from the pastor

July 28, 2002

We got in last night a few minutes before midnight. The group consisted of 13 kids and 5 adults and we had been gone 8 days to Magnolia, North Carolina in order to build houses for the poor, find adventure, deepen fellowship among ourselves, learn new skills, and invite maturity in the youth by treating each one with respect, appreciation, and expectation. It was a great trip.

We left a week ago yesterday from the church parking lot and plunged east on I-74. By lunch time we were in the hills of Kentucky (just past Cincinnati) and decided to take the side roads in pursuit of a picnic place. There weren’t many. So we finally looped back to a little hillbilly tavern called "Flintlock at the Crossroads" and asked to use their outdoor tables and restrooms. The guy was generous and happy to see us and accommodating. By evening, we had arrived in southern West Virginia at Concord College in the little town of Athens. Their dormitory was our place to sleep.

On Sunday morning we drove a couple more hours to Mt. Airey, North Carolina (the proto-type for Mayberry in the Andy Griffen Show) and went to church at Highland Park Baptist Church. It was the first time many of the kids had been in a Baptist Church and the experience evoked some lively conversation later. We visited the Duke University campus that afternoon. And by 7 p.m. we arrived in Magnolia, North Carolina. It is 880 miles from Urbana.

Magnolia, North Carolina is named for its magnolia trees which subtly grace its streets. If it had been named for its more obvious characteristic, we would have been traveling to "Turkey, North Carolina." Some of the largest turkey farms and processing plants in North America are located in the area surrounding Magnolia. Our housing was right on the main street of the town, and every few minutes a truck rolled by--all day and all night--carrying feed for turkeys, live turkeys, turkey carcasses from sick turkeys--the trucks rolled around the clock. And so did the smell. The smell was not intolerable, but it did take a day or two before people stopped saying, "I smell something dead."

We worked on two homes. The first was in Magnolia and was a new house for a woman and her two children. Her old home was built on a swamp and could not be repaired. The second home was in Chincapin, North Carolina (about 25 minutes away) and was also a new home for a couple whose home was beyond repair due to flooding from the hurricane. We did deck building, lattice work, ditch digging, and lots and lots of drywalling. We worked three full days and two half days--and much was accomplished.

The primary recreation consisted of play at the ocean (about 90 minutes away). We went three times. Several of the kids had never seen the ocean. Our first visit was after work on Monday and we stayed until it got dark and a nearly full moon rose over the rolling waves. Then we invaded an ice cream parlor on the way home.

Most of our meals were fixed and eaten in the old house which was our home for the week. It was a big house, 99 years old, 12 foot ceilings, somewhat run down, and very charming. It had no air conditioning, but the nights got cool. Our main issue was that it only had 2 bathrooms for 18 people. But we survived.

I loved being with the people on the trip. We helped make the world a little better, in a small way. And I knew everyday that the folks at Grace Church were upholding us in prayer and love. It was great to go. And its great to be home. --Mike

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