Internation Mission Trip: After being here in Costa Rica for about three weeks, the reality of being here all summer started to set in and the days seemed to get long, but our spirits were brightened when our next team from western Pennsylvania arrived.  The group came with great attitudes and ready to work.  Once everyone arrived at the work sites they realized that with the cultural difference, work was going to move much slower than expected.  For us in America, we are used to getting things done in a time effective manner, but here, all of the teams are finding that the work moves much slower.  After realizing the cultural difference, they decided to embrace it instead of fight it.  They immediately spent more time getting to know the people they were working with and serving alongside as well as sharing their lives with them.  Western Pennsylvania was not only a blessing for this community on the Bri Bri reservation, but also a blessing for our summer staff as well.  Their great attitudes lifted our spirits, while Jacob and Alex brought constant laughs. 

This group came down ready to serve in any way possible and ready to serve anyone.  They were even able to financially bless us as summer Staff after Yon’s tennis shoes were stolen.  He desperately needed a new pair of shoes and they wanted to treat us to dinner so they left us money for him to get new shoes and for us to watch a movie and get dinner.  We had money left over so we wanted to pass on the blessing to someone else.  We were able to help Retano, a taxi driver from last year, who lost his leg to diabetes.  He is in the process of getting a prosthetic leg, but is short on funds.  God was able to bless Retano though the western Pennsylvania group with money to go towards his new leg.  Many lives were touched this week.  Even though there are bumps in the road sometimes, God is providing down here and doing amazing things.

Team Costa Rica

*Do you want to go on a mission trip? Check out www.experiencemission.org to view our communities for Summer 2010.

Rural West Virginia: At the beginning of last week, we traveled to a community in West Virginia that had recently suffered a flood.  There we found out about a woman named Edna whose house had survived the flood but sustained a lot of damage.  She is a mom who works and goes to school.  We decided to take on the project and help her rebuild her house during our upcoming mission trips.  In the process of this, we met her mother, Dot.  Dot was always there during the day helping the team while Edna worked.  I had the opportunity to take a break from helping at the Timothy Jones house and painting the Lions Club caboose to visit the site one day.  While I was there I talked with Dot for just a moment.  She is such an awesome lady!  So many of the students on the trip saw Jesus in her every day.  I told her how they shared their “Joy, Junk and Jesus” moments from their day every night.  They said that whenever they needed something she was right there ready to help out.  When I told Dot why they saw Jesus in her she smiled and told me what a blessing our presence there had been.  She said that FEMA had called the day before and offered Edna a trailer but she was able to turn it down because she had “some wonderful missionaries sent to rebuild my house.”  It is amazing to see how a group of kids from Atlanta came to Gary, West Virignia and were able to help Edna and how she in turn was able to give the FEMA trailer to someone else who needed it more than she did.  We are looking forward to meeting more and more people like Dot and Edna as the summer moves along and we execute more mission trips.
-Crystal, Trip Coordinator, Gary, West Virginia 09

Note: Experience Mission works in rural locations like West Virginia, but they also work in urban locations and international communities. Check out all of the places we’re serving this year and the new communities we will be in next summer as well; all at www.experiencemission.org.

Summer Mission Trips: Team Pearlington has truly been tasting Southern culture during Prep Week.  During this week we have been prepping a home for inspection so that the first of our summer mission trips team is able to legally work on the house.  It has been a ton of work!  We have learned so much construction and worked ten hour days.  The house is being built for the Bennett Family.  The hospitality of Stacey, Eddie, and their thirteen year old daughter, Miranda, has truly stolen the hearts of the EM summer Staff. They constantly come to the work site to chat and offer help or a cold drink.  We have truly gotten to know them and now consider them friends. 

The Bennetts have lived in Pearlington their entire lives and survived Hurricane Katrina.  Unfortunately, their home did not survive.  Stacey, Eddie, and Miranda evacuated from their home and took refuge at NASA for about a week.  After the storm the Bennetts realized that they had lost everything.  The Bennetts lived in a FEMA trailer for a period of time, but the mold negatively affected Stacey and Miranda’s allergies and asthma.  They currently live in a trailer that is too small and also affects Stacey’s allergies.  Another local community partner, Glen, feels very strongly that this family is well deserving of this home.  They do a lot for others in the community and truly have servant hearts.   On Friday night, the Bennett family took us to an all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet. What a great meal!  Afterwards, we went to Miranda’s softball game with Stacey and Eddie.  We had a great time watching the game and talking. It was a much needed break from all the construction.  Team Pearlington is already amazed at how much we have been served and blessed in the short time we have been here. 

We look forward to see our relationships with the Bennetts continue to grow as God reveals his plans for us in Pearlington this summer. 

Note: Experience Mission will begin the third year working in Pearlington to help families rebuild their homes and lives after the devastation of hurricane Katrina. Summer volunteers from youth mission trips and adult mission trips will provide over 500 energetic workers. If you’d like to join a mission trip with EM for 2010, visit us at our website www.experiencemission.org

Here I am with Albir (left) and Castulo (right)

3/5/2009

The last couple of days have been a whirlwind. We woke up on Wednesday morning and honestly the village still seemed somewhat surreal. It is so remote and primitive that it seems more like something you would see in a movie than actually experience. However, my completely wet clothes and wet muddy shoes were a good reminder that this was very real.

Before going to the bridge site, we were asked to meet at the school. They happened to be having a parents meeting that day and they were facing a problem. In order to have a school, they are required by the government to provide forms for each student. The forms used to be free but now the government is charging a processing fee. For all of the students this will add up to 70,000 colones, which is about $140. This may not seem like much, but these forms are due by the end of the month and the community has no idea how to come up with the money. To give an idea, they explained that when they turn in the forms they plan on applying for scholarships which would provide food for the students for the entire year. They have applied in years past on the basis of extreme poverty but were rejected because they put zero dollars as the annual income of the village, which the government assumes cannot possible be accurate. They explained that they do not make money because they live completely off the land. They were actually planning on making up a fake number to put on the forms. They presented a request to our team for Experience Mission to pay for the forms. We responded that we would discuss it as a team and let them know by the end of the day.

After this rather intense meeting, we proceeded to the site of the bridge. When we arrived about 30 members of the community had gathered to meet us. The leader was Castulo Reyes Reyes who has been leading the bridge project. We also found that members of the village that live across the river also gathered on the other side. Castulo and our guide Albir explained to us that the river has risen and it is too treacherous to cross, so they would not make it to the meeting. Nontheless, they still gathered to watch proceedings from the other side. Castulo began to explain to us how hard they have been working on the bridge in our absence but that they have done as much as they can do without the help of an engineer. We interviewed 10 representatives of the tribe and each explained from his or her perspective why the bridge was so important. Castulo was that last to interview, and he expressed his hope that we could unite together as one to complete the project. This bridge not only unites the community, but it makes it possible for those on the other side to come into the village and go to school and access the community health center. The petitions of the community were very compelling, and I think we all walked away with a sense of urgency about the project.

After the meeting, our translator Yon and I talked to Albir, and he explained that he thought a couple of the able-bodied men on the team would be able to cross the river with assistance from the locals. He explained that it would mean a lot to those on the other side if we made the crossing. As the EM representative, I was forced to make a decision. The crossing is very dangerous, and there was definite risk involved. Yon was the only person on the team that speaks Spanish, so he was an obvious choice but he cannot swim so he was definitely out. I speak a little Spanish, so I felt that it was my duty to make the crossing. Also, Trey, one of the students expressed a desire to cross. I was confident in Trey’s ability to make the crossing, so I allowed him to accompany me, and we made the crossing. Albir and Castulo guided us to the point we would cross, and when we arrived they had three men on each side of the rapids hold ropes for us. We would cross the chest high rapids by using the ropes that they held. Fortunately, we both made the crossing without any close calls, but we were both surprised by the strength of the current and felt that it was indeed a very dangerous river.

Once across I was in for an even bigger challenge; a speech in my very poor Spanish. We were taken to the site of the bridge construction and met all those gathered. I talked to Margarito, the President of Alto Coen for a while and then addressed the community. If it was not such an important occasion, the scene would have been comical. We had an American who spoke very little Spanish giving a speech in Spanish to an indigenous tribe that only spoke Bribri. Albir was the translator and luckily he seemed to understand what I said. In spite of the less than ideal communication, the Bribri seemed to really appreciate the gesture, and we shortly returned and safely made it back across the river. Mission accomplished.

By the time our group returned to the village to eat, it was about 2:00, but we all agreed it seemed much later. It had been and intense day. After a lengthy team meeting and meal, we spent the time relaxing, and talking to some of the Bribri as best as we could. A few of them spoke Spanish, so Yon could translate. I went through the pictures and videos from the day and all the Bribri in the house gathered in amazement. From toddlers to elderly, they all seemed delighted with the technology.

During our afternoon meeting, we had decided to donate the 70,000 colones for the school, so to conclude the meeting we presented our decision to the community. They were delighted that we were going to help, and we had a chance to talk to them a bit as a group after the meeting. The mutual respect and trust was evident, and it was touching to see how God had used our time in Alto Coen.

I could go on and on, but I don’t have time to go into the details of our return trip. Suffice to say that it poured all day and with the river rising we were forced to take a long and strenuous detour. The important thing is that we returned safely thanks to our trusty guide Albir. The whole team was tired but also felt quite a sense of accomplishment at having hacked through miles of Jungle. I don’t think that our time in Alto Coen is anything any of us will ever forget.

To learn more about the mission trips that Experience Mission is sending out, visit www.experiencemission.org.

2/24/2009

Today began with what I hope is one of the greatest challenges of the trip. After picking up our rental car, we procured a map and directions and confidently embarked on a journey out of San Jose. However, we soon found that every main road will eventually come to a two way split (both ways looking almost exactly the same.) Unfortunately, they are not the same. On more than one occasion what was once a main road would wind into very narrow little road through a bunch of worn down houses. As soon as we got directions that took us back to a main road, we would find another perplexing split, and all to often we made the incorrect choice. We were two stupid gringos hopelessly lost in the middle of San Jose anxious to find a representative of the Costa Rican government and suggest that in the United States we have something called street signs! Fortunately, if you wander around long enough and get enough conflicting sets of directions you are bound to eventually find your highway. Thankfully, we made it out safe and sound but not before turning a 15 minute drive into a 2 hour journey!

The rest of our trip was uneventful and by late afternoon we arrived at the house of Timoteo Jackson. Timoteo is an influential member of the Bribri tribe. He greeted us warmly, and he was happy to see Chris because they both worked with the EM teams last summer. Timoteo is 64 years old, but he is muscular and strong for his age and moves around like a man much younger. He informed us that his father is still living and doing well at 108 years old! He told me that he has 12 sons and daughters, and we met many of his family members this evening. He has a beautiful family, and I am looking forward to getting to know them over the next couple of weeks.

I met Timoteo’s son Carlos tonight, and I was successful in starting a conversation with my broken Spanish. I asked him if his house was nearby, and he said yes and proceeded to take me to it. By now it was so dark that I had difficulty following him up the semi-steep winding path. We arrived without me killing myself, and he took me into his house and even brought me into his bedroom to show me pictures of his family, local wildlife, and the last chief of the Bribri tribe who died in 1910. We talked as best as we could, and he taught be some Bribri words based on the Spanish equivalents. As we were leaving, I tried to thank him for showing me his house, but I couldn’t think of how to say it. He understood and finished my sentence for me. I in turn was able to understand enough to realize that he had accurately finished my thought. I am pleased that I made a new friend, and our time with the Jackson family was well was worth the long hours of driving.

After saying goodbye to Timoteo, we returned to Puerto Veijo where we found an economical hotel room, which is actually the upstairs in the house of the owner of some rental cabins. It is very basic and has a community bathroom, but it costs less than half as much as typical hotel room. I am writing this from the deck, and I can hear the sounds of the nearby tide. It is a beautiful night in Costa Rica.

Josh G.

**To learn more about what Experience Mission is doing, visit our website at www.experiencemission.org.

By Mo Scarpelli

When several men from Woodruff Road Community Church in Greenville, North Carolina arrived at a house in Gary, West Virginia last week to repair a water-damaged room, they expected several days of hard work.

What they didn’t expect were two smiling little girls to keep them company throughout the project.

“We were looking for somewhere to put our nails and Kaleigh brought us a little princess box,” said Todd Gleason, Experience Mission Construction Manager. “She kept coming back in the room and saying, ‘It’s so beautiful, it’s so beautiful,’ even though it was still under construction.”

Kaleigh, 4, and Brooke, 2, live with grandparents Beth and Ronnie several miles from historic downtown Welch, West Virginia.

The family applied to the local nonprofit organization, School for Life, Inc., two years ago for home repair. School for Life, Inc. partners with Experience Mission in home repair projects for those in need.

The small EM team spent last week laying drywall and spackling the cracks of the Finley’s back room, where their granddaughters will have their own rooms, for the very first time.

Beth and Ronnie Finley’s house troubles began in July of 2001, when a great flood struck southern West Virginia, leaving more than 1,500 families without homes.

The Finleys were nearly one of them. Their backyard washed away into the creek behind their house and part of their roof tore off in the relentless wind.

“It pulled apart from the beams and water started getting up under the roof, not just falling on it,” said 45-year-old Beth Finley. “That’s when the ceiling fell down.”

In the seven years since the flood, the Finley’s roof has never completely recovered, despite their best efforts to repair it.

“We bought plywood and rolled roofing (tar paper) and tried to fix it,” said Beth, who has been married to Ronnie Finley for eight years. “It got us through the winter, but started leaking in the spring again.”

After getting off work at the body shop, Ronnie Finley would hoist himself up on top of the house to patch the roof with scrap tin that he’d gotten from a friend. Beth calls it “our flannel shirt roof” because there are so many different colors.

Beth says she didn’t really mind the leaking too much until she adopted her granddaughter, Kaleigh. Ronnie put up a partition to block out the corner of the room where water damage was the worst, and Kaleigh occasionally slept in the front part of the room, though she was more comfortable in her grandparents’ bed.

With Experience Mission’s help, the rooms are now leak-safe, which Beth says is perfect timing for the Finley’s, considering they are in the process of obtaining full parental rights of their second grandchild, Brooke.

Brooke, now 2 years old, was born to a drug-addicted mother and soon after, her father, Beth’s son, was arrested for breaking and entering and sent to jail. Beth and Ronnie Finley have been fighting for custody of their grandchild for more than a year, as she bounced from foster care to her mother’s care to her other grandmother’s care in the meantime.

Beth says with paperwork and court dates out of the way, the family is finally achieving stability. Now that the children have permanent homes, Beth says EM house repair help will have a big impact on the girls’ quality of life.

“The girls are going to have their own rooms for the first time ever,” said Beth Finley. “We’ve been daydreaming – Kaleigh picked out sheets and wallpaper. She goes back there once in awhile to see where she wants to put her bed.”

To Gleason, home repair for the Finley’s wasn’t just about fixing a room. It was also about setting an example to the girls of how faith can lead to compassion and hard work.

“Beth couldn’t express enough how much it meant to her that there were young people interested in doing this work,” said Gleason. “All the young people around here that she knows are into messed up stuff.”

Beth says she often sees crack cocaine and methamphetamine use go undetected by police in her area.

McDowell County has the highest drug-related mortality rate in the state, according to a 2006 report by the West Virginia Prevention Resource Center. More than 30 percent of deaths involve drugs or other abused substances.

Beth worries about this, mostly because she saw her own son fall into a desperate drug addiction. She says five of her neighbors are also grandparents taking care of the children their kids’ couldn’t, due to drug problems.

“It’s real bad here. If they had more people like you –“she said, pointing at EM volunteers as they scraped joint compound on the ceilings, “then they wouldn’t want to get into drugs in the first place.”

The team of five – Earl Nadeau, David Gray, Steve Kinney, Sam Farley, and Gleason – finished in three days, though the rooms still need painting.

Kaleigh Finley says that part is her job.

“I’m going to paint my new room with my daddy and we’re going to make purple butterflies!” said Kaleigh, as she looked around the back corner room she claimed as her own.

EM continues to partner with School for Life, Inc. until the end of July, bringing hundreds more volunteers to assess the needs of McDowell County residents.

Experience Mission is offering Summer 2010 mission trips to West Virginia and other locations in the U.S. and abroad. Visit www.experiencemission.org or call 360-732-0986 to learn more.

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Sometimes it’s hard to understand why houses take so long to be completed, but with all the different steps – some which require a greater level of skill than others – and multiple inspections that must be passed before moving on to the next step, the lengthy process makes more sense.

It  had been around a month since teams had been able to do any work on Brigitte’s home because we were all waiting for it to pass inspection. Recently we discovered that the house had passed inspection two weeks ago, but no one had been notified. This was both frustrating and exciting news – we wished we could have been working on it for weeks, but we were excited for  our very last team of the summer to begin the drywalling process.

Part of the Tennessee Team spend the entire week at Brigitte’s, and with Cory’s guidance put up sheet after sheet of drywall, and finished nearly all the insulation – a job slightly less than comfortable. When I finally got to see the site toward the end of the week, I was shocked at the progress they had made. I remembered almost two months ago when I had helped hook up some of the plumbing in the bathroom, when I could see every corner of the house from the moment I walked in the door.

Another house that has been a slow but slightly more steady process is Ray’s. We have had a group working on his house almost every week, but for the last month it seemed like each team would redo the same tedious process – mudding and sanding, mudding and sanding. It’s a task that has to be done, is not quick or easy, and takes a great amount of time to get right. The last two weeks have brought an end in sight, however, and our last two teams were able to actually texture both walls and a ceiling after mudding and sanding. On Thursday, EM’s last workday for the summer in Pearlington, we could all tell that Ray was excited, in his quiet way, to see such visible progress on his home.

A sign outside of a church, visible from the main road that winds through Pearlington, sums up where many of the town’s struggles and their faith intersect: “Katrina was big, but God is bigger.”

-Cheryl Knowles