Drewman and I spent a portion of our spring break, on a mission trip, with this group.
We went to Dwight Mission.
Dwight Mission use to be a school for the Cherokee Indians.
It is now owned by the Presbyterian Church and is used for summer camps and retreats.
Dwight Mission is a busy place.
They have activities year around.
We arrived Saturday and went right to work!
We were given instruction and divided up into crews.
Drewman's crew headed over to Walking Stick Lodge.
This lodge serves several functions.
One side is the med station, the other is a guest lodge and the basement is the art room.
We cleaned out "gunk" from between deck boards.
This deck has been overlaid on another deck.
Once all the gunk was loosened, Haley used the shopvac to suck it all out.
Drewman and Barrett tightened down loose boards.
They had to replace a few boards, as well.
Yay for the use of power tools!
Saturday evening was a time to bond with the other group.
There were only two groups that came to camp to work.
It was nice to have a small group, although more could have gotten done on the mission had there been more folks there.
We played a game and Drewman was "IT"!
Each person was given instruction.
Drewman had to listen and find his way through the obstacle course without stepping or touching any of the objects on the floor or stepping outside the barrier.
ALL WHILE BLIND FOLDED!
Not all of us were giving the proper instruction.
Drewman quickly figured out who had the proper instruction and made his way through the course with ease.
Sunday was a cold, wet and blustery day!
Inside projects were set.
The offices got painted.
Drewman helped to repair holes in the Old School House.
The Old School House was a building I could have spent hours in.
This old building intrigued me so much!
It has wonderful character!
I will be blogging about The Old School House separately, later this week.
Lunch break provided some time for the kids to show their own character.
Barrett makes a mean origami bandana hat!
Doesn't Jacob look studious in this beanie hat?
After lunch, Haley and I headed over to the art room.
We spent a few hours untangling a huge ball of string!
We felt like we were the characters of a Dr. Seuss cartoon.
We did take some time from our string sorting to make our mark in the art room!
Haley and I later caught up with Drewman's group and headed over to organize a storage building.
Dwight Mission is required to keep 25 years of records!
The storage building is what was an old bunk cabin.
It has three bedrooms, a closet, a bathroom and what appeared to be a kitchenette without the appliances.
These rooms were so disorganized and haphazard!
My OCD got the best of me.
I stood back for a bit but couldn't hold back any longer.
I took control and went into organization mode.
During this time, Barrett found Instagram!
Haley found Mr. Potato Head!
Haley was impressed by my organization skills.
Drewman informed her "This is normal."
Within a few hours, we had this little bunk house cleaned, Christmas in one room, 25 years of records split between two rooms and another room held some of the camp cooks personal items.
The bathroom even had access.
During group worship time, we learned about our Godly Gifts.
Do you know what your Godly Gift is?
This is one of my favorite photos of the entire mission trip!
These kids do have quite a bond.
Monday the weather was much better!
Drewman's crew headed back to Walking Stick to complete the deck work.
Nothing left but staining and painting trim!
Afternoon group time provided some pretty fancy dance moves!
Drewman had done a bit too much lifting, so he was on light duty for the remainder of the mission.
No worries, a few trips to the chiropractor and he is all better.
Once a 6'5" 220lb young man gets out of placement it takes a few cracks and pops to straighten him back up.
More fancy dance moves!
It was exhausting!
Walking Stick Lodge deck complete!
Great Job Kids!
Lots of leaf raking to be done around the buildings.
Momma PYG took over Drewman's raking duties.
She is such a good momma!
Drewman and Papa PYG cleaned out around the air conditioner units, while the girls cleaned between the fence boards.
These are the dorms where we stayed.
I want to know the story behind this tree!
There has to be one!
This tree is propped up in several different places.
It even has a stack of bricks under a portion of it's trunk.
The building behind this tree is the bunk house where our church has sponsored a room.
We changed shower curtains in there.
It has a screened in porch on the back and 4 bunk rooms.
Momma PYG with her boy PYGs!
These kids love this woman with everything they have.
She guides, protects, cares and prays for them daily.
She even cooks for them!
I don't know where Drewman would be with out his Momma PYG.
Thank you for allowing me to be a part of this amazing group and do my part to give back to what I know will make a difference to the future of our church.
Mission Accomplished!
Rancher Girl
PS
Drewman's Godly Gift is Pastor
Mine is Faith
Neither of us were surprised by our gifts.
We both embrace them daily.
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