We Are Home...Come Hear More About It During 9am Worship Service Tomorrow!

Shenendehowa UMC Workcamp 2016

Woonsocket, RI

Thanks for your prayers and support of Workcamp 2016.  We arrived back to Shenendehowa UMC at 12:15pm on Saturday with full hearts and empty gas tanks! Please come to the 9am worship service where we will have a report back to the congregation.  We could not have done it without you!  

A Reflection on Thursday!

Shenendehowa UMC Workcamp 2016

Woonsocket, RI

Day 4 down. On this Thursday we set off on yet another filled day of Gods working through us. Crew vans full of ambition and joyfulness to finish their project. All the crews have endured the heat and a little bits of nervousness when problems came up but we all have fought through them and have plans to solve them creatively. For example, my crew (crew 42) had to dig post holes to install railings for our resident who by the way is such a great person!  We came across a massive rock and there was no way for us to unearth it from the ground. So we decided that we should dig as far as we can next to the boulder and place the post there instead of trying to get this rock out of the way. Lesson learned!

But not Only have we made progress in our projects, we've made major progress in our relationship with Jesus. As you may have read in the past few blogs, our theme for Workcamp this year is extraordinary. Today's message was "extraordinary love". It was about Gods never ending love for all of us; and how God is working in all of us. There was stations set up around the gym that we’re titled different things such as forgiveness, love, identity, tenderness, and brokenness and along with them, there were symbols and things to do which helped us better understand them.  There were others, but I can't remember what they were. J They each helped let he Workcampers know that God is always there for them, that He can solve any problem and that He freely offers us forgiveness. This experience really touched me and it touched many others as well.  It helped us to know and be reassured that someone is always looking after us. Especially someone as powerful as God is. It was very powerful and moving to see so many people feeling Gods love in the gym where we have been having worship each morning and evening. Overall day 4 at Workcamp was another fantastic day of serving God and learning more about his never ending love for us.

Also, we were all informed of a Workcamp wide ultimate frisbee tournament happening on Friday. Feel free to lift prayers for the representing SUMC teams! They are "the red hot chili scoobers" and "the uncle ricos."   

That is all for the SUMC blog for today! Thank you so much for your prayers for our safety and we'll being while in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. They are greatly appreciated by all of us here! 

~ John Keegan

A Short Report...

Shenendehowa UMC Workcamp 2016

Woonsocket, RI

Greetings All,

It has been a long day for all of us so this posting will be short and will include a couple of pictures.

First, I wanted to update you on the gentleman whose home one of our work campers have been working on this week.  Last evening I mentioned the man was taken by ambulance to the hospital and placed on a breathing machine and not doing well.  We found out today that he died.  The family is obviously grieving and in need of God’s presence and comfort.  However, the team met with the family members and Workcamp staff and it was decided  they would continue and complete the job on the home.  Please also pray God gives them an opportunity to minister to this family and friends as they stop by the home and such. 

Thank you for the continue prayer support.  And a special thanks to the prayer partners who have been diligently lifting each of us up in prayer.  Each team member received your letter of encouragement tonight following evening devotions.  You are awesome!

  

Here are a few more pics…

Pictures Say It All...Not True...Work Day 2!

Shenendehowa UMC Workcamp 2016

Woonsocket, RI

Tuesday:

 Today my crew and I finally received the okay to fix our residents' doors. We had some complications with previous measurements for them, but it's all peachy now!

 So the work I did today was to clean and paint the bathroom with my new friend, and crewmate, Anthony. We spent a good three hours painting the walls and jamming out to music. Also it was great when the breeze rolled in through the window. I'll tell you, it's not fun being cooped up in a tiny bathroom painting and dancing with your friend for three hours. But we had a great time getting our job accomplished. Our other crewmates tackled the other miscellaneous jobs in the house, such as patching holes, laying down tiles, and running around the yard spraying the wasps that were hindering our progress. 

Not only did all six of us have a great first half of the day, but after our crew devotions, my leader had a surprise for us. As it turned out, my crew leader Bob, is a professional juggler. If you ask me how to become a professional at juggling, you got me there. J

So anyways, he brought his bag of mesh balls and some soft lacrosse balls to teach us how to juggle. It's not everyday when you get the opportunity to learn to juggle. So he taught us the simple steps and it was honestly a whole lot easier than I had expected. It was hilarious watching everyone fail and watching the balls, and three apples, fly away from them. Our resident also got involved, which was just amazing because he could not juggle for his life. Needless to say the experience was hands down once-in-a lifetime. All in all it was one of the best bonding moments I have had in a Workcamp crew in my 5 years doing it. 

Don't worry, we got right back to work after a “short break.” 

Erika Snyder, 18 

Crew 29

The other pictures included in today’s post are from some of our other crew’s worksites as well as some candid shots including worship, group devotions and ice cream!  One can never get too much ice cream…more to come…daily blog post updates…and yes, ice cream. 

Please continue to keep us in your prayers.  One specific prayer request we ask you to lift up to God is for the homeowner at one of the worksites we are at this week.  He was taken by ambulance this morning and is currently on a breathing machine in the hospital and not doing well.  Thanks in advance!

God is good and we get to see His goodness everyday as we serve others in Jesus’ name.  Understand, it would not be possible to do so without your investing in us.  Thank You!!!!! 

A young workcamper in training...hoping to officially join us on a workcamp  week in a few years from now! :-)

Pastor Lee and Eric Celebrating Eric's Birthday!  Pastor Lee spared no expense!

More Ice Cream Tonight!

Celebrating John's Birthday later today!

Lunches on right....Water coolers on left.  (Holds enough to feed/keep dehydrated 420 people)

  

The Work Begins...

Shenendehowa UMC Workcamp 2016

Woonsocket, RI

Work day number one is in the books!! Everyone set out for the day with smiles on their faces and with lots of excitement (and maybe a little nerves too) about meeting their resident and starting their work projects. We got to our sites, met our residents, began our work projects, and had the pleasure of experiencing and working in the wonderful sun and heat. Some of the projects that are being worked on by members of the Shen UMC group are wheel chair ramps, porches, decks, roofing, interior painting, and exterior painting. Everyone worked hard all day and we have made great progress on most of our projects. Not only has everyone made progress on their work projects, but they have also begun building relationships with their crews and residents. It was great to come back to the school and talk with one another about our residents and their stories; as well as the relationships we are building with our crews. 

Our main theme for the week is Extraordinary and each day we look deeper into that theme; with today's theme being 'Extraordinary Service.' We talked about what it looks like to be a servant and to switch the focus off ourselves and put the focus on others. One of the key verses of the day was Matthew 20:28 || “Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” As we go throughout the week, we hope to have the same mindset as Jesus, and focus on how we can serve others, both on and off out work sites.  

Thank you for all of your continued prayer and support. Please be praying for good health and restoration, as the heat and sun have been taking a little toll on some of the workcampers. Continue praying for our relationships within our Shen UMC group, crews, and with our residents. 

We hope to add some photos from our projects to our blog sometime tomorrow...until then imagine 44 of us sweating in the 100 degree weather! :-)  Thanks Ashley Latham for writing this post!