Old Union 2024 Mission Trip - July 25, 2024

 Thursday - July 25, 2024

Hello y'all,

It's Thursday and it's a special day!  It's somebody's birthday.   But let me start from the beginning.

It started out as a misty,  cloudy, dreary day in Buckhorn, KY.  Don't dispair though as the sun came out around 9 a.m. and the day was off to a great start!  While we were enjoying our breakfast, Peter was still trying to fix his phone.  Dave, Lorene, Mary Rae, Geoffrey, and Sally put together today's crafts while I was eating breakfast. The crafts consisted of a Holy Water Spirit Bubble Machine and a cross with the Bible verse from Thess. 5:11, "Encourage one another and build each other up."  That's the Old Union Presbyterian Church motto.

Oh, I forgot to mention earlier in the week, Mary Rae met up with us on Tuesday night.  Why did she show up so late?  Well, she was attending the New Wilmington Mission Conference, in New Wilmington, PA which ran from Friday to Wednesday.  Mary Rae stayed only till Monday so she could join us  (Thanks.)  She has been going to this conference for 75 years.

Yes, I do like eating bananas, and ice cream too.

Okay back to our Thursday.  Today we met up with the local kids at Buckhorn State Park playground near the dam, with the kids arriving at 10 a.m.  Even though Peter did songs with the kids, he did not have his guitar with him. The first two little girls to arrive were worried there would not be any singing as they wanted the song  Tarzan of the Apes, because they did not see his guitar.  The boys asked for the song the Factory Worker too.  And at the end of the music time Pastor Peter had us sing Happy Birthday to a lucky person. Is 56 a big number?

 After the songs, we dectorated a cross with Old Union's Bible verse motto.  Around the Bible verse the kids put their thumbprints using different colors of paint.  They had fun.  I only got a little bit of paint on my leg, shirt, shorts, and hands.  After the cross, Dave showed them how to make a Holy Water Spirit Bubble Machine utilzing a styrofoam cup, a 4 inch square of terrycloth material, rubber band, a straw and a bubble solution of  dishsoap, glycerin, sugar and water.  The terrycloth square was put over the top of the styrofoam cup, held on by a rubberband.  The straw was poked through a hole in the cup.  After the cup was put together, it was then dipped in the dishsoap solution.  The kids then blew through the straw causing the bubbles to go through the cloth.   The kids loved it.  After crafts, the kids went fishing in the waters below the dam until lunch arrived.  These kids know how to fish! And really enjoy fishing!

Lunch today was hotdogs, chips, apples and drinks.  Afterwards some of the kids stayed for a while to play at the playground.  Eventually we had to sadly say goodbye to the last of them.  We will certainly miss them, as today is to be our last time with them.

The parents and the kids would like us to come back each year.  This is the most fun the kids had this summer so far.  A visiting mission group came here last week and gave the kid's Camp Noah, and that was also great entertainment for them.  Buckhorn is a lot different than my hometown, with shopping malls, movie theatres, amusement parks, and various camps and activities during the summer for the kids.  These kids at Buckhorn do not have these around and easily get bored during the long break from school.  The people who live in Buckhorn are friendly people who love to have visitors.

As like other days, when we were done interacting with the kids, we had more work to do.  As you remember on Monday, we had sorted and boxed school supplies that had been donated the past two years.  Today, we went back up to Chavies, KY where you might remember the boxes are stored in an airport hangar.  With two trucks, two SUVs, and the church van with the extra seats removed, we filled them with the boxes and totes.  The boxes were deposited in the gym of the church (the other large building beside the Log Cathedral.)  Two trips with filled vehicles was our job today.  Seven of us packed and unloaded the vehicles while the four other men, Tim, Geoffrey, Charles and I scraped the walls of the church basement that was flooded two years ago.  We had to wear masks because the air in the room at times became rather dusty, what with all the scraping and sweeping.  About halfway through with the cleaning we were surprised when Pastor Peter showed up with 4 popsicles for us, right after the moving crew came back from their first trip.  The basement crew got done in time to help the moving crew unload the vehicles from the 2nd trip.  Some of us were able to get a shower and relax while Sally and Lorene started dinner.  On today's menu there was cheeseburgers and a choice of two veggie salads.

After dinner Pastor Peter helped lead our daily devotions.  We discussed the meaning of the passage where Jesus takes a fishing boat out into the water so that He can better talk to the crowd on the shore.  Then Jesus asks Simon Peter to take the boat farther out into the water, and Peter is surprised at how many fishes they end up getting in their nets.  But Jesus did not even wait to be invited onto the boat, like how sometimes He may show up in our lives and expect things from us that we feel we are not prepared to do.  

Oh, are we ready ever for our next birthday?  I had to be ready today.  As in Texas in 2018 my birthday fell during the Mission week.  But that is okay.  Because the Missioneers did not forget the date.  After devotions the cooks presented me with a special surprise:  Bananas Foster and a cake with candles!!  Thanks everyone!  If you can't celebrate with your biological family, the church family is a good alternative.  Keep praying for us everyone, you too Laurie.  Thanks for the wishes Pastor Bob, stay well.  Logging off for this Thursday, this is Clark and Sally.  God Bless Y'all!