Epilogue

Hello all you persistent readers.  It's Clark again with these words.  Too bad my typist Sarah is not here to make this job easier for me.  I just had to express my feelings that this was another successful and fun mission trip.  And thanks to all my fellow "missioneers" for doing their part and using their talents, for it was truly a team effort.  No doubt some of us even learned a new skill or two.  I for one used a nail gun for the first time, as well as a table power saw, and still have all my ten fingers with which to type this last installment!  Praise the LORD!  Perhaps now I should list all the team jobs since, like I said, we needed all of you. 

  We never would have made it to North Carolina and back were it not for our very capable drivers:  Bill, Elvis, Mel, and Carmen.  The youngest member of our group was Emily, and she was in charge of administering First Aid.  By God's grace, her services were not needed, except for the mysterious case of a swelled eye lid which she developed on our last day. I pray that she is now ok and ready for school again.  Mel worked in the kitchen to prepare our evening meals and even a hearty breakfast on Saturday before we departed.  Tori, Son Chu, Jo, and Soon also assisted in the kitchen.  Our staff photographer was Lorene, but many thanks to everybody who snapped photos and submitted them.  Many thanks to the work team leaders: Rick did inside work such as hanging doors and installing trim, Elvis on the roofing, Carmen on the flooring, and Greg on the painting, etc.   I should also point out that in the 2nd house that team Rick visited on Friday Lorene also was very helpful in putting on the outlet covers for the light switches and electrical sockets in that house.  Being a part of Team Rick I know just how hard he worked to hang the, at times stubborn, doors in the houses.  He certainly remained cool under pressure.  And he really does like to cook and eat those wild mushrooms in his gourmet dishes, just in case you were wondering what he did with them.

  Carmen of course led devotions each evening and really made us think about why we were in Fayetteville in the first place.  I liked his demonstration of the water glass that was full to overflowing.  He said that we could try to keep all that water (Holy Spirit) to ourselves.  But that would be selfish, since when we give it away to someone else, God always fills our glass right back up.  And that is why the Jordan River is like that everlasting flow, for us to continually use.  Else it goes to waste by emptying into the toxic Dead Sea.  As we read in Galations 5:22, The harvest of the Spirit is Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-control.  You might also call these these the Fruits or Gifts of the Holy Spirit.  I recall seeing all these being displayed on our mission trip, so good job team.

     Davis, being an accountant himself, was the perfect man for the job of keeping track of our income and expenses.  And as usual we came out ahead.  Once again, as Rev. Peter reminded us, God is a terrible accountant, meaning that his blessings are in abundance, and are more than we need.  Matt not only assisted Davis in keeping track of the money, but he also did the shopping for our group: everything from food for the kitchen to supplies for the work sites.  The Environmental Specialists, Sarah E and Emma,  had the task of making sure that the jobs sites they were at were kept neat and tidy, and also the church, including the kitchen.  And thank goodness they took out the trash as needed.  Our water people were Kyle and Tori.  They made sure that the coolers were stocked with ice and water bottles every morning, and for calling out the frequent water breaks, which we certainly needed in the heat.  The Laundry Lovers were Rachel and Maddie.  They were charged with keeping that little area clean and for keeping things moving.  I thank Maddie for personally showing me the location of the laundry room, as it was like walking through a maze just to get there.   Jo and Rick made sure that our lunches and water jugs made it to our work sites each day.  And Lorene handled all those paperwork forms that we had to fill out.

   Now let me mention our trip leader Reverend Peter.  He no doubt spent many hours planning and praying for this trip.  So much so that he certainly deserved that sabbatical and family vacation over the summer.  Thanks to Bill for filling with the mission trip details while he was away.  And I should note that since Rev. Peter was in charge of the daily work assignments, he could have chosen any job available.  Yet there he was up on that roof, along with Elvis, Bill, and those young people, doing what I would have to consider was one of the harder jobs.   (Such a shame that I have an all too healthy respect for heights.)  I'm sure that he would just say that his hard work was all for the "Glory of God."  Amen to that.  We should be reminded of this whenever someone asks us what we did this summer.  So let me just say that "We LOVE you Rev. Peter!!"

   I recently heard that several families from our sister church Plains are going on a mission trip to Nepal later in Sept.  I'm sure that the several plane trips alone would be exhausting, not to mention the jet lag from being in such a far away place.  Let us keep them in our thoughts and prayers.  

   Well thanks again everybody for making this trip a big success, and can't wait til next year!!  God Bless!

         This is your very blessed journalist, signing off from Mars, Clark.