Work Retreat

Do you ever wonder if the kids at MYC and New Life Youth Camp have opportunities to “give back?”

This past weekend, we had a Work Retreat. I’ve had many before, but never with the resources that I have now. A simple change like adding showers has made the Work Retreat something exponentially better! Now we can spend the night Friday night, work all day Saturday, and go to church together Sunday morning. Before the Retreat Center, I had to pick them up Saturday morning and have them home by Saturday evening most of the time. (Although there was that time we spent the night in a van parked in the barn – man it was hot and horrible!)
Anyway, I wanted to tell you what 4 boys, 3 men, 1 woman, and 3 girls got done on Friday and Saturday.

The girls cleaned Mrs. Wendi’s van, washed the windows in the meeting area of the Retreat Center, ran the kitchen, and took some time to help one of the girls do a make- up for a Timothy Project Retreat (Jan 22 blog) she missed. It was such a blessing to not have to mess with food or dishes!

The boys sprayed the algae in the pond; cleaned up a trash pile of building materials in front of the Retreat Center; cleaned up Archery, Ropes, the Mary’s Chapel trail, the zipline area at the pond, and the hedgerow behind the barn of all the ice storm damage; moved a stack of leftover cypress, and then totally reorganized the wood storage area on top of the canteen of all of the cypress, plywood, 4x4s, insulation, and whatever else was up there; moved a diesel tank and volleyball poles; filled in a large hole by the cross; put eye bolts in our new canoe trailer to make it easier to strap down the canoes; and then mowed, trimmed, and did some weedeating all around Camp. And, of course, they helped clean up the Retreat Center when it was time to go home.

And here’s the kicker – these kids enjoyed almost all of it. They worked hard. And, when the work was done, we had time to hang out with them. We played video games, watched some basketball, had a campfire, and went to church with them. I love it. Thank you for your part in making the Retreat Center, Camp, and my job possible. Please keep praying for us! Please keep praying for these kids! Thank you!