by Ben Rogers, EM Summer Staff in West Virginia
What a week it has been! A week ago, I would have told you that I was a bit nervous about how the first week would go since it would set the mood for the remainder of the summer. Today, I can honestly say that this first week of mission trip teams was amazing. It sometimes feels like it lasted an eternity, but other times it feels like it was only a few days.
The first team was made up of 7th and 8th graders from a small private school in Charlotte, NC. I'll be honest, when I saw that the first team was a bunch of middle schoolers, I was anxious to see how mature they were, as that would determine a lot of how the week would go. I can easily say that this was the most mature group of middle schoolers I have ever worked with!
The week was filled with friendship, worship, and a lot of hard work. We had the team working on two different sites. The 7th graders stayed at the school we are staying at and helped clear off the banks of the creek as well as collect rocks for future teams. The purpose of this is to help the local boys build themselves a small trout farm. They had a very successful one last year (in bathtubs) until a heavy rain caused flooding that washed them away.
The 8th graders spent the week at Mr. Jim Deeds' house, a very friendly (and talkative) older man who needed some help painting and doing yard work around the house. One of the biggest goals the kids had set at the beginning of the week was to be able to pet Mr. Deeds' three-legged dog, Droppy. Droppy is a very aggressive dog and is extremely protective over the house, but by day three they were hugging and playing with Droppy without any problems!
To wrap of the week we spent one afternoon and evening up at Miracle Mountain, a beautiful park that was once the location where the owners of coal mines would go hang out after work. The team thoroughly enjoyed this and was able to gather around in a circle and discuss the amazing week they had and share stories to the rest of the group. After this great first week, I am excited for the next teams now, and look forward to sharing more stories from McDowell County, West Virginia!
LEARN MORE | Register your group for a 2016 Mission Trip to Appalachia, West Virginia!
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