Kenwood United Methodist Church

Kenwood’s Vacation Bible School, the Shake It Up Cafe, kicked off tonight with assembly, music, crafts, science, recreation and storytelling. Tonight we learned the story of the last meal the Israelites shared in Egypt and learned about making unleavened bread.
We talked tonight about our secret ingredient, being ready for God. To be ready for God we need to know how to read the Bible regularly, pray regularly, and serve God regularly, so that when God calls we can do our best for God.

This title was suggested by one of our team members as the title of the post for our last, and hottest day at the worksite. Between having limited tasks to do, being tired and cranky, and having to deal with the heat, we were a pretty snippy bunch. But now that the day is ended, and we’ve had ice cream, a swim in the lake, and showers, we’re all better!

Today we finished all the painting that remained, including the porch floor, and the eaves, which meant Mr. Waite took to the roof. We cleaned up, put furniture back on the porch, and left the site with a brand new ramp for the homeowner who comes home from the nursing home Friday, as well as a completely freshly pained house.

This evening we are preparing to share dinner with our homeowners and then worship together and share the stories of our week. In the morning we will wake up, pack up, have breakfast and chapel and hit the road for home. We are looking forward to sharing our stories, and to a long hot shower to scrub ALL the paint off.

This morning we awoke to clear skies, and another great day at the work site. Except for the fact that Mike Horn, our AMAZING Hinton Staff Member had an accident with his Hinton truck, named The Beast, it was a perfect day. Mike is fine–The Beast has gone to the Hinton truck graveyard, where, at this moment, a few team members have gone to pay their respects.
Today we put finishing touches (railings) on our ramp, and we painted, and painted some more. We got to know Hailey, the older great-granddaughter of our homeowner, and discovered that she loves animals and volunteers at a couple of animal rescue sites in the area.
We finished work about 1:30 and then went to the Fires Creek Recreation area for an afternoon of tubing and enjoying beautiful mountain weather. We just finished a feast of pizza and wings at the cottage, and are ready for another night of fierce competition in cards.

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This morning dawned with some questionable weather, but the clouds held off for us until mid afternoon. That meant we were able to get all the decking planks down on our ramp–everyone took a turn at nailing, as you will see from our pictures. Christina and Hailey, the great granddaught

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ers of our home owner (who also live there) helped nail and dig post holes. We also finished off our power washing, finished painting two sides of the house and started the front, and did some naaasty gutter cleaning–thanks Bob Burnap! We packed up and went into Hayesville for some wonderful ice cream before heading back to Hinton for a swim in Lake Chatuge. Our morning worship and lunchtime devotion today were entered on embracing people who were different from us.

This morning began with morning exercise (dance) and a yummy breakfast, followed by loading up our work vehicles with tools for our day. Today we discovered our team motto, “Let us spray,” as we uncovered several wasp and ground hornet nests. No stings, lots of hornet spray. With everyone pitching in we powerwashed and painted half a house, framed a ramp for our homeowner, who is 83 years old and in the hospital after breaking her hip. We also straightened a paving walkway for her and relocated a flowerbed (a casualty of the ramp placement). The homeowner’s great granddaughter, Christina, who is eight, was delighted to have kids her age and pitched right in!

The Hinton Team arrived safely on Sunday afternoon with time to unpack and settle in before orientation. The veterans were glad to introduce the new team members to Lake Chatague and the view from the porch. We have learned that we will be in one large team tomorrow, possibly splitting up later in the week. We will be building a ramp, powerwashing and painting a house, staining a porch, and other tasks that emerge. We are looking forward to getting to work.

Early on the morning of June 26 Kenwood’s 2011 Hinton Mission Team gathered at 6am to load 3 vehicles with luggage and people and begin the 9 hour trek to Hayesville, NC. Many miles and at least a couple of food and bathroom stops lie between these fifteen and Hinton hill. By tonight, they will know their work team assignments–they are anticipating being broken into two work teams for the week. Watch this space for more news as the week progresses

Join us on the first three Sundays of July when Pastor Beth addresses the issues of what exactly are heaven and hell, and who gets to go there. To prepare for this series, you may read the new book Love Wins by Rob Bell, which she will be using as a primary resource for preaching. On July 3 and 10, there will be a small group discussion of the themes in the book facilitated by Pastor Beth from 11:15 am until noon in the Education Building.

July 3 Heaven—Then or Now?

July 10 Hell—Or, What Happens to Bad People

July 17 The Enormous Expanse of Grace (VBS Sunday)

To learn more about the topics addressed by Robb Bell in his book, check out this article in Time Magazine:

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2065080,00.html