rvingwithapurpose

New York Huddle

Saturday, July 20, 2024

(This post was delayed because we have had almost no connectivity for the last couple of days.)

With our last post, we had just arrived at Hickory Hill Camping Resort in Bath, NY for a Switch It Up Huddle. We arrived on Wednesday, July 10, a day before the Huddle began but many of our friends were already there. Jack and Mary, who were parked across the street, greeted us when we arrived. We appreciated Jack letting us know that the area was currently under a severe thunderstorm watch. Being in BB, (Beyond Blessed, our class B RV) it took us only a few minutes to be settled in our site and all was safe and secure before the storm arrived. We thought we left that sort of weather in Alabama. There was no damage in Bath but we understand there were some tornadoes north of us.

After our Bible Study group meeting on Wednesday night, we were free to explore, rest and visit with friends until Thursday afternoon when the Huddle began. There were lots of hugs as we visited with friends we had not seen for a while.

We were ambassadors at this huddle, meaning we were responsible for greeting and shepherding seven of the first-time couples. We had great fun meeting and getting to know our “newbies” and hope they enjoyed the huddle. We look forward to meeting them again down the road.

This huddle in NY was another amazing experience and we thank Todd, Shelia, and all the rest of the crew for the great food, fun adventures and new friends.

There were campfire gatherings almost every night (when it wasn’t raining).

After our opening dinner on Thursday night, we were up early Friday for breakfast and then off to work at our “give back”. We had three projects for the village of Bath. About twenty-five worked with us at the school, clearing a fence row – a long fence row. Others worked downtown at the city park. There one group worked painting a gazebo and another group cleared out around the trees and put in mulch.

The high school property where we worked

Many hands make light work. Okay, it really wasn’t that light, but we got more done than the school expected.

The finished fence row. The maintenance supervisor told us he didn’t even know the wooden railing was there.

The downtown park where another part of the crew worked

We were all hot and tired but after lunch headed to Watkins Glen State Park. What a beautiful area. Just the drive from Bath to the park was so beautiful and when we began hiking the gorge it was amazing. The hike was challenging, and the two of us made it harder by walking up and back down the gorge rather than taking the shuttle one way, but glad we could do it. The entire Watkins Glen area is just so beautiful and if you haven’t been you should add it to your bucket list.

One of the waterfalls you walk behind on the Gorge Trail

After sleeping really well after the give back and our hike, our adventure for Saturday was the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, NY. We could have spent two days and still not seen it all. We particularly enjoyed watching some of the artists and visitors doing some glass blowing.

A museum visitor experiencing glass blowing

The picture doesn’t do it justice but this layered glass sculpture is a 3-D ocean scene with fish swimming around a reef.

There is even a Dave Chihuly (Google it) sculpture in the museum. We saw some of his work in Laurel, MS when we worked there a few years ago.

Of course we had to get a picture of the glass polar bear.

These glass insects are only about 3″ long. The delicate details are amazing.

Some of you might not appreciate this one.

Saturday evening was the potluck where we always have a good time sharing great food. We finished off the day munching on popcorn and watching a movie on the big screen at Todd and Sheila’s RV.

The most important time of the Huddle is Sunday morning when we have worship. Dellynn, Jason and family provided the worship music followed by Shelia sharing the message from her heart. You could feel the presence of the Holy Spirit. Hearts were touched. Lives were changed.

We had one more dinner together Sunday night in the peaceful setting of a vineyard out in the country. The hugs and goodbyes began Sunday night after dinner but Monday morning when we gathered for coffee and doughnuts there were hugs, tears, and pictures galore. We don’t know when we will be together again but…until then safe travels to all and we will keep you in our prayers.

Kentucky Artisan Center, Berea, KY

Sunday, July 14, 2024

After a few days with family in South Carolina we moved back into BB and headed to Middlebury, Indiana to have some upgrades done on the van. Of course, we had to get our first Chick-fil-A peach shakes of the year before we left.

On the way to Indiana we overnighted in Berea, Kentucky. Coincidentally, just before the trip one of the YouTube channels we watch posted a video about the Kentucky Artisan Center in Berea. We delayed our next day travel for a couple of hours to visit the center. We are glad we did. The Artisan Center is a state agency that supports local artists and provides a place for travelers to shop for unique craft items and art pieces. It is a fascinating place.

There were several displays of ceramic pieces.

We wondered if hanging this in our RV window would keep the real cardinals for attacking their reflections.

The Center also has various food products …

… but we don’t think we will try this pepper jelly.

We had another productive visit to the Coachmen factory service center and after some good Amish food we drove to Bath, New York for a Switch It Up huddle. More about that next time.

Constructors For Christ 2024 Project

Monday, June 24, 202

At the end of our last post, on Friday afternoon, we had arrived in Pikeville, KY to start our annual project with Constructors for Christ. It was a beautiful drive up from South Carolina and most importantly, it was uneventful.

This is the slab when we arrived on Friday.

Saturday morning, we all began our work. Max and Randy along with about 9-10 others, met out on the job site to begin the construction of a distribution center for God’s Appalachian Partnership (GAP) in Minnie, KY which is about 30 minutes from Pikeville. This is a new organization for us and as we learned more about the mission of GAP and the missionaries, the more we fell in love with the place and the people. GAP’s number one mission is the sharing of the gospel of Christ. Everything else is a tool to reach that goal. Our project, the construction of a new ministry center is one of those tools. GAP has outgrown their current center, which is an old, abandoned coal mine office/warehouse. We began building a 7,500 sq ft building that will have a huge impact on additional services to the community. Saturday was work on base plates so they would be ready for the full crew Monday morning.

GAP is celebrating 25 years of ministry to the local residents.

It’s great to see young people developing a mission mindset.

Sunday morning before church we drove up the mountain from our RV park to get a good view of the “Pikeville Cut-Through”. Pikeville had a history of horrible flooding. The mayor had the vision to re-route the a four lane road, the Big Sandy river and a railroad to prevent future floods. It was the largest engineering feat in the US and second in the world only to the Panama Canal. The project was begun in 1973 and completed in 1987 at a cost of $77 million dollars. An amazing site to see.

By Sunday evening we had 54 people ready to get to work. Approximately 18-20 people were working in the kitchen preparing 3 meals a day for 54-60 people and 30-35 were working on the job site. It was horribly hot (90+ degrees) most days. No rain all week and very few clouds. Despite the hard conditions, tremendous work was accomplished. In five days, we went from empty, flat, slab to all walls except one short wall in place. We needed just a few more studs. Most importantly, there were just a few minor scratches, but no serious injuries.

One of the best part of these projects is teaching people new skills.

Kelly (on her site built step stool) was the main saw operator for Week 1. She had very able helpers.

One of the advantages of having all ages participate is that young people learn how to work together to accomplish tasks.

We had a new family join us this year. One of their jobs was to build the door and window headers.

On Thursday morning we had to move the trusses so the crane could set up in the correct spot.

As usual the team members wrote scriptures references on the framing.

We wrote this where the water fountain will be.

Here are a few pictures showing the daily progress:

Half of the building at the end of the week

The other half. We shouldn’t be, but sometimes we are amazed at what God can do when His children volunteer to come together and be His hands for a specific purpose.

Such a good week, making new friends and renewing old friendships. The crane should have been on site this morning and the trusses should have begun to go up. Sorry we were not there to see that accomplishment but looking forward to some pictures from the folks that are still there. Please pray for their safety as they work and travel.

On a sad note, we were notified Thursday morning that two of our friends had passed away in a house fire in Cleveland, Alabama. They were both dedicated Christians and spent their lives in public safety making our county and state safer places. Kennith was in law enforcement and Regina was Max’s right hand while they helped build and operate Blount County’s 9-1-1 Central Dispatch for 22 years. In fact when Max was pulled away by his Emergency Management duties, she had to be his left hand, too. We left Kentucky Saturday morning to attend a celebration of their lives. The law enforcement, fire and EMS communities in the county turned out in force to honor them. We are comforted knowing that they are in a better place and that we will see them again.

The procession of emergency vehicles was over a mile long.

Busy Few Weeks

Friday, June 14, 2024

We start a new project with Constructors for Christ this weekend, so we better get caught up on what we have been doing the last few weeks. So here it is.

We have been to Red Bay, Alabama to get some work done on Fred – to Edisto Beach State Park in South Carolina for a day trip that included a visit to Botany Bay Plantation Heritage Preserve– participated in a volunteer day at Connie Maxwell Children’s Ministries in Greenwood, SC– made a quick trip to the historic city of Selma, Alabama to scope out an upcoming NOMADS project – and spent a good bit of good time with family.

We have been to Red Bay enough times that it may not still be on our bucket list.

At Botany Bay you have to pay attention to the tides to keep from having to wade back to the parking lot.

At Connie Maxwell Randy and Max worked outside on some landscaping while Anne and Debra worked inside sorting clothes and moving goods.

While in South Carolina we bought peaces from the packing house and Debra and Anne fixed them and froze them (at least the ones we didn’t eat).

We also did some more work on our nephew’s deck – this time under close supervision.

Of course in our travels sometimes we just look for a sign that it’s time to pause for a few moments …

… and this was the perfect time.

Also, if you haven’t seen it, the Project Volunteer TV episode NOMADS participated in back in April has aired and is now on YouTube. Click here to see it.

And today we drove from South Carolina through North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia to Kentucky to get ready to start work tomorrow. More about that next week.