Old Union Church's Mission Trip to Texas, July 22-28, 2018
Old Union Presbyterian Church of Mars PA organized a team of 26 people from seven churches to travel to Corpus Christ, Texas, where we assisted in the rebuilding work following Hurricane Harvey.
Monday, July 30, 2018
Mission Trip Photos
Go to https://photos.app.goo.gl/CmCTYGqckQdAMWH69 to see all our photos from the trip!
Sunday, July 29, 2018
Safely Home
Saturday morning we woke up and enjoyed a delicious breakfast that our kitchen crew put together from our leftovers from the week. The rest of our food went to a local homeless shelter. After cleaning up our living space (thank you, host church!) we left for the airport. Corpus Christi's airport is rather small, with only five gates. So none of us managed to get lost. Our flight was delayed, which meant that we had to boogie to catch our connecting flight in Dallas/Ft. Worth. One more flight, and we landed in Pittsburgh about 6:40 PM.
Thanks to everyone for your prayers and support. I'll be posting a link to the photo album for our trip.
Saturday, July 28, 2018
Pictures from Wednesday, Thursday, Friday
Sunrise over the USS Lexington on our way to work
The only crown we could find for our "Kitchen Queen"
Nap time in the van ride home
Elvis' blessing on the floor paper at the Refugio house
The Fulton (aka Rockport) house
Friday at the Food Bank
Friday at the Food Bank
The Food Bank crew
Friday, July 27
Friday is the end of most work weeks, and so it was
for us. Scattered cumulus clouds and somewhat
increased humidity greeted us outside.
Sometimes (actually usually) I am surprised by how warm/hot it feels
outside, compared to the always cool AC inside.
And
before I forget again, let me now say “thank you much” to our Katie for making
the Appreciation Poster for our gracious hosts Parkway Church yesterday for us
all to sign. Great job! Let me also thank everyone for taking such
great photos, snapping pictures left and right.
We all had a hand in making the week better for us all, so let me say
for everyone how much we needed the efforts of each individual, living together
as one loving Christian community.
Especially the work that we came here to do: fixing up broken homes (and hence broken
lives) in weather conditions that we definitely were not used to and which
could make anyone extra cranky. Overall,
I am very impressed and pleased at how nice we all were.
Once
again we broke up into 2 groups. The
first group went to finish the job started yesterday at the Rockport house, the
one very close to the coastline– finish up the second coat of blue paint on the
one side, and brush on white paint to the window and door trim. Since the weather would again soon be hot and
humid, they left the church at 6:30 AM.
While a second group, comprised of me and others, got to sleep in, since
we did not leave Parkway until 9:15 (were we lucky or what?!) Since House #1 was not ready today for more
volunteers, we had a special task – to help out at the local Coastal Bend Food
Bank, located in an industrial section of Corpus Christi. It was nestled amongst warehouses, small
factories and businesses, restaurants, and even a few hotels (they seem to be
everywhere.) Once inside the facility we
were warmly greeted by Vanessa. After
donning visitor name badges and signing in, Vanessa separated us into two
groups and showed us what to do. We were
able to help-out by unloading big boxes (like the watermelon boxes at grocery
stores) full of assorted food products and repackaging them into smaller banana
boxes until the scales said they weighed a certain amount. These then were put on a pallet and then,
once four high, were ready to be moved, and eventually be given to individual
families. Our group was prepared to stay
until 3 PM, but since another volunteer group from a local drink distributor
was scheduled to come in, we had to leave at 1PM.
So what
to do while on “vacation” far from home on a nice day? Shopping, of course. Some of the members of the second group had
been to the Lexington or Aquarium on Wednesday, so had been able to spot 2 cool
gift shops for tourists like us nearby. And
luckily they gave good driving directions because there was ample road
construction in that area, which could make it confusing how to get in and out
of there. Once we arrived back at
Parkway with all our newly bought goodies, we found that the first group had
already returned safe and sound. Praise
the Lord for all our safe travels this week.
The vans especially seemed not to handle the bumps and unevenness of the
streets, i.e. a bumpy ride for all those aboard.
After a
busy week I must admit that I took my only afternoon nap today. Whereas some of the rest of the group went to
the local public beach to swim and tan.
One poor girl fell asleep and ended up with a very tanned back. Ouch!!
Speaking of you kids, great job this whole week. All of us adults are very proud of you. In tonight’s devotions led by Pastor Doug we
talked about our time together, like the highlight of the week (mine was my
impromptu birthday party.) All the young
people said nice things, but not what I was expecting. And I thought that the number one favorite
thing would be no parents, bedtime curfews, and that kind of thing. A personal reflection of mine is the fact I
did get some ample sleep at night despite all the crickets and katydids in our room,
in other words the squeaky/creaky cots and the snorers.
Other interesting
comments tonight included Tori’s: “We are all broken and scarred.”; “Seven churches came together as one loving
Christian community;” “We all have a right for a habitable home,” which was one possible definition of the term
“promotion of social righteousness” which is from the Synod’s suggested
reflections for our mission trip.
Prayer
concerns: Everybody pray that our plane flights are just as uneventful as the
first two. And Maddi, who is here beside
me tonight, says pray for her friend Brooke that was supposed to be on the
mission trip, but due to an unfortunate accident could not be here. After reading these blog notes I’m sure she
must be sad but so proud of us and our accomplishments.
Old Union
is having a special event focusing on this year’s mission trip on Sept. 9. And a pig roast will follow, so please try to
be there to hear personal experiences from us and pictures too!!!
1
Thessalonians 5:11 “Encourage one another and build each other up”
Signing off, Clark and Maddi, mission reporters
Friday, July 27, 2018
Thursday July 26
Wow, as I am writing this on the eve of Thursday, July
26, I can hardly believe that we only have one work day left! And what a fine day that the Lord has made
today. Sunny from start to finish, with some
intermittent breezes. I remember that
once again the van windshield kept fogging up after we left the church. There were many ooh’s and aah’s as we drove on
the high overpass and we saw the red sun rising with the Lexington in the foreground.
Many pictures were taken of that beautiful sight. The TV weather guy said that this morn we had
a record low temp of 72 F. In other words,
for us it was still a hot, a fine Texas summer day. But at least the humidity was a little less
than yesterday. We broke up into two
teams today since we had two separate houses to work, the first one in Refugio
and the second in Rockport, which is right along the coast where Harvey came
ashore last year. I was part of Team 2, and we woke up a little early in order
to be able to leave at 630 AM and get there a little a sooner so that we might beat
the heat a little.
Bill and daughter Emma started to caulk the
cracks and nail holes in the heavy wooden plank siding, while some of us
including me did some much needed yard cleanup of wood and building material
scraps that were all over the place.
Then we started to apply the bright blue paint to one side, then the next. Even though the house is only one story, scaffolding
was still needed to reach the highest spots near the roof. Painting the siding on the south side was
harder due to the bright and hot sunshine there. Let me personally thank those willing to be
in the sun and be up high on the scaffolding, which did not appeal to me.
Thanks to
Katie and a few others, the flooring was finished at House #1 so that crew was
able to join us to finish the painting.
There were some out-of-state professional construction people willing to
volunteer their time to help us do the tough stuff at both houses today, and we
just tried to stay out of their way. For
instance, at House #2 electricians were busy inside, so painting the outside
was about the only thing for us today.
But that’s OK, it was still a big job.
I think we all left with blue paint on our clothes and bodies! An interesting side note, yesterday at House
#2 a few other volunteers like us joined our crew to help out. They were from the states of Pennsylvania and
Kansas, and Ontario too. God Bless them all.
Now
because there were so many of us, we could not all eat at the nearby WhatABurger
restaurant at the same time. In case you did not know, that is a popular food
chain in this part of TX, a bit more expensive than McD, but cheaper than Red
Robin. We all appreciated being out of
the heat, at least for a little bit. (No
co-host church here.) So we took two
lunch break shifts. By the time the
first shift had returned, the second shift had finished painting all the sides
except the one now in the sun😉 My burger and fries was great. By the way, thanks Tori.
By the
time all bellies were filled it was OK to start the 2nd coat of paint,
which was done mostly in the shade now. Before
we all left we blessed the house and signed our names on the support board
below where the front steps will be. Yes,
may the good Lord bless those people. Actually
we know that they include Captain Benny, a well known and liked restaurant
owner, who also lost his business in the disaster. Arriving
back at Parkway a little early, we had some free time. Tori and the rest of the wonderful kitchen
crew prepared us a hearty meal of pasta and sauce with salad and even oven-roasted
bread sticks. The person that said Grace
mentioned that even though the weather was at times hot and miserable for us
this week, it was much worse only a year ago when Harvey first came ashore, so
thank God for the “pleasant” weather we had.
For
evening devotions Pastor Doug gave the
parable of the Good Samaritan to think about.
We have
been asked to pray for 2 missionaries in Bangladesh, a country where the vast
majority of people are not Christians.
They likewise are praying for our mission trip team.
Another list of interesting facts I witnessed
this week (like last year from West Virginia): all girls seem to know how to
braid hair, and even one guy among us has some skill, Maddi can juggle quite well
3 billiard balls at the same time, Tori has an interesting story about Pizza Hut. One guy takes bird watching WAY too
seriously. The young people like to hang
out at the local public beach in the evening.
Well my
assistant decided just to go to bed early.
Good for her. Now it’s my turn. God Bless and let’s talk later.
clark t, staff journalist.
Thursday, July 26, 2018
More Pictures from the Week So Far
Monday afternoon
Monday afternoon
Val weed-whacking
Leveling the back yard
Getting equipment from the tool trailer
Painting trim
Wednesday: "Don't mess with me. I have a [caulking] gun and I know how to use it!"
Wednesday: Putting up siding in Fulton
Clark's birthday speech
The seafood group
View from the seafood restaurant
Van rides.
Wednesday July 25
Somebody was surprised at breakfast with a chorus
of “Happy Birthday.” Then at lunch
another complete surprise – a birthday cake with a “50” lit candle. And more singing!!! What a lucky guy. Thanx everyone!!
What an
awesome God we have. The weather forecast
can be the same, but each day can be a little bit different. Seems He never runs out of ideas! For instance, halfway to House #1 the air
became rather foggy, first time during our trip. But all too soon the sun did come back out
and so began the hot Texas heat, as hot as a frying pan. But thru the grace of God Sherry was able to
join us again. Let us see, more yard
clean up, looking real civilized now, the young ladies were under the pink
pop-up canopy, and after a while they must have felt real sorry for me because
I got a paint brush too. And more geckos
in the storage garage. Must be a Texas
thing. Carmen had to leave before the
rest of us woke up in order to attend a wedding and now a funeral too. What a busy week for him. God bless you young man. So the flooring was worked on by
others. And
paper was laid down on the floor so that the ceiling painting crew, made up of
Dave, Alexa, and Lisa. Good job guys. Lee Ann the site manager stopped by to check
on us, and see to the delivery of a bathroom vanity and a new toilet. Actually the name on the box is “John-in-a-box.” Another Texas thing? Luckily we had “strong-girl” Maddi with us
who carried the heavy box almost by herself from the travel trailer to the
front porch. Then she, without any
hesitation, joined Rev. Peter in the dumpster to crush down the almost
overloaded bin.
Because
we just had a half-day today (nobody even complained about that!) We left early from House #1. A separate crew worked on siding on House #2 in
Fulton. These included Elvis and son
Kyle, Rev. Peter, TK, Val, and Doug.
After the work was done the fun began.
Host Parkway Church provided our group with the sandwiches used for
lunch. Thanks!! Now what fun did we have? Well we had several options. For instance some wanted to go to a water
amusement park. Or a sightseeing trip
aboard the decommissioned aircraft carrier Lexington, permanently docked at the
Corpus Christi harbor, now a big tourist attraction. Others still went to the Texas State
Aquarium, and saw exotic birds and fish, and were delighted by the live dolphin
show. Elvis and Doug decided to hit the
beach, literally. And some poor soul
sweated out a stay at the world famous Hans A. Suter Wildlife Preserve. What a lucky guy. Merri Lee had to leave this afternoon to go back
home.
And
tonight was our night to eat out. Because
there are so many of us, we split between two different places: seafood or BBQ. I chose to join the seafood lover’s group at
the Doc’s Wayside Place, a really COOL restaurant set up on stilts, by the bay and Padre’s
Island. Live performer playing guitar
and singing country and rock music. The
sun was low in the sky and shining thru the thin curtains, and no glass
windows, so the sea breezes could just blow on into the place. And as if that wasn’t enough, there were plenty
of ceiling fans so a breeze was always blowing on you. And the food was great, just like the locals
said it would be. The place was packed,
inside and out. One young girl had a T-shirt
with a Psalm quotation on the back that went:
I will not be shaken. Good advice
for anyone!
And now my
assistant Maddi will tell us about the BBQ place. The BBQ place was called
Silverado Smokehouse. As Elvis was driving to House #1, he looked up places to
eat out during lunch breaks. Some of us meat fans weren’t into seafood at the
time, but the locals said that this was the place to go for great service and free
ice cream. They have options of so many juicy meats: Pulled Pork, Chicken, Sausage,
etc. They have options from sandwiches to 4 meats of your choice at a time! Rev.
Peter was thinking about going to the Marble Slab Ice Cream, but no one could
resist the free ice cream. Most of us had cones of vanilla, chocolate, or
chocolate vanilla swirl. TK, Bill, and I made ice cream floats with the ice
cream and Root Beer or Dr. Pepper.
Thanks
Maddi. Now let me, on behalf of us all
say “thank you” to all our reliable drivers for the 2 work vans and pickup
truck, and of course to Greg who is the mission team financier. Once we got back to Parkway, Rev. Peter
conducted a short meeting, then Pastor Doug conducted the devotional time. We talked about love as expressed in 1 Corinthians
13:4-8. No wonder they say it so often
at weddings.
Well
Maddi is yawning like crazy, and I am just nodding off, so goodnight and God Bless.
Maddi and
Clark signing off.
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Mission Trip Photos
Go to https://photos.app.goo.gl/CmCTYGqckQdAMWH69 to see all our photos from the trip!
-
Saturday morning we woke up and enjoyed a delicious breakfast that our kitchen crew put together from our leftovers from the week. The res...
-
Somebody was surprised at breakfast with a chorus of “Happy Birthday.” Then at lunch another complete surprise – a birthday cake with a ...
-
Various groups from Presbyterian Churches in our area met up at the Pittsburgh Airport this afternoon for the first leg of our journey, a ...