Rural West Virginia: Besides the construction duties, cooking, cleaning, and keeping a group of 35 organized our EM team has also had a few other success stories.  While in West Virginia, Crystal, Robby, and I want to make sure that we are changing people’s lives through help and relationships, if we do this then a natural change will occur in us as well.  During this week’s mission trip, while at the Eaton family home our team was surrounded with nothing but love, giving, and selflessness.  The grandmother, Dot, of the family’s home was with our team every step of the way.  She was constantly walking around making sure we didn’t need anything, giving us cold bottled water, offering food, and of course offering to help.  She not only was attending to the needs of 14 people while we worked, but she was also watching her three grand children and her special needs brother, Chubby.  I really can’t even begin to describe how being able to hear a little of Dot’s story, playing tag with the kids, or laughing with Chubby when some of the kids got in a water fight has already changed mine and I know many others lives after just one week.  Sure we worked hard and successfully finished the house but more importantly we made connections, built relationships, and slowed down long enough to hear other people’s needs above ours and it is an amazing feeling.  Trying to describe the kindness and hard working grandmother Dot was is impossible, trying to explain how perfectly Chubby sanded a piece of ceiling tile for me is indescribable, and trying to share how Montana Eaton (10 year old girl) made a new best friend on our team, who may be inspiration for her later on down the road is unreal.  What I can tell you is that after one week of hard work and many emotions my life has been changed and I have truly been touched by the Eaton family and the mission trip team I got to work with this past week.  Even trying to briefly type out some of the feelings makes me emotional.  The Eaton family kept saying “this is truly a blessing”…all I can think is how blessed I feel to have been able to meet and work with this family in West Virginia.

Signed,

Alisha Butler

Note: If you would like to help with the restoration that is taking place in Rural West Virginia, join one of Experience Mission’s trips to the Appalachia. Go to www.experiencemission.org to view our trip dates and watch for our soon-to-be posted 2010 trips!

Rural Mission Trip: Here we are!  Gary, West Virginia.  Since we arrived on Monday we have been hard at work preparing rooms for our mission trip teams to stay in and places for the leaders to gather.  Yesterday we met a woman and her sister from the community who are going to be cooking dinner for us for the summer.  We are so thankful to have them!  From what we have tasted, we can tell that they definitely know their way around the kitchen.
Today we have been assembling and bunking beds as well as cleaning and finding our way around the community.  The school that we are staying in is in the process of being remodeled by our community partners, Jack and Brenda, who run an organization called the School for Life.  It is amazing to see Jack’s passion for the people here.  Just today he took us down to Gary Bottom and introduced us to a woman named Candy and her two sons and told us a little bit about her struggles.  We are excited to get to know her story better and build a relationship with her.
This place is different than anything that we have ever experienced before.  Yes, it is full of poverty and the culture that goes along with it, but the people are loving and so kind.  We have so much to learn from them and we are excited to share the Hope that we have with them as we build relationships with them. We know that this summer’s mission trips will be full of challenges and growth.

Team West Virginia

Note: Do you want to be a part of the change and assistance happening in this Appalachian Community? Sign your team up for a mission trip with Experience Mission. To do so go to www.experiencemission.org.