The Makin Miracle

I know I promised you pictures of the finished chapel but until I get the pictures from Gene's camera you are going to have to be happy with the picture of Pastor Karla's reaction and this picture of the altar. At the closing prayer, Alan, the Caretaker, was so filled with Thanksgiving that his prayer moved all of us to tears. It was awesome to be a part of this week - rain and all.


Here is the team, surrounding Pastor Karla.



After all of this, we celebrated with pizza.












The Mission Trip by the numbers:

Number of Workers: 9
Gallons of Paint: 16
Trips to the Hardware Store: 7
Number of new electrical circuits installed: 2
Pies Consumed: 3 Pumpkin, 1 Blackberry (Quite possibly the best pie I have EVER eaten)
Gallons of Orange Juice: 3
Pots of Coffee: At least 12
Hugs and Tears of Joy: Countless


Posted by Robin (no, the other Robin, no the OTHER Robin)

WOW It's Wednesday!!!

Day Three - The Big Reveal

The day started with a visit from Pastor Karla. We made her close her eyes and brought her into the santuary for The Big Reveal.

I think she liked it!!

Do you want to see the end result? Well you will have to wait until the final blog entry.

Meanwhile, the rain FINALLY stopped and we began repairs to the parsonage.















At the end of the day, we had a BIG, BIG surprise. What was that off in the distance? Could it be blue sky?



We celebrated with a big spaghetti dinner and Texas Hold 'em*

*no money exchanged hands

Tuesdays Gone With the Wind

Day Two - Will the rain every stop?

Luckily we had a big project to do indoors. We gave the sanctuary a make-over at Makin Memorial United Methodist Church in Winfield .







































After all of this work, we came back to Asbury for some delicious Chicken and Dumplings.

It sure felt good to hit the bunks after the day.


Posted by Robin

Rainy Days and Mondays

Hi from Lincoln County!

Day one of our Mission Trip

First Step - Find work to do inside -- away from the rain! We met with Pastor Karla and she told us the wish list for the church, Makin Memorial United Methodist Church in Winfield.



Next we had to go on a shopping mission to obtain the supplies needed.































Our biggest goal is to repaint the sanctuary. I am not allowed to identify any of these painters, so do not tell their wives that they were painting here and not at home.




























Karl, cleaning the brushes.











We also started some needed repairs to the church building and parsonage.















We made it back to Asbury United Methodist Church in Foley which is our home for the week. There was leftover Turkey Dinner complete with pie. YUM. Don't you wish you were here with us?














Posted by Robin

Paperwork and Money

The team is gathering together the paperwork that must be completed before we depart. Each team member must provide a brief medical history, emergency contact information, liability release, and an insurance form. The team also signs a covenant. One of these forms must have the signature verified with the signature and seal of a public notary. Another needs to be witnessed.

In addition, each team member pays to participate in the mission. This payment covers our meals, lodging, fuel, insurance payment, and building materials. One way you, as the reader of this blog, can participate in the mission is by making a small donation to help us cover our expenses. If you have it on your heart to do this, just make your check out to Church of the Shepherd and on the memo line write "Shepherds of Hope." If you provide an address, (email or physical) we will send you a receipt so you can claim the charitable contribution on your income tax. Mail your check to Church of the Shepherd, 101 Woodstone Drive, St. Peters, Mo 63304.

Thanks for following reading the blog. We will post plenty of pictures when we begin on Sunday, October 25, 2009. Come back and follow our progress. Thanks for you prayers and support.

New Mission Begins Sunday, October 25, 2009

Church of the Shepherd (COS) mission team "Shepherds of Hope" is off again following God's call to serve one another. This time things will be a bit different. Past missions included several days of travel because our missions were in Mexico or Mississippi. We are all from St. Peters (near St. Louis) Missouri. This time our mission is less than 50 miles from our COS campus. We are going to Lincoln County, Missouri to do home repairs on a home used for transitional housing. We understand the house has some damaged exterior siding and requires some painting. We are also open to do other home repairs based upon the needs of the community as they are presented to us. We are intentionally trying to satisfy the needs of those who want to serve in mission, but can not travel long distances because of work and family obligations. Our commitment is to also preserve their weekends. Therefore, we will not depart until late Sunday evening and return Friday afternoon. Some on our team will join us on Monday and others will leave for a day and come back to finish up. We have also heard from folks who are willing to do mission work if the project were closer to home and in or near our community. Understanding this, our goal with this mission is to satisfy these needs; flexibility and serving locally. Above is a picture of the Makin Memorial United Methodist Church in Winfield, Missouri. The house we will work on is next to this church. Our home base during the mission will be the Asbury United Methodist Church near Foley, Missouri. We will prepare our own breakfast and lunch. The Asbury Church will prepare our dinner each evening. We will sleep on cots in their Life Center. Rev. Karla Cunningham (left) is the pastor at the Asbury and Makin Memorial Church. This picture was taken inside the Life Center at the Asbury Church. Nice digs for a mission. Thanks Google Earth for the "street view" images.