Pics from the 2009 Saint Matthew Mission Trip (Part #2)

More photographs from our June 14-19 mission trip to the Group Workcamps Foundation's 'Week of Hope' in Nashville, Tennessee.

[Fran, left, and Bailey, center, on the front steps of the church building where we stayed, with another of the mission trip campers.]

[Phil gets ready to trim another tree.]

[Sarah mows the lawn. She worked at a residential center for recovering addicts.]

[Three Saint Matthew participants--Steven, Julie, and Kylen, the 6h., 7th, and 9th. persons from the left, can be seen in this picture taken in the Feed the Children warehouse in Nashville.]

[Each youth group took turns preparing breakfast, preparing dinner, and cleaning the facility where we stayed. On Wednesday night, the Saint Matthew group teamed with people from another congregation in serving the dinner. Our two resident kitchen gurus, Fran and Becky, spearheaded an effort to present the most creative dinner of the week: Spaghetti, complete with a (sort of) Italian ambiance. Here's some of the kitchen crew, including four from Saint Matthew: Steven, Jesse, and Phil are the first three cooks from the left and Fran is the second one from the right. More pics from the Italian dinner below.]

[More of the Italian Night: Notice the bottles with "flames." Those were made of twisted paper and red and orange marker ink. They top root beer bottles left over from our group's trip to Rain Forest Cafe the evening before.]

[This sign greeted camper-diners on Wednesday evening.]

[None of these campers were members of our Saint Matthew group. But the line and the information posted on the door in the background give you an idea of what shower time was like for both males and females. Beyond those doors--which led outside--were three camp-style showers, each hooked up to the church building's outdoor water spigots. Three showers served 74 campers. (The following week, there were 100 campers signed up for the same site!) One night, because of tornado warnings, showers were completely precluded. Our showers the next day, even though ice-cold, felt great! I didn't mind the cold showers at all, given the 95-degree temps and 90%+-humidity we had all week long. (This picture and all the others, for that matter, were taken by female staffers associated with Group Workcamps Foundation, just in case anybody wondered whether I snapped this shot.)]

[Jennifer and Bailey can be seen in the center of this pic, in line for an evening meal. The character behind them is a Lutheran pastor from Logan, Ohio.]

[Jacob strikes an...um...interesting pose.]

[Back at her work site, Jennifer cleans up.]

[That's me, showing my best side while unloading things like flour, yogurt, sugar, and other items from Second Harvest.]

[Sarah, on left, sanding down a deck at residence in a facility for recovering addicts.]

[Becky with a member of her crew, cleaning a residence for a mentally handicapped adult.]

[I've heard of workers carrying people, but Critter takes it to a new level, lifting Jacob.]

[Sam and I bagging up unclaimed carry-out steaks from Longhorn Steakhouse's previous evening. The steaks are bagged up and added to Second Harvest food at the help center where we worked.]

[Cory takes a break.]

[Stephen with some of his kids for the week.]

I may present a few more pictures tomorrow. Remember, if you click on the images, you can enlarge them.

Thanks to all who participated in this year's mission trip. Thanks to the congregation for being so supportive of our youth!

Here is a link to the first installment of pictures.