Day One (Saturday)

The Mission Trip has begun! Above is our mission group photo, taken right before we loaded up the cars and started our way to Rock Hill, SC. If you look closely, you may be able to tell how hot it was already at 9 am! But, we have known for a while now that it was going to be very, very, very hot for the first few days - and, by very, very, very hot, I mean with highs averaging around 105 degrees, with a 'real feel' of between 115-120 degrees! But, our Heavenly Father never issued a call to missions solely for those places that are mild! Thankfully, we had good travel that was uneventful. Of course, I have had to hear a lot of ribbing about how inferior SC is to GA ... but, I just chalk it up to jealously ;) Once we got here, we hit the ground running. We unloaded, went to Glencarin Gardens to get our bearings straight, made some minor adjustments to the weekly schedule and set up to accommodate a better group atmosphere - and then it was on to Wal Mart to shop for the week. After this, we came back to campus to get settled, hang out and figure out some details.

Our home for the week is Winthrop University, my (and Beth's) alma mater! So, of course, the youth have had to cope with my numerous jaunts down memory lane - dorms I stayed in, where Beth and I were engaged, where my major classes were, etc. So far, they have proven to be good humored about it, even to the point of wanting me to re-stage my proposal to Beth ... we are looking for a stand-in for my lovely wife! Our plans for Sunday include going to Hill City Church for worship, canvassing the neighborhoods surrounding the Gardens, and doing a VBS Carnival in the latter part of the afternoon, for which we plan on handing out a lot of popsicles and water! Please pray that this event would draw in a lot of children from the surrounding neighborhoods - and we would keep ourselves very hydrated for what is looking to be one of the hottest days of the year so far!

It's said that a congregation will take on the personality of their pastor. I think the pic above says something about me and my group. If you can't tell, this is a picture of the trailer as we were packing yesterday morning. It shows that we packed 5 guitars, a mandolin, a banjo and a hand drum ... and that, at least for a few moments, constituted the majority of our luggage! This caused me to chuckle - and to be thankful that we have many in our youth group whom God has given musical talent and desires to use for His glory. And, yes, there has already been a good bit of music played since we have arrived in Rock Hill!