Chris Schaefer - Friday Night Reflections

Chris Schaefer – Friday

“For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and hope.” Jeremiah 29:11

Leading up to this week, even after attending a number of planning and orientation meetings, I had no real understanding of exactly how Workcamp works. Coming from a teacher’s standpoint, the thought of sending off an adult with 4 or 5 unknown youth to a project site where there’s a good chance you might be asked to perform tasks that no one in the group knows how to do…it’s a liability risk, to say the least. I kept asking myself, “how am I going to get through this week without royally screwing up?!?”

Now, at the end of the week, I understand. The Lord has plans for us all, and the Lord will provide for those in need - you just have to keep faith and believe. I was placed on a site with an extremely experienced adult, a group of hard working and genuinely inspired youth, and a family of residents with an overwhelming sense of love and understanding, not to mention a fantastic tool and snack supply. I also have seen a group of youth and adults from Prince of Peace, coming from extremely varied backgrounds and social familiarity, bond together like I never thought possible. The youth matured, they opened up, and they showered (some even showered regularly). The adults laughed, cried, and became fiercely competitive at Jenga. I am so proud and honored to have been included in this group of people, and I highly encourage anyone questioning what the Lord has in plan for them to go to a Workcamp for a week, and find out.

Kirsten Oakes - Friday Night

Workcamp has been one of the most amazing experiences of my life. Our crew was amazing and I really bonded with all of them. Everyday we would either come back covered in water or paint which was surprisingly fun! Youth Group time was minimal but when we actually were together, I felt like they were my family because of how close we got. The singing and dancing was my most favorite part of the whole week. The get down was the best!!!!! I cant wait to come back next year and I'm so sad that this week has to come to an end.

Erin Masterman - Friday night bloggicle

HI! This week was an amazing experience. I’ve had so much fun, learned a lot, made so many new friends, and had 4 water fights and paint wars! My resident was awesome, he lived in a trailer and we were replacing the skirting and re-sealing the roof with that gross sticky (but pretty) silver tar. I decorated my shoes with it! We finished our project early, so my crew and I went to a new site today, and my roommate happened to be on the other crew! We had a blast, finished the painting in no time, and by the end of the day, I was covered in paint. I spent 40 minutes in the shower unsuccessfully trying to scrub the paint off. last night was cry night, and I, who bet that I would not cry, bawled my eyes out. Was not expecting that! Depressing night! I don’t want to go home, I wish the camp was 2 weeks long instead of one, but I am looking forward to a hot shower. peaceeeee

Wednesday: Work and Play!

Wednesday was the half day at Workcamp, where the Workcampers spent half the day working at their sites and the other half off. During the half day off, everyone went to the local State Park, where the Mifflinburg community hosted a fun time which included Buggy rides, volleyball, swimming, music and a bar-b-que. Pastor Steve and Katie Hafner came up to visit and joined them for their half day off and also for the evening program.

The evening program included a variety/talent show, during which Joel Bernstein and Greg VonWald rocked the house with a composition written by Joel! Michelle Cockerham led all 450 campers in an evening prayer, and Tony Wimmer won the "who can dig the whistle out of the whipped cream with their face and blow it" contest! There are some photos from Wednesday up on Prince of Peace's Facebook page, and also the video of Joel and Greg. And of course, it just wouldn't be Workcamp without Big House!

The video below is of Michelle leading prayer:

Taking the good with the bad.

Michelle Cockerham- Tuesday Morning
So yesterday was my first day of doing work at our work cite. My day stunk so much, I got sick so badly; there was a point where I basically couldn’t work for almost two hours and I felt so bad for my Crew who was working so hard and I couldn’t help with anything but we did finish early and went to go get ice cream (yeah Todd!!). I also made my theatre debut as I was given a standing ovation (but they were already standing). And I am now involved in the music program and singing at the evening events. People here rock and so much, I’m always hanging out with people and had to run to my room to not miss our evening crunches in the room. Bye bye for Tuesday is here!

The progress we're making

Kristin Drissel-Tuesday Morning

Yesterday was the first day everyone went to their sites to meet their residents and bond with their crew to try to finish their job. My residents are an old couple. The husband is very nice and even though he can’t talk very much, he stays outside and admires our work. The wife is also very sweet. She made chocolate cake with peanut butter icing. She also put out plenty of watermelon and cantaloupe and soda and water. They are very generous and sit with us at lunch while we talk and do our devotions. I love them!

Erin's Update

Hellooo people in civilization!!! My crew for this week is awesome, we have a double crew, and everyones really nice! My resident’s name is Vincent, a 63 years young man living in a trailer- we have to re- paint his tin roof and replace the skirting around the trailer. He was really nice and he brought us snacks, sodas, and popsicles for us because he said he couldn’t cook. He went to wal-mart to buy the food for us and when he told them that the food was for worcampers, they gave it to him for free! This whole town is amazing, we have been getting visitors from all over the town with ice cream and cookies. TTYL