Friday, July 19, 2019

SPUMC Youth 2019 Mission Trip - Friday, July 19th, 2019 - Day 6

Hello for the last time from Wilmington!

Today was a fun day exploring the area of Wilmington! This morning we went down to Wrighstville Beach for a morning swimming in the ocean and relaxing on the beach. We stayed out there for around 2.5 hours. That may have been of a mistake. Despite the constant reminders to put on sunscreen, some students didn’t heed the warning, or didn’t apply well enough. We definitely had some students get sunburn. So this afternoon, we were supposed to spend a good portion of the time in downtown Wilmington. Instead, we took things a little slower and just relaxed at the house for the afternoon, while applying a lot of aloe!

Later in the afternoon, we came in downtown Wilmington and waked around for about an hour. The students did some shopping and just got to take in the sights of Wilmington. After that, we enjoyed a delicious dinner at The Reel Cafe!

Finally, after dinner, we went on a sunset boat ride up and down the Cape Fear River! It was hot, but also really relaxing to be out on the water. The kids seemed to enjoy it.

Now, tonight we are spending time getting packed up and ready to leave for home in the morning. Our goal is to be back at the church by 12 noon tomorrow! It really has been a fanstastic Trip this week! Everyone has seemed to enjoy themselves and we’ve accomplished a lot. Thank you all again for all the prayers. Check out pictures from today down below!

Your Servant in Christ,

Todd Handell

















Thursday, July 18, 2019

SPUMC Youth 2019 Mission Trip - Thursday, July 18th, 2019 - Day 5

Hello Everyone!

It's hard to believe today was our last day doing mission work here in Wilmington. Despite the pure exhaustion I am feeling right now, this week has absolutely flown by. It's kind of amazing how quickly time has seemed to pass this week. Monday of this week seemed to be the day that would never end. But ever since then, this week has absolutely flown by. Each day has been pretty busy, which has most certainly made the time pass more quickly.

Today, we went back to Ms. Nikita's home to finish up a few more additional projects. These projects weren't originally planned for the week, but because we finished our flooring project up yesterday, they got added on. Our main project was repainting the living room and hallway. This is where most students were involved. We also had to do some patch work on some of the walls, repairing some holes. We also had a small group of students repairing some brick work around the back of the house, and they replaced the dryer vent.

The painting project proved to be a little more difficult than originally expected. Unfortunately, we weren't the neatest with our painting, which led to a decent bit of paint spilled on the brand new floor that had just been laid down! A paint can also got tipped over, but luckily most of it went on the drop cloth. So that led to some extra work at the end of the day, as we were down on our hands and knees scrubbing the floor to get the paint up.

The best thing about today was that our homeowner, Ms. Nikita, was actually home today so we got to meet her and interact with her. She had been at work all week long, so we had not even met her yet. Her brother had been at the house with us. She also has two daughters and a son who were also there today. Her two teenage daughters even jumped in and help us paint part of their house. That was such a neat thing to see! Ms. Nikita also offered us Popsicles during the day, because it was a hot day, as it has been all week!

We wrapped up those projects today, said goodbye to the family as well as to our WARM Construction Manager, Dwayne, who has been working with us all week. He was so amazing, so we gave him a thank you note as well as a gift card to his favorite restaurant here in town. Check out some pictures below from today!
















Tonight, we actually ended up adding something to the schedule that wasn't originally planned. So last night, while working with First Fruit Ministries, they invited us to come to their worship service, which takes place on Thursday's at 5:30 pm. Since we were able to wrap up at our work site a little early today, we were able to get back to our house. On Thursdays, First Fruit Ministries has their "homeless outreach day." This includes opening up their showers for anyone to come use, they have a free health clinic that people can come to, as well as on Thursday evening's they have a meal at 5 o'clock pm followed by a worship service at 5:30 pm. So tonight we decided to join them for the worship service. It was unique. Students said "they had never been to a service like that" and it was eye opening. Students said it provided a new perspective towards worship. There was a time of healing during the service which was very powerful. It was a relaxed atmosphere. There was an awesome worship leader. Students also describe the service as passionate, as they saw the leader of First Fruit Ministry, Rick, express his strong desire to help those in need. And that was true of all the volunteers there. It was a great experience for everyone to be able to attend.

Overall, this week has been incredible, and we have all worked really hard. Tomorrow we will get to enjoy a day relaxing, going to the beach and sightseeing in downtown Wilmington.  Thank you all again for your prayers and support this week. We are looking forward to sharing all about our trip with you on Sunday, August 11th.

Your Servant In Christ,

Todd Handell

Wednesday, July 17, 2019

SPUMC Youth 2019 Mission Trip - Wednesday, July 17th, 2019 - Day 4

Hello Everyone!

It was another great day working at our worksite with WARM. In fact, we worked so hard that we finished our intended projects for the week today!

First up was laying the tile in the bathroom. But we got it completely done! It definitely took a little while, because there were some tight corners to fit into, as well as some uneven floors, but we got it done! It was especially tricky having to move remove the toilet from the bathroom, but we got it out so we could get the tile all around it. After that, we had to go in and put the quarter round molding all in the bathroom, as well as fix a few spots in the bedroom. But we got all of that done as well. Then it definitely was tricky getting the toilet hooked back up, but that was no match for our students (with help from Dwayne) and it was reinstalled.

While a group of students were working on the bathroom, the rest of the students were working on other projects throughout the house. This included washing and cleaning off all of the walls, as they were quite dirty. We also replaced 5 light fixtures throughout the house, as well as all of the smoke detectors throughout the trailer. We also had to place transition strips in some of the doorways around the trailer where the tile didn't quite match up perfectly. We also had to replace one section of the sheet rock in the walls of the trailer. Check out the pictures of all the progress we made today.

































This evening we partnered up with First Fruit Ministries for what they call their "Street Feed." First
Fruit Ministries is an organization that does all kind of ministries, including housing people in need, having a food pantry, and offering a free health clinic and showers for people who may not have
access to either. But tonight, we met them at a location in Downtown Wilmington, and helped serve a
meal to people, as well as ate and fellowship with them. It was a great experience! Check out a few pics below!






It was another really long day for us! But I’m just so proud of the resiliency and energy these students continue to show, even when we work most of the day, from the early morning into the late evening. It was nice because we did get a short break this afternoon to come back to the house and relax for a little while, and some of us made a short trip over to Krispy Kreme for an afternoon treat! But these students continue to give it all they’ve got this week, and everyone should be proud of the work they’ve done. 

Tomorrow is our last day of mission work. We will head back to the house to wrap up some other projects that we hope to tackle. This will include replacing some of the shower faucets, trimming out the new door, and repairing some of the brick located around the back. Not sure how long this will take, but we will work till we are done. Then we will enjoy another evening with not much else going on, which will be nice. All of our students have worked so hard this week and will deserve the rest and relaxation when it comes!

Thank you all again for all your continued prayers this week! It has been a fantastic trip and we are looking forward to the rest of it.

Tuesday, July 16, 2019

SPUMC Youth 2019 Mission Trip - Tuesday, July 16th, 2019 - Day 3

Hello!

It's been another busy day here in Wilmington. We got up early again and headed out to our worksite. We continued working on laying the quarter round molding around the entire trailer. We also put down new sub flooring in a bathroom and another bedroom today. We completely finished the one bedroom, with all sub flooring, tile and quarter round molding around the wall. The bathroom got all of the sub flooring done, and tomorrow we will lay tile and put the quarter round molding down. We have a construction manager, named Dwayne, who works for WARM. He is AWESOME! First, he is very skilled in knowing how to do this kind of work. Secondly, he is very patient with our students. He takes time to teach them how to do things, even if they’ve never done it before and he knows he could probably just do it faster himself. So we are very thankful to have him there with us helping us along the way!

Our students continued to work hard just like they did yesterday. It’s one thing for the students to just come on the trip. But they are not only here and present, but making great use of their time and serving God with everything they’ve got this week. 











Tonight we don't have any other places to go, which is kind of nice! It will be good to have some time to relax and chill at the house, since the rest of the week will be pretty busy! Each night, after dinner, we gather together to “debrief” from the day as well as spend some time together studying scripture and praying together. During this time, I ask the students the question “Where did you see God today?” and let them share stories from the day. You could see God in another person, in an action of another person, in something beautiful you saw in nature, or anything really. So it’s cool just to hear how with all of these students, they all see God a little differently throughout the day. Tonight we will also spend some time beginning to plan our Youth Sunday, which will take place on August 11th at Southern Pines UMC. The youth group will take over both services, leading parts of the worship service as well as sharing stories and pictures during the service. You do not want to miss it, so make sure you come!

After this, the students will get to spend time just hanging out with each other. It’s so awesome to watch these students enjoy each other’s company and just have fun together. It’s one of the main reasons I love working with students so much! They all do a great job of making sure everyone feels included, whether that is around the dinner table, playing games together, or when a random dance class session breaks out in our living room (yes, this has happened this week!) And hopefully after this time, it will be another night early to bed to get a good nights sleep! Honestly, the students have done a great job in getting to bed on time and getting a good nights sleep!!


Well, that is all for today. It’s hard for me to believe it’s only Tuesday! We’ve already done so much, yet there is still more to come! I will check in again tomorrow! Thanks again for the continued prayers!

Your Servant In Christ,

Todd Handell