actually coming from the battery-powered drill they were working with, so when the electric company called back to check in on things, the team was able to tell them that there was no problem!

The St. Louis Arch Angels
Members include: George McDowell, Chelsey Hillyer, Jordan Ault, Dan Stokes, Pat Church, Ed Mills, and Heidi Hays.
This team has painted the entire exterior and trim of a home, and will begin work on soffits and an outhouse tear-down tomorrow. This group is chock full of characters who are working their hearts out. Pat entertains the owner's cat, Oreo; Dan tells the owner she's wonderful; George takes "special care" of Sparky; Heidi teaches us about plants and insects; Ed has the best eye for detail in the bunch; Jordan actually got up on a ladder once; and I have a special talent for being covered in paint by the end of the day.

Kitchens' Kirkwood Crew
Members include: Susie Mitch, Barbie Shadburn, Dianie Ross, Angela-ey Quinn, Jimie Daues, and Bobie Schenck, and Markie Bowers.
This team has been working on the daunting project of cleaning and organizing a home that has been heavily neglected. Most of their energy has been spent in getting the kitchen into functional order, with the goal of getting out to the deck for some repairs. Their homeowner has everything AND the kitchen sink in her home, so when they discovered a 5 foot whip, the group's fearless leader put it to use. Their homeowner has a very talanted dog named Tabby. Tabby is capable of singing along to a lovely melody that the homeowner howls out. It is truly a sight to behold. Be sure to look for a post of video evidence soon.

The Kudzu Kids
Members include: Deane Thompson, Dena Stokes, Cathy Poe, Jim Small, Karin Lindahl, Fanci Thompson, Casey Szpak.
This team has been putting a railing on a porch railing of a new home in the Wesley Meadows project. This project involves not only volunteers from Hinton, but the homeowners themselves, in the building of the house. Apparently, this team has some strange stories about kudzu overtaking Dena. Karin enjoys wandering in the weeds until she contracts a rash. And Fanci celebrated her 35th birthday today!

As you can see, we are all having a rewarding time here in Hinton. And if you are reading this and wondering, "Should I go on mission with KUMC?" The answer is YES! Just look at how much fun comes along with our hard work.

 

Check out our photos from today by clicking here!

Chelsey Hillyer, reporting for blogging duty. Just got back to the retreat center after a day of work to discover a couple of other teams scattered around, working on their quilt squares (each team creates a quilt square to be made into a quilt. The quilts are then hung all around the Hinton center), or checking in with each other. If it seems a little early for us to be arriving back at the center, it is. This year, Hinton has put an added focus on making the mission experience one of personal and spiritual reflection. So, we have been encouraged to take time in the afternoon to spend alone or in groups. This has resulted in a lot of space for exploration and group bonding, and like Jordan wrote yesterday, our group is becoming one that trusts each other in ways we probably couldn't have imagined when we gathered for meetings months earlier.

I must add to Jordan's chronicle of last evening. We had a visit from a very special guest who only makes a sporadic appearance. All of the newbies met Klondike Bill and had a rip-roaring good time getting to know him. Casey Szpak struck up the best friendship with him, and reaped the rewards that accompany such a friendship.

Today, just as yesterday, there was rain in the forecast, but it held off and stayed clear and sunny through the work day. The days are pretty warm here. All the Hinton staffers have said this has been an especially hot summer, and the area is currently still considered to be in drought condition despite the rain of recent weeks. It makes for a hot work day, but with the opportunity to hop in Lake Chatuge after work or to come back and take a cool shower, it's nothing to complain about. Especially when we consider that most of the houses we are working on have no air conditioning (and if they do, it's usually a window unit installed in a family- or bedroom.

Tonight, the entire work force at Hinton will gather for announcements and supper (it's Taco Tuesday), and then the Kirkwood group plans to take in some features of the local community, such as the John C. Campbell Folk Center, the local glass blower, and wood potter.

Later, I'll be updating with more information about each Kirkwood team and what they are working on this week. As always, thank you for your continued prayers. We love you and keep you in ours.
 

Check out our photos from today by clicking here!

This is your guest blogger, Jordan Ault, giving Chelsey a well-deserved night off.  Today was our first full day at our work sites.  We all headed out for an early breakfast, packed up our sandwiches, threw our tools in our vehicles, and hit the road.

There are fourteen work groups at Hinton this week, five of which are from KUMC.  Group #7 was clearly the all star group: Dan Stokes, George McDowell, Heidi Hays, Ed Mills, Pat Church, Chelsey Hiller, and yours truly.  We spent the morning with our homeowner, Willa Mae.  She lives on a beautiful site with one of her daughters in the house up the hill and the other daughter down the hill.  Some of her great-grandchildren were visiting while we were there, which was a treat.  Her house was clean and neat, but in need of physical repair.  We spent a few hours painting the exterior and getting ready to repair the fascia and soffit later this week (which, admittedly, were words that I didn't even know yesterday).  It was hard work in the hot sun, but we kept hydrated and had a great time.

We prepared to eat lunch outside, but Willa Mae insisted that come inside.  She had set a table with fresh cucumbers and tomatoes from her garden, sweet tea, and a chocolate cake.  We were the envy of all of Hinton!  We left the site early to head back to the blueberry bushes at Hinton.  The kitchen staff needed help picking blueberries for the week, and we were tapped to help out.  Another hot job, but we made sure that 8 or 9 out of every 10 blueberries that we picked found their way to the kitchen for breakfasts and dinners later this week.

We returned to Hinton with time to relax.  Some went for a swim in Lake Chatuge, others enjoyed a walk in the woods, and others took the opportunity for a much-needed nap.  We had a delicious dinner and then gathered at our retreat house for a devotion and a discussion of our day.  Each of the groups is tackling a different project, but we're all working hard and making a difference.

Aside from the hard work we're doing on homes throughout the area, we're also very focused on building relationships and community.  If you've ever been on a mission trip, you know how easy community-building can be.  Our loyal group of 35 has blossomed from people that you would say hello to in the halls of KUMC to an extremely close-knit group.  To me, the most amazing thing about our group is how different we are.  We have a variety backgrounds, experiences, and talents.  We range from the early twenties to the (cough-cough)ties.  We're about as varied a group as you can find, but we have one thing in common: we've devoted our hands and our hearts to doing God's work here in God's country.  We have each been blessed in many ways; sometimes a change of perspective is all you need to realize it.  As Bob Schenck put it: if you ever have trouble counting your blessings, spend a day at one of our work sites.  We learn in Gallatians that we are to use the freedoms and blessings God has given us to serve one another through love.

This was only our first day on our job sites, and we have already come to love each other and the homeowners with whom we're working.

Good night and God bless from beautiful Hayesville.

Check out our photos from today by clicking here!

Whew! As Sue put it: Today has been the first of a week of long days. And today was only our bonding day! This year, instead of a few of us going white water rafting, we opted to rent three pontoon boats and to spend a day out on the water. The idea was that we would get to know each other, and it proved to be a good one! We departed from the boat rental dock at 9am, and spent the next few hours alternately cruising on and swimming in Lake Chatuge. The lake itself is the same one that the Hinton property overlooks, but it was a whole different experience to be on the water. There wasn't much traffic on the lake, so the water was smooth. And every time we looked up, we saw the mountains all around us, even reflected in the water.

Without any bias, I can honestly say that Captain Jordan's boat was the most fun. We held a dance party during our cruise to the second swimming site, complete with twisting and wonderful arm gesticulations. However, it was promptly put to a stop when we found out we were not allowed to stand while the boat was moving, let alone dance. Fortunately, we found this out after Jim Daues had grace with his incredible moves.

After some minor issues with a boat that didn't want to start (there is a conspiracy theory that Barb Shadburn sabatoged it in order to secure a discount on our rentals), we headed back to land. We split up for lunch, then returned to the retreat center to clean up before our orientation.

Sue distributed our mission shirts which are a lovely, subtle shade of fluorescent yellow, and we headed over to meet the other groups who are at Hinton this week. A little over 100 people are donating their time in mission here this week. There is one other adult group, and several youth groups. Everyone from the staff to the newest missionary had an excitement about the week's work. The KUMC group introduced ourselves with a wonderful joke: What do you call 35 missionaries who wear matching yellow t-shirts? Lemon-aids! It took Sue a while to understand the joke, and then another while to convince her to tell it, but it went over quite well.

We then ate dinner, broke off in our work teams to find out about our projects, then attended Sunday evening worship. The worship was led by the Hinton staffers, which are mostly a group of young and talented college students. The message emphasized that while the work we accomplish on the physical structures is important, but that our real work is to reach out to the people we encounter (both in our teams and in our work) with the love of God. We were then each anointed with oil (either on our forehead or hand) and commissioned for our service here. Upon returning to the retreat center, Sue emphasized the importance of both building community and taking the time to grow ourselves spiritual during this time. I think we all feel ready for the week ahead.

We just rejoiced at the arrival of our final group member, Angela Quinn! And upon the Cubs loss, Sue has retreated, dejected, to her room.

Hello all! This is Chelsey Hillyer, your faithful Hinton blogger reporting. We have arrived safely at the Hinton Rural Life Center! Thank you all for your prayers of safe travels. We left KUMC at about 7am, after being prayed off by Pastor Dave and many prayer partners. It was a quiet ride down. Well, uneventful anyway. Our group of 35 were able to get to know one another and swap life stories. Who knew that Randy Carrier’s first job was selling seed packets as a fifth grader!? As we wound further into the hills near the Ocoee River, it began to rain lightly. A fog lifted off the river and made a beautiful sight. And before long, a rainbow revealed itself, and we decided that it bode well for our trip.

 We arrived at the retreat center, our home for the next week, at about 9pm. A few friends met us: KUMC Members At A Distance Jim and Dana Heidbreder had stocked our cabin with goodies and greeted us with warm hugs. Sue then unveiled who our Captains would be for our pontoon outing tomorrow: Jim Heidbreder, Cathy Poe, Jordan Ault, and George McDowell. We all divided into groups behind our captains and packed our coolers for the next day. A knock came at the door, and in came Julia, Hinton’s Volunteer Coordinator, and Buddy, a Hinton pal and workbuddy of Sue’s. Both will be honorary members of KUMC for the duration of the week, and they will join us on our excursion tomorrow.

Now, everyone is settled in their rooms. Mark Brewer and Jim Small are having an impromptu jam session on the back porch, their music barely audible above the din of the crickets and cicadas. We are all looking forward to the coming week to see how God is revealed to us. Please continue to pray for a spirit-filled and safe week for us.