Columbus Mission Trip Day 3: We're practically family here

DAY THREE

The adventures continue for the Leawood United Methodist Mission team in Columbus, NE. We are continuing to serve neighbors and make friends every where we go. We have had many good conversations with the staff and members of the First United Methodist Church Outreach Center. We see them all over town! Whether it's at the local Dairy Queen or at the park to watch fireworks, we are waving at friends and neighbors all over town. You gotta love the small town community vibe!

For service, we visited a mother and daughter who suffered serious damage to their mobile home. Karon, the mother, is known in the neighborhood as the one who is constantly reaching out and serving her neighbors. This residential area was right next to the Platte River and many, if not all, the homes in this area suffered damage. She was forced out of her home at 7am one March morning when they awoke to a neighbor knocking on their door declaring that "we need to leave now!". Abandoning their home, they sought refuge in Lincoln, NE not knowing what would become of their home. We were privileged to speak with Karon and Becky, her daughter, and listen to her story. We were also privileged to help her remove damaged insulation and clean up debris from the flood. Unfortunately, our time of service was cut short due to bees who weren't happy that we were ripping out the insulation in which their nests were. We did suffer one victim to their stinging vengeance (Pam). Afterwards, we decided we should move on. We ended our time by praying with Karon and Becky and offering our gratitude, encouragement, and solidarity with them in their efforts to rebuild. It was a great blessing to have met this family and to serve them in some small way. It is powerful to see how God brings people together in various encounters.

We then returned to Camp Pawnee to help touch up our painting job. We continue to have fruitful conversations with the Camp staff who have suffered much and yet are very grateful and gracious towards us. Barbara in particular has been doing a tremendous job of reaching out and initiating conversations with the people we encounter. On multiple occasions we have found her drawn in to conversations with the locals; listening to their stories and being a voice of encouragement to them. She has been a great example to us all.

Today, I will drive back to Overland Park while the rest of the crew will be enjoying the holiday around town and at the water park. This is a special group of people and it has been a joy to serve the Lord with them. We had have many laughs and fruitful conversations in our service, relaxation times and in our devotions. We have reflected much on how the Lord has blessed us and what He is doing in the lives of these people in the midst of the aftermath. Gratitude and service has been a primary theme in our devotions and reflections. We have much to be grateful for. All that we have in our own lives has been received freely from god who is a generous giver. It is because of this that we desire to make a response to the Lord in gratitude by serving and loving others. We ought all take time to reflect on the many blessings and gifts the Lord has bestowed on us and let gratitude be the motivating factor in our response to the Lord in our personal lives. Sometimes we don't recognize all that we have been given. Sometimes we aren't aware of our blessings until we encounter those who are less fortunate than us. We all ought to make an effort to come close to those who are suffering and in need. We ought all strive to personally encounter in love those who are suffering, sorrowful, poor, hungry and forgotten. In doing so, we encounter Christ.

Matt. 26..... "Whatever you did to the least of my brethren, You did to Me"
- Peter

WOW! What a day! We had a very busy, but very rewarding day yesterday! We started the day like we usually do (up at 7am...I'm not a morning person if that tells you anything...) with breakfast and devos, then at 9am, like Peter mentioned, we made it to Karon's home. We got to crawl under her mobile home trailer and tear out damaged installation, there were many bugs and bees like mentioned, but it was still a very cool experience... I've never got to crawl under a trailer before! It was fun! AND they had a little dachshund dog named Ladybug!! SO CUTE! (we've now gotten to pet and see a dog everyday, plus a kitten! Fulfilling our traditionally goals of meeting cute animals on every mission trip). After the bees kept attacking us, we headed out to finish our painting touch ups at Camp Pawnee! I loved getting to hear more of Jane's stories and getting to dunk my brother's (Connor) head in a bucket of water three times!! Hehehe (Don't worry Mom he gave me permission to do it). After finishing our painting we said our final goodbyes and headed back for a yummy dinner, and I got to work on the mural we are finishing up (which is right up my alley with all the art I love to do and all the classes I take! It's been a very fun project). OH AND KATE DONATED BLOOD! The Red Cross was having a blood drive at our host church and Kate donated blood! (I supported her by dressing up in their blood drop costume character). We then got to go to DAIRY QUEEN!! Which was very exciting for all of us as it's a mission trip tradition, and it was a fundraiser for First UMC (our host church) Youth Group's mission trip to Puerto Rico. From Dairy Queen we headed out to the town's airport to watch their Fourth of July fireworks display (It was Bob's first ever fireworks show and he was very excited!!) The show was suppose to start at 9:30 but didn't start until 10:20.... thus why we all got home so late, and didn't get to bed until after midnight! But it didn't matter to us because we had a great time visiting, playing hacky sack, and joking around, and the fireworks themselves were pretty cool! We finally got to bed after midnight and the adults were SO nice and let us kids sleep in until 9:15!!! (since it's a holiday and we aren't working out on a worksite today). It's almost 2pm now, but you'll have to wait for the blog later tonight to see what we've been up to today! ;) Miss you all! HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!!
-Molly