Tennessee 2016: Theme Song Thursday

All the work teams were required to come up with a "theme song" to perform at the Thursday picnic. It was great fun. More on that tomorrow. For now - more pictures.

Building frames for under the trailer

The steps are almost finished

Cutting drywall

Inspecting termite damage

Lunch time

More lunch

Crafting a "creation"

Posing on the ramp

Picturesque Scenery

Taking a selfie under the trailer

A tour of the garden

The ramp is finished

In the gutter between two trailers

Preparing to install the frames

What the frames are really for

Zeba 2016: Thursday, June 30 Photos

Ashlyn & Sammy

Sam & Isaiah

Balloon games inside the Zeba UMC sanctuary

Ozzie & Sophia pass the ball

Joey, Isaiah, Ian & Juan Pablo watch the skits

Zebalympics confinement challenge (rainy day fun)

Are we in?

Toss the (pipe cleaner) ring!

Even rain doesn't stop us from playing 9 Square!

Zeba 2016: Thursday

Today was our final day for VBS. Sadly, it was raining heavily this morning so instead of heading to the outdoor campground, we held VBS at the Zeba Church. There was a good turnout and we managed to have a lot of fun even in a small small space. There were lots of hugs at noon!

The rain continued through the afternoon with possibly thunderstorms so we did not go to Canyon Falls due to safety concerns. Fortunately, we already had two great waterfall hikes this week, albeit mostly dry versions and the youth were looking forward to jumping off the "cliff". We created our own Zeba Olympics at the Ford Center to keep ourselves entertained for a while and then had free time for crafts, 9 Square, and general relaxing.

Shortly we are leaving for the Zeba Community Center for a potluck with local families, a tradition begun last year when we celebrated the 20th anniversary of this ministry.

Photos to be posted later this evening!

Zeba 2016: Tuesday & Wednesday, June 28 & 29

Yesterday (Tuesday) we had a great day of VBS with a couple new kids arriving. We have around 30 total, many are familiar faces. Then we took a scenic drive northbound to Copper Harbor. Fresh rainbow trout and whitefish was purchased for a cookout at the state park, Fort Wilkins. After dinner we drove to the top of Broccoli Brockway Mountain for a stunning vista of Lake Superior and more. The sun set as we drove home admiring the views of Superior along M-26.

Today (Wednesday) was day three of VBS at the Zeba Campground and we studied the Body of Christ. The crafts we had involving clay are especially popular as the children love to create with it. Google eyes are also a bit hit and usually end of all over faces.

Then the pastor took us for a special hike to the Sturgeon River Gorge. We drove southwest of Baraga into the middle of nowhere and took a 20-minute hike down the side of the hill, steep enough to involved a number of switchbacks, to a phenomenal waterfall. What an amazing example of God’s creation! Many enjoyed wading in the pools of cool water after the invigorating hike and in preparation for the return uphill. Phew…we made it!

Everyone on Brockway Mountain viewing Copper Harbor from above (except our trusty photographer, Jeff)

Erin & Sammy at VBS

Closing prayer circle at VBS

Bear's Den overlook of the Sturgeon River Gorge

Mallory & Nancy at the falls

Sturgeon River Falls

Tennessee 2016: Making progress everywhere

It was a good day today. All of the teams reported good progress on their projects.  I will let the pictures do the talking...

At the "Devo" (morning devotional)

Taking a break

Lunch coolers and water ready to go

Drywall practice

Eric and Tricia measure up

Group shot on the new ramp

Installing the sink

Putting in the subfloor

Playing four square

Ready to serve dinner

Taping and mudding

The last few deck boards going on

Tennessee 2016 - Really rolling with the work

Yesterday (Monday) was a work day, but we spent a lot of time getting prepared and then getting acquainted with our families.  After dinner and the EG ("evening gathering"), we all piled back into our vans and headed into town for some ice cream at the local dairy stand. The staff at ASP were singing the praises of Debbie's Drive Inn all day and we weren't disappointed. Yummy.

By the time we got back, it was Lights Out time, so we missed the blog post. Not to worry, lots of pictures are coming your way when we get back.

Today - Tuesday - we really got rolling with the construction projects. Our teams were up early for a devotional (a "devo"), then breakfast, then it was time to gather tools/supplies and head to the worksites. Teams came home to tell lots of stories about how great the families that we're working for are, how cute the kids are, and how appreciated this work is.  Oh, yes - they also did some construction work.  The ASP staffers are fond of pointing out that this is a relationship building mission with some construction work that happens on the side.

Here are a few more pictures to give you a flavor of what we're up to.  Remember that we have 10 work teams at 10 different sites, so this is only a small representation.

P.S. The place where we're staying is in a serious black hole for cell coverage. Unless you have AT&T, there's pretty much nothing.  So... you're loved ones are not ignoring your text messages, they're just not getting them. Be patient.

Tearing down old drywall

This is "Ladybug", one of our host puppies.

Sometimes the kids really get into the projects...

Zeba pictures added to Monday's post!

Working out some electronic kinks. Don't miss yesterday's photos!

Zeba 2016: Monday, June 26

Today our youth from the First United Methodist Church of Ann Arbor kicked off the 21st year of Vacation Bible School (VBS) in Zeba, Michigan! The youth prepared games, samples of crafts, drama skits, and songs to sing at camp. 26 children showed up this morning to VBS and were paired with Ann Arbor youth. We sang camp songs with crazy motions, watched skits dramatizing the story of Adam, Eve, and the animals, made crafts and played lots of active games. Seeing what a wonderful time the children from Zeba and the surrounding area enjoyed truly showed how God's message can be spread through the hands of our own youth. 

This afternoon, we ventured to the Silver River Falls. Our youth enjoyed a short hike through the falls and some even ventured across the creek! With a high temperature of barely 60 degrees, our youth truly "braved" their way across the falls and some even ended up soaked.

We topped off the day with a delicious hot dinner at the Ford Center in Alberta and a beautiful birthday cake for Mallory made by the staff here after they saw our decorations on her dorm room door!