At the beginning of the month, we took our youth group and additional adults from the church on a service trip to Harlan, Kentucky, to work with an organization called Serving With Appalachian People (SWAP). There were 34 of us total: 7 children under age 9, 11 youth, and 16 adults. We met at the church on Monday morning to fill up vans and pray before leaving.
Then, we left the church in a caravan of 7 vans/SUVs. I am sure it would have been quite a sight to just watch. Many of the vans had “Chariots of Fire” or “Warm Blankets” emblazoned on the side of them. This was our motivation, our mantra, our focus of the week. Outdoor service had been the week before and Larry Augspurger had spoken about working alongside others to start SWAP, about living in Appalachia, and about being “Chariots of fire” while we were there. I appreciated his words, but I wish I could remember more of the details of them.
Each van stopped as they needed on the way and rendezvoused for a lunch stop. We hopped back on the road about an hour later, only to be pummeled by high winds and driving rain. It slowed us down significantly; some deciding to just pull over. It was, I will admit, a bit disturbing to be caught in that. But we made it through the worst, and finished in a constant rain for the remainder of the trip. We grabbed a supper to eat in the car because we were running behind schedule. Our last stretch up the mountain took f-o-r-e-v-e-r. We were stuck behind log trucks and large machine movers for the coal sites. It was slow going. We rolled in 5 minutes after their desired start time for orientation. We unloaded, threw luggage on bunks, went the bathroom, and took a seat for the orientation session.
We joined a group of 14 from La Salle High School in Cincinnati, Ohio. They were all boys with one female and two male teachers along as chaperones. They were good kids, and we were thankful for being paired with them to share common spaces.
Finally, after a leaders’ meeting to divide workers into designated work areas, I took Madison and Ellie back to find our space in the bunk house. We were in the very back with a room with bunks and a door that closed – which was the best part of our sleeping arrangement. It meant that I could put them to bed before lights out at 10:30pm and close the door, and they could sleep. So, even though they went to bed later than normal, it wasn’t super late.
The rest of the week went like this: 6:30am – pack your lunch; 7am – Breakfast; 8:30- leave for the work sites; 4:30pm – return back, relax, shower, etc; 6pm - supper time; 7pm – worship; 10:30pm –lights out.
So a little bit about what we DID…. see next posts (to come in the next few days).
On Thursday of this week, we had a partial day for exploring the area. Our group broke into various groups to do this. One group went to Kingdom Come State Park to hike some trails. One group went to the Kentucky Coal Museum to learn the history of the area. One group went hiking to Bad Branch State Nature Preserve to hike to Bad Branch Falls and swim in the pools there. All the families ended up on the hike to Bad Branch Falls. Jeremy, Madison, Ellie, and I were the slowest movers on this hike, but I must say I was very proud of the way the girls hiked the entire way there. The pools were clear and clean … and COLD, but it was refreshing (for the most part). On the way back, it was getting late, so we put Ellie on our backs for most of the walk, and Madison rode for awhile too. It was a good night.
Overall, the trip was good. I liked that we added the intergenerational component. The adults had nothing but compliments about our youth. Not only about their work ethic, but about being able to get to know them. It is so important in a church that the generations connect and find value in one another. I am humbled by the compliments the SWAP staff gave us. I encourage you to find ways to serve as well – you don’t always have to leave your community, but it is an experience you won’t regret!
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