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.

No Picture Friday

We finished laying the new tile floor. We could tell by looking into Maria's face that she loved it. After the floor we calked around the utility room, finished hanging a steel exterior door into the kitchen and did a few little touch-up jobs. We were done by 11:00 AM. Maria's life changed because of the work done on her home. Our team was very blessed to be with Maria and her famiey for the five days we worked on her home. May God continue to bless the Jimenez family. Thank you very much and God bless the people of the Pharr Community Outreach Project who give countless hours serving those less fortunate than themselves in Hildago County.

We went back to San Juan UMC and showered. After a short team meeting we decided to make lunch and head for home. We left at about 1:00 PM. We drove all day and night and arrived in St. Peters, MO at about 10:00 AM on Saturday, October 18.

I am very proud of our team and the work they did as the hands of Jesus in Hildago County, Texas. This area has much need. As you read this I encourage you to consider serving at the Pharr Community Outreach Project in Pharr, TX. You can contact them at 956-787-4529 or email them at pharrumc@sbcglobal.net. You can learn more at http://www.pharrumc.com/.

We plan on another mission next year. Please contact me at kargriff@sbcglobal.net if you would like to participate. I keep a contact list and will notify you several months in advance of our next mission.

Thursday - Hump Day

We thought this might be our last work day. Things have been moving along smoothly and were planning to leave a day early. This was not to be, and that is OK. We are called to serve and we will do so until the mission is complete. Below are a few pictures of the "Lawson" Bunkhouse where we sleep at night. This once was the education wing of the San Juan Church. Look closely and you will see the church in the background. The bunkhouse is named after Otto Lawson (the home repair coordinator) and his wife Darlene. Here is the touching part of the story. Otto and Darlene Lawson actually started this ministry at the Pharr/San Juan UMC. They belonged to a United Methodist organization called NOMADS (Nomads On a Mission Active in Devine Service). This group travels around the US in their RVS serving others. Otto and Darlene were NOMADS for about 5 years. They are from Northwest Iowa and wintered in Pharr, TX. While in Pharr they started the ministry we are serving. They built the facilities were we are staying inside the old education wing of San Juan UMC. In December Darlene was diagnosed with cancer and died in May. Our hearts go out to Otto and his family. Otto Lawson is a very special person to this team.

The men's dormitory. Otto designed the bunk beads so the lower bunk also serves as a bench.
One of the four-bed ladies suites.Brandy's black-out curtains.
This is what Brandy does at night. Crossword puzzles? Go figure.
The back of the house completed.
Brandy and Karl painting the last few pieces to trim.This kitchen ceiling is in bad need of repair. We took care of it this afternoon.

Otto, John, and Karl must be in very important conversation.

Here I am cutting backer board for the kitchen floor.

Here is Brandy stapling down the backer board. The kitchen floor is just plywood. The new floor will make it look really nice. We will finish the floor tomorrow morning.

Here is Juan Jimenez With our team He is the son of Maria who owns the house we are working on. Left to right; Chris, Brandy, Juan, Karl, Otto, and John. We are all friends. Before dinner Brandy lead our devotion. We discussed two types of mission. One to serve others with love and one to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ. We had another great discussion. After devotion we went to Willies Bar B Q for dinner. Otto came with us.

Today was homecoming at Alamo High School. They had a parade in from of Willies just for us.I had the beef brisket plate. It was great.
Romans 12: 9-13 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.