First Day at the Work Sites - Day 6

This morning we woke up and had a wonderful breakfast prepared by Emma's family group. Breakfast casseroles, biscuits, fruit, juice and coffee helped to start the morning right and nourish our bodies for a hard day of work.

Today, Andy's family group was in charge of preparing the lunches. They prepared some lunch bags for us with personalized sayings and little illustrations as well as setting out the food for us to pack our own lunches.

After breakfast, we had a guest speaker, Pam Easterly spoke to the group. Pam came to Mississippi from Virginia where she was a member of Messiah UMC in Springfield, VA. She told us that she had a calling to quit her job in Virginia. Within months she discerned a call to come to the Gulf Coast through the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) and for the past two years has counselled hurricane Katrina victims and provided spiritual care for those involved in relief missions to this area. She currently lives in a small trailer on the grounds of the Seashore Assembly Center, a United Methodist camp in nearby Biloxi. Everyone could tell that her message was genuine and that her ministry was her top priority.

After what turned out to be an extremely motivational speech, the work site coordinator for Heritage UMC named Sheila came and greeted us. She told us how much she appreciated having us come and work in the area. She mentioned that the street we are working on has been given so much hope by the teams that have been there recently. After one person on the street asked for help and the first team came to work on their house, all of a sudden the other people around realized that they could also receive help and that God could still provide blessings to them even after such a terrible disaster. Another member of Heritage UMC also came along with Sheila and had to tell the group about how excited she was that Voices was here to help with the local mission work. She said that when she hears others criticizing youth, she tells them about groups like Voices of Youth that restore her faith in the younger generation.



Shortly after 9 a.m., we headed out and finally made it to the work site. When we arrived, we found that the homes were still in great need. One of the homeowners was there and welcomed us as well as thanked us for the help we are providing her.

After getting organized, we had people trimming bushes, putting primer on some exterior walls, sweeping, measuring, and other various jobs. It was quite a challenge to paint, especially since it was a rainy day. We managed to place a primer on the exterior walls and scrape away remnants of previous flooring on the the floors inside the houses to prepare for the new laminate floors. Some of our youth attempted to put the flooring down but even with the assistance of our adult staff and some of the District Superintendents, we found it to be a lot harder than expected. As the day progressed, we learned that the safety precaution lessons we received at orientation were very important because we were able to use almost all of them.

We shared lunch with the District Superintendents and some of their family members who accompanied them on the trip and enjoyed the opportunity to converse and work together with them. Many of the youth commented on how cool the District Superintendents. Some of them also had the opportunity to hear what exactly a District Superintendent does. District Superintendents present are Steve Hundley (Roanoke) and his wife, Becky; Tammy Estep (Eastern Shore); Mark Ogren (Ashland) and his son, Matt - a recent Duke graduate; Steve Jones (Richmond); Kathleen Overby-Webster (Staunton); Brenda Biler (Charlottesville); David Forrest (Winchester), and Bruce Tuttle (Danville) and his wife, Becca.

Throughout the day, groups of people took time to go across the street and talk with one of the homeowners and her friends. We were all able to learn a lot just in one day through our interactions with each other and the people we were serving. Around 4 p.m. we cleaned up and got ready to go. We were all tired, sweaty and dirty but excited at the work we had done and the work we still had to do.


When we returned to Heritage UMC, we took quick showers and then got ready to go to dinner. We shared supper again with the District Superintendents and other work groups staying at the Seashore Assembly Center.


After dinner, we came back to Heritage and had a rehearsal. We are working really hard to memorize all of our music piece by piece and perfect our songs for the concerts that begin next week. Once rehearsal was finished, we broke off into family groups, followed by a devotion prepared by Katie Lape's family group, and then cobbler and ice cream prepared by Sandra Burks and Ashley Fisher


We ended the day with some free time where we socialized, played cards and some other fun games. At our evening debriefing, Tom said that he and Sandra had gone to Lowes and learned an easy way to apply the laminate flooring with the proper tools. The interesting thing is that when they first asked for help, the Lowes assistant had just as much difficulty as our work team earlier in the day which provided a bit of comic relief. Luckily it didn't take long to realize that the job would be made easier if the proper tools were used. The whole group was excited to hear this and we are all looking forward to working on the homes and relationships again tomorrow!


Until then,

-David and Jordan, Voices of Youth Blogmasters

Arrival in Mississippi - Day 5

We were awakened this morning with a "warm" wake-up call from Jordan. It took a lot of effort to leave such a comfortable bed and get on a bus for another 6 hours. We were provided with a continental breakfast at the hotel, had a group devotion before leaving and then we were back on the road.

On the bus ride we watched an influential film called "The Visitor," which involved the struggles of immigrant families and depicts the lifestyle of thousands of immigrants in the USA. After several hours, we stopped to eat lunch in Alabama where a few of us ate at the Burger King and others at Subway. Most of the local residents were curious as to where our group came from and we took the opportunity to let them know about Voices of Youth and what our mission is. Once we got back on the road, we played a few games on the bus and continued to get acquainted with the youth around us.


At most of the rest areas, the youth have thrown the frisbee in addition to just stretching their legs as well to help get out a little energy while we are stopped.

We made it to Heritage UMC in Mississippi around 4:15. When we arrived, we checked out the facilities and got situated in our rooms. The rooms in the building we are using are equipped with bunk-beds that can sleep 4-10 people. The bathrooms are also very spacious and private. We are extremely thankful because the accommodations are great for a place that is used almost everyday by workers coming to the area to help with the recovery effort.

A few minutes after arriving and getting settled in we met several of the Virginia District Superintendents that have come to work with us. We also had the opportunity to introduce ourselves to them, which was a awesome because some of the youth had never met their District Superintendents (DS). Now that they've met their DS, they will also have the chance to work hand-in-hand with them in the coming week.

As we prepared to leave Heritage UMC for dinner, we went outside and soon were struck with the humidity and heat of Mississippi. Tom took us around Mississippi and showed us the damages that Hurricane Katrina had on the city and we were able to see some of the buildings that have been "recovered" while other lots only a foundation remaining.


(Please excuse the blurry picture as it was taken while the bus was moving)

We ate dinner together with the District Superintendents at the Seashore Assembly Center. Tom even found himself working in the back, helping with dishes and being a great role model for the youth in what it means to be the hands and feet of Christ in any and all situations.


Afterward, we went together with the District Superintendents to the Hurricane Katrina memorial in Biloxi, MS. It was incredible to see how high the water had risen when it was at its peak. Tom told us that there were parts where the water reached 20-feet.

At the memorial, there was also a sculpture of personal items collected from victims of the hurricane. Most of these were very treasured to the families such as crucifixes and other family heirlooms.

When we arrived back at Heritage, we had a devotional time along with the cabinet members that was led by Jenny's family group. We sang "Our God is an Awesome God" and talked about fearing God but also trusting in Him that he can heal and repair that which has been damaged and destroyed. Immediately following the devotional time, we had a rehearsal. We started working on memorizing our music and had difficulties singing because we were in such a hot room without much air conditioning.

David practiced playing his recorder solo and with the group during the song "In Christ Alone." After little practice in the last few days and being a bit overheated, it was quite challenging but we gave it our best.

Great are the rewards for those who persevere because Sandra had ice cream and sundae toppings ready for when we returned from rehearsal. After the delicious treat, we had some family group time and played a few games.

Later in the evening, we had a discussion about what to expect tomorrow at the work site and how our meals are going to work. We are all looking forward to getting to work and are anxious to see what exactly will need to be done. We are all very excited to help fulfill our theme for this year when we Recover, Rebuild and Revive!

Until Tomorrow,

-David and Jordan, Voices of Youth-

Traveling - Day 4

The big day finally arrived. Time to pack up and head out from Ferrum and head off to Stone Mountain, GA...or so we thought. Keep reading to see what happened!

Our day officially began with breakfast and devotions led by David's family group. They shared about unity and being one body in Christ.

We sang "Pass it On" and when we got to the point in the song where we sang "we'll shout it from the mountain tops, Praise God!" and David made sure that we stopped long enough to hear the echo of our praises to God ringing through in the distance.

After the devotions, we were about to begin a game when our final youth arrived. Everyone was really excited to see Rosemary join the group and she definitely met her hug quota for the day. We took the opportunity to take a group picture now that we were all together!

After getting together in a circle we had a group prayer where we said thank you and "goodbye" to our Voices Coordinator, Rachel Hundley. She will not be traveling with us to Mississippi but will join up with us again for some of the Virginia tour. We also said hello to our bus driver for the third year in a row, Ed Richards, and headed off to Georgia.

On the bus we watched a couple of films and played a group bonding game where we would switch seats and get to know the rest of the youth on the trip like choosing between two items (i.e. Pepsi or Coke) or other questions.

We occasionally stopped for restroom and lunch breaks and overall the time flew as we enjoyed the fellowship of our new friends. While en route to Georgia, some phone calls were made and we soon realized that we would not be able to go to the planned laser/ firework show at Stone Mountain due to the park filling up at 4 p.m. So we had to change our plans and be flexible! It turns out that would not be our only challenge of the day. The hotel we were supposed to stay in did not have proper bus access and parking. At first we thought about working around it but after a while, we decided not to take the risky measures needed to stay there (Driving over the curb or leaving the bus overnight in the mall parking lot).

In order to keep us somewhat on track, we decided to eat dinner at the nearby Applebees while Jordan tried to rearrange the hotel accommodations. After a few tries, we were able to book rooms in Stockbridge, GA (just 18 miles south). We sang our blessing, which was quite an experience and in it self was a way to share our faith with others. We had a great meal and we were also lucky enough to have one of the best waitresses in Georgia! Most servers would hate having a bus load of people come in but Helena did a fantastic job and was extremely nice in the process. All of our waiters were very friendly and were able to accommodate us all. After dinner, we headed to our Comfort Inn in Stockbridge, GA. It wasn't too far and there is where we met a very amicable concierge who assisted us with the long check-in process and helped with suggestions in order to see some fireworks. She suggested we go to a local park to watch the fireworks display. We made it just in time! It was a spectacular showing where there was a huge amount of people. We learned a valuable lesson today, not only about unity but also about God's provision. He always has a purpose, reason and plan for whatever happens and I am glad that he gave us a detour to this park. It was a much better detour than what the GPS gave me on the way to Ferrum. We are off to Mississippi tomorrow, till then.

Happy Fourth of July!

David and Jordan, Voices of Youth Blogmasters

P.S. Don't forget to check out our website at: www.voicesofyouth-va.org