Service Projects - Wednesday April 8th

The service projects for today was to work at two different Elementary Schools in Sacramento, were we assigned to work at Hagginwood Elementary School in Sacramento. We met at the church 9:30, a smaller group today than yesterday, probably due to the fact that it was a rainy day, but no matter there were 5 of us, all guys, and we don't mind getting a little wet.

We arrived at Hagginwood Elementary around 10:15 and located the maintenance guy who did not speak much English, shades of Tecate Mexico, we communicated to him who we were and why we were there and he immediately put us to work.

The weather was not cooperating very well especially since the work which was assigned to us was mostly gardening, racking up leaves, sweeping up fallen debris in the parking lot and walkways. We worked as quickly as possible, ever conscience of the ominous storm clouds above us.

Of course as soon as we had arranged the large piles of leaves and debris which we had raked up, the storm clouds opened and it poured and poured, creating huge puddles of water on the lawn and walkways. As soon as there was a break in the downpour we quickly picked up the piles of leaves and did our best to make it look like we had made a difference.

Returning our tools to the maintenance guy he decided to call it a day since the weather forecast was not getting any better and headed back to EDH. When it was all said and done the guys did a great job, no complaining, and another fabulous day of serving the Lord.

My thanks to Shane, Joe, Shane (yes 2 Shane's today), and Brandon, you guys are a great crew and I look forward to working and serving with you all in Mexico next year.

Service Projects - Tuesday April 7th

Tuesday was another day to serve the Lord in our community instead of building homes in Tecate, Mexico. Axel and I were the leaders again and the service project for Tuesday was to help out a senior member of our church (Bernie) with some chores around his house. We met at the church around 9:30 and to our surprise more students showed up to serve than we had expected, this was great because we really wanted to help Bernie out for the more work we could get done around his house the less he would have to worry about.

After missing a couple turns and stopping at the wrong house (I was driving the lead vehicle...mistake) we arrived at Bernie's house. Bernie came out to meet us in his wheelchair and he was so excited to see the number of volunteers that had come out to help him. After introducing Bernie to everyone Mitch and Carmen led us in prayer before we got started for the day.

Bernie was prepared for us, he had made out his to do list with 11 items on the list, everyone jumped in and started work on his to do list, one group started washing windows inside and out, another group started spreading bark for ground cover, there were weeds to pull, rocks to move, plants to fertilize, and walkways to sweep.

Within 5 hours all of Bernie's to do list was complete, he was so pleased and impressed with the group of young men and women, he complemented them on their efforts, and told them all that he had been concerned about his ability to stay in his home without some help with the upkeep of his home and property, but after their effort he felt confident he was okay for another year.

The kids were able to spend some time visiting with Bernie and getting to know him better, we hated to leave but Axel and I wanted to get everyone some lunch and then back to the church on time. We had to say goodbye to Bernie but not before everyone shared some hugs with him.

Sounds like we need to head back to Bernie's next year at this time.

Life Happens when we all pitch in and help out.

Service Projects - Monday April 6th

Since the decision was made to cancel the High School Mission Trip to Tecate Mexico over Spring Break this year, alternative plans were made to give the students an opportunity to still serve the Lord but on U.S. soil. While Matt and Heather (my amazing Son in Law and incredible Daughter) took some 30 High School Seniors to New Orleans for the week, those High Schools students who stayed behind in El Dorado Hills were given an opportunity to perform service projects in the community every day.

On Monday Axel (one of the other leaders) and I took two small groups and performed some maintenance on two elementary schools in North Highlands. Once the maintenance was complete we decided to make sack lunches (Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches - aka: Lunch in Mexico) which we wanted to give to the homeless in Sacramento. Axel had the forsight to purchase the fixings for the sandwiches and someone had donated chips and snack bars.

When we finished making the sack lunches we realized we only had enough lunches for about 16 people, then one of the students who was with us (Mitch) had a great idea, he suggeted we should stop by McDonald's and pick up a bunch of hamburgers and hand them out to the homeless also.

We headed to McDonald's, purchased about 30 hamburgers, and then headed out to serve the homeless. The students spent the next hour or so handing out sack lunches, hamburgers, bottled water, and snack bars to almost 50 homeless people living on the streets in Sacramento.

What a blessing it was to be able to help out on the service project Monday, the students were great and the people we were able to serve were very thankful for our presence.