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

A time for everything

this time we had a few moments to relax...

Work to be done . . .

When we picked up the rental vans - there were not enough ready for us - so the rental company had to provide an SUV which would hold enough people. In this video - I realized why God worked his magic for us to have this upgrade....

Miss you all - Mark

Nick Soileau – day 4 of Workcamp
A couple of days ago I said that if Workcamp was as fun as white water rafting, I might be able to like this place. As it turns out, my wish came true… and I love it here! You talk to someone and your already friends with them. You already have something in common, God. Speaking of God, our daily shows are helping me come closer than ever to God. This year the boy’s got a little surprise for them… we have to sleep in the gym. It’s apparently very different, but I wouldn’t know because it’s my first time. There is always a game that you could join into. It’s awesome. The best part of it is the actual working. These residents really need our help and I am happy to give it to them. Our resident is a sweetheart and I can’t wait to serve her more. Talk to you all later.

Thank you all for your patience as we find a free wi-fi spot and work the logistics of posting to our blog. All is well in Mifflinburg. The kids have completed a whole day of work on site with our residents. Huge storm just at the end of the work day. More pictures to com - as time permits.

Mark (Tuesday before Wakey-Wakey)

Nick Soileau: day 1 of camp

since this is my first workcamp, this is my first camp blog post. But i don't really think that this counts as the first day. We are not actually at the camp. We went white water rafting instead. Hey, I'm not complaining. We all had an amazing time. I went into the water at least 5 times... ON PURPOSE. Plus, I had Pastor Sarah in our raft. you can't get any better than that. I the rest of workcamp is like this, i think i could like this trip. So long from our amazing suite.

P.S.: the suite is really sweet

WORK CAMP #6 DAY ONE- AJ ODDO

First day of camp is amazing. i had a great time riding with Chris. White water rafting was fun I actually hit white water and fell in it was fun and our guide Josh Hall saved me in a matter of seconds it was amazing. I cant wait to go to Mifflinburg tomorrow and meet my crew and have an awesome time. CAMP IS GONA BE AMAZING. AJ Oddo

My First Blog by Michelle Cockerham

SO this is my first ever blog post for my first ever time at Workcamp. We already did white water rafting and JOE, our raftsmen, was awesome (he actually knew alot of history). I had lot of "fun" having my toenails starting to come off. But so far it's a great experience and I haven't had my iPod for a whole day. I SAW THE SHIRTS!!!!! THE SHIRTS (that Erin and I helped create) are AWESOME!!! I SHOWED SOME SERIOUS EXCITED EMOTIONS when I saw those.

All I hope is I have fun when we arrive at Mifflinburg. Bye!

Erin Masterman- Day 1 of Workcamp 2010

Today was awesome!! White water rafting was really fun, and afterwards we played in a waterfall-freezing cold but amazing! The hotel is awesome and I can't wait for tomorrow when we drive down to Mifflinburg and meet everyone else!

Kirsten Oakes- Day 1 of Workcamp 2010

White water rafting today was Amazing!!!!!! joe timmothy martin our rafting guide is our life :) we love him!!! were at the hotel now and the rooms are amazing. getting pizza soon. Cant wait to meet my crew and residents tomorrow!!!

What's the story?

On an incredibly hot Saturday in June- Gregg Claycamp and Mark Ludder led a Tool Safety and Usage session for work campers. The kids had a chance to carry, set up and climb a couple of church ladders. Which gave volunteers a new perspective on their worlds. And maybe a couple of new recruits for the property committee.

It's always fun to see our amazing High School Youth in the weeks right before Work Camp. They are usually still worried about finals, thinking about finding Summer Jobs, active in sports - and yet they still find the time to learn and prepare to go about serving as Jesus instructed.