Month: April 2017

Sunday, April 30, 2017

Today began sunny but then threatened rain off and on during the day but the rain that we know is coming still hasn’t arrived. We took the Hinton bus and we went to First UMC in Hayesville for the 8:30 service. It is a traditional service and today the MissionAires (children K-4^th grade) presented special music. We all really enjoyed the children. The church was very welcoming and Pastor Kirk, who we remembered from previous trips to Hinton, is still the pastor. His message today was on the Workers in the Vineyard from Matthew 20:1-16 and was quite good.

After worship we returned to Hinton awaiting the arrival of some NOMADS friends that are working over at Lake Junaluska this period. We had worked with both couples previously so it was great to get to see them again. Since we missed the annual meeting in Branson in September we last saw Gene and Mary Ann when we worked with them at Sumatanga in April of 2016 and Pam and Joe when we worked with them at Midwest Mission Distribution Center in July of 2016. Most of our team had worked with Gene and Mary Anne previously as well. We went to lunch at Rib Country and this time we actually ate the ribs. Their baby back ribs are very good! We also splurged on some onion rings – so much for healthy living today – but it was worth it.

After lunch we returned to Hinton and showed Mary Ann, Gene, Joe and Pam around Hinton and just enjoyed spending the afternoon with friends. They seemed to really enjoy the beauty of this place. The views of the lake from the cabins are just so wonderful. They left to drive back to Junaluska about 3:00 so there was still time for an afternoon nap and work around the rig. We may get some rough weather tonight so will be watching carefully and have our weather radio handy.

Saturday, April 29, 2017

It was another beautiful day in Hayesville, NC although it did get a bit too warm in the early afternoon, at least if you were working outside. Thankful for these beautiful spring days we get to enjoy. We are just a little further north than in Alabama and a little higher altitude so we are getting to enjoy the spring flowers again. The rhododendrons are beautiful around camp and as you drive along the roads. Did you know that rhododendrons are mainly found in Asia and are the national flower of Nepal? Oh, and of course they are also found in the Southern Highlands of the Appalachian Mountains of North America. The roses are also in bloom in the flower garden and the dogwoods and several other flowering plants are in full blood here are well. We enjoyed walking around the campus and looking at them on this beautiful spring day.

After a very hard day yesterday, we never left camp today. We had lots of work to do around FRED, laundry and needed some rest. We walked over to the prayer labyrinth on one of your walks today. The labyrinth here at Hinton was given in memory of the Staten’s by their four daughters. The Staten’s were supporters of Hinton and Mr. Staten served on the board of directors during the early days of Hinton’s development. The camp is readying the Labyrinth for World Labyrinth Day next Saturday by improving the steps and doing some landscaping. You might want to find a labyrinth in your area and make a point to visit and spend some time in prayer or meditation some time this week. Hinton is having a group walk next Saturday at 1:00. Don’t know if we will be here for that but do like the labyrinth.

Hope you are enjoying your weekend. Hug your family and tell and show them how much you love them.

Friday, April 28, 2017

We left the camp at 8:00 this morning in fog. The fog cleared by the time we got out of Hayesville in route to the north side of Atlanta. We took the route recommended by google and which was a very scenic drive through the north Georgia mountains.

It was very curvy, up and then back down the mountains. There were some very strange named roads such as Trackrock Road, Lower Trackrock Road, Booger Hollow Road, Arkaqua Road, and Frogtown Road.

After we were getting into town, we stopped at a McDonald’s and were very surprised there was a live music performance by about 4-5 musicians ongoing. We have never been to a McDonald’s with live music. Strange. We went to Northside Hospital to be at Anne’s sister-in-law’s doctor appointment. It was a difficult visit and certainly not the outcome we wanted but we were glad we could be there to be support. After the visit we returned to Hinton by the same nice route. The about 70 miles through the mountains is a great drive but once you get closer to Atlanta, the traffic is the usual Atlanta traffic. Not good.

We spent the rest of the afternoon doing a few things around the rig, washing clothes and sitting outside visiting with our team members. For dessert tonight Max fixed rootbeer floats. MMMMM good. Hope you all have a great weekend and stay safe.

Thursday, April 27, 2017

Today it rained and threatened rain until about the time we quit work and then the sun came out brightly. Gene did our devotion today with Bryant playing the guitar. It is so great to have a musician on the team! Gene shared the article “The Incredible Evangelistic Egg” by Kirk Cameron, (best known for starring in the television series “Growing Pains” and the “Left Behind” movies). He used the creation story in Genesis for the scripture. In the article he describes how the egg nourishes a chick until it breaks out of the egg. He encourages the use of this example in sharing Christ with others. Click here to check out the article. Thanks Gene for another good devotion.

First thing this morning we hauled our trash to the dump and Bill picked up more supplies for us. We then resumed working on plumbing, pulling old abandoned wiring out, repairing sheetrock and painting. Part of the repairing was in a small hallway to the master bedroom with a damaged popcorn ceiling. Appears to have been wet at some point and when touched it would just fall down. We had a can of spray popcorn texture and tried to use it to make the repair. Since we had never used this type spray, Anne read and followed the directions exactly. She put on all the safety gear – mask, goggles, rain jacket with hood. Real attractive – but needed a hazmat suit. We had made a little tent around the area to hopefully prevent making a mess everywhere. Did NOT work!!! We think maybe it was old or something but it came out real thin and runny and wouldn’t stick to the ceiling. Just fell back down all over the place including all over Anne. YUK!! Had to hose off the jacket inside and out, clean the googles, mask and all exposed skin. The stuff was suppose to be white but came out brown. We didn’t see any expiration date on the can but something was definitely wrong. So, after letting it dry for a while, and everybody looking at it we decided to just take all the popcorn down in the little area and then prime and paint. So then Max used our newest tool that Bill Koch “thoughtfully” gave us right before we left Sumatanga. (Maybe Bill just didn’t want to have to use it himself.) Anyway you attach a plastic store bag to the texture removal device, spray the ceiling lightly with water, wait a bit and then scrape. The popcorn falls into the bag to prevent the huge mess removing popcorn texture usually makes. We had seen this tool before but never tried one. No one on the team had tried it. It really works. You can’t get all the way to the edge but very close and most of the debris goes into the bag. Cool. We were 50/50 today. Two new experiences, one was a disaster and the other worked as it should. We finished painting the first coat on the ceiling – so very high. Max even got in on that. Ok NOMADS – we did not photo shop this picture. Max was actually painting the high ceiling. Steve finished the plumbing rough-in and Oneta worked on painting the porch swing. We got things ready to hang drywall but couldn’t go get it due to the rain. Bill is going to get it tomorrow so we can start that Monday.

After a great work week, we celebrated by going to Chinquapins for ice cream. There we enjoyed our ice cream and shakes and just hung out a while. By the time we went back outside everyone had a sunny disposition to match the bright sun that was now out. The weather forecast is good for the weekend and there is lots to do in the area.