Work Trip Reflectionssean Kelly, M.Div

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Work Trip ReflectionsSean Kelly, M.Div.

Miller County, MOFirst Presbyterian Church

August 20, 2017Lake Forest, Illinois

As I hope you saw in the video, Work Trip is an incredible time of hard work and challenging experiences but fun opportunities as well!

This was my First Year experiencing Work Trip, and my first genuine ‘taste’ of this ministry came back in Early April when I accompanied Jim Cochrane & George Fossell on a site visit to Miller County. Looking back, this was probably the best introduction I could have had because I was literally submerged in a situation where I could glean unparalleled information, not just about the history of this trip but also the amount of time & energy that goes into making these trips possible for our students possible year after year. Jim, George & I spent an entire day driving around with our Community Partner in Miller County, looking at the sites and meeting with the homeowners, and it was impossible not to see the impact our church and our students have had throughout Miller County, MO. From general cleanup, to decks, to roofs, to home additions, I was amazed and how many times our guide pointed out, ‘Your church did that…’; ‘Your church did that…’; ‘Your church did that…’ and on/on/on… Plus being with Jim & George gave me a behind the scenes view of the deep relationships that have been formed throughout the community and the investment that has been made over years! I knew Work Trip was special simply from the passion/excitement that others had spoken about it, but I was starting to realize the depth of the impact our students had truly had.

Which brings me to our Projects… This is the anticipated part of Work Trip – The Part we all know about, the part you all made possible through your support (Bowl-A-Thon & Work Trip Shares). The construction projects, the maintenance work, the type of involvement one would expect when they first hear of our beloved Work Trip

Memorials: Anne Thomson, Chris Martinat, Ellie Burns

Every year the senior class completes a Memorial Project in honor of the passing’s of Anne Thomson, Chris Martinat, and Ellie Burns; Teenage Members of our community whose lives were too brief and who were taken from us too quickly. And although our current students may not have known Anne/Chris/Ellie, these Memorials are opportunities for our students to honor their lives, honor their memories and ensure that they are not forgotten.

This year the senior’s constructed an outdoor Chapel as their Memorial for Anne/Chris/Ellie. It is a beautiful space and one that will hopefully be used for years to come. One unique addition to this year’s memorial, which you can see here in the picture, were 2 trees planted on either side of the cross. These trees were added at the request of the senior’s for one of our Advisor’s, Megan Bourne, in memory of her Mother, Mindy Bourne, who passed away earlier this year.

It was an amazing project (completed in 1 day!!), which came out beautifully, and we had a wonderful dedication service together once it was completed.

As I said this was the anticipated, the expected part, when we first left to go on Work Trip. But for today I asked our students and advisors…

which by the way, 24 Adult Advisors went along to make this year’s trip possible; if you were an adult advisor this year, or in years past would you please stand up… Let’s give them a hand - - Thank You All so much! This Trip truly could not happen without you!!

… As I was saying I asked our students and Advisors to finish the sentence, ‘Work Trip Is…’, and I would like to share a few of those responses with you.

Work Trip Is…

Work Trip is a reality check. It opens our eyes to those who aren't as well off as we are and gives us an opportunity to help them.1

Work Trip is a remarkable gathering of young adults coming together in a community that needs our help.2

Work trip is... an opportunity to reach out to people in need and get to know more students and adults from the congregation, building strong relationships.3

Worktrip is community, laughter, family, love, friendship, hard work, tradition and most importantly God’s work.4

Work trip is building more than just homes. Together we build a strong faith community and forever friendships5

Connection6

Reading those statements, it’s hard not to recognize the most important outcome of Work Trip = Community & Relationships.

While in MO, groups would stop at the Iberia Drive-In at the end of each day for Ice Cream. On the last day, the manager handed a note to one of our Advisor’s which contained a beautifully written ‘Thank You’ Note and a donation for our group. This gesture was in addition to comments made to us by the Convenience Store Manager/Dollar General Employees/Countless Community Members simply asking about our Group, thanking us and wishing us well… Simply the presence of our Group within the Community had an impact that, in my opinion, cannot be quantified.

Which brings me to the Relationships. Relationships forged between students and between students & advisors were a wonderful example of the type of multi-generational worship community we strive to be.

Our kids were challenged throughout this week… All of us were challenged throughout this week. Challenged Physically, Challenged Spiritually, Challenged Mentally, Challenged Emotionally. But it was the relationships we made, and the connections we formed, throughout the week that helped us through, and it’s the friendships that carry on today that created lasting memories of the experience as well as encourage us to impact our own friends and community here at home!

Linda Martinat

“Picture this: It’s the summer of 1975, 42 years ago. Two van loads of kids & adults head out to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South

Dakota, for 2 weeks, loaded with food, tools, camping gear, lots of teenage energy, excitement & anticipation.

This was our Church’s FIRST work trip! Since then, we have ventured to W.Va, IA, MI, KY, MO, GA, MS and we have taken as little as 8 students in a van to a maximum of 99 students, on a plane, with 2 large tour busses taking us through the aftermath of Katrina to our site in Ocean Springs, MS. We have slept indoors, outdoors, on gym floors with and without air mattresses, and in bunk beds with only 2 inch mattresses. The common thread that holds this all together is our Church’s mission to help others, to connect with others and to make this world a better place for all of us.

Our jobs have included everything from planting flowers that would beautify someone’s yard to building a Chapel for a Camp. We have installed aluminum siding, metal-siding, asphalted roofs, tarred roofs, replaced metal roofs, dry-walled, built decks & porches, installed windows & doors, demolished structures (that is the kid’s favorite), painted, cleared wooded areas, built trails & sidewalks, baseball fields, and painted murals. All our physical work has been accomplished in 5 days. But our presence & our connection to the people

that we have served have lasted & have continued to last for years & years. We all have received heartfelt notes over the years from the families that we have helped, thanking us for our work at their homes & in their communities.

Our fearless leader, Jim Cochrane with his wife, Jo, has led this Work Trip for the past 42 years. He has been instrumental in finding the places for our group to carry out our work. He not only finds these places, but he develops relationships with the community, often visiting these areas 4 or 5 times throughout the year. He has served on the Boards of two of these places where we have gone – Boggs in Georgia, & Camp Wonderland in Missouri. Through these relationships with the local people (the mayors, the heads of housing

authorities, the camp directors), he decides whom we can help & plans what we can accomplish at each site. We often have 6 -7 working sites each day. He determines what supplies we will need for each site and gets these supplies delivered for us by the time we arrive. When possible, he makes sure that the supplies come from local vendors in order to help out the community. He also assigns the advisors to each site, based on the expertise of each advisor or the not-so-expertise of each advisor!

But, by the end of the week, we often feel that we have accomplished small miracles in the work that we have completed! And, I think Jim will agree with that feeling!

Jim’s right hand man is George Fossell. George was an advisor for 20 years and then was “promoted” to be Jim’s partner. George, a retired math teacher, is our resident mathematician teacher) on our Work Trip. On every trip both the kids the adults have had to solve geometry problems presented by George in order for us all to figure out the angles to the trusses or to make sure the walls were plummed correctly. George is our teacher & any question we have, George always “helps” us figure out the answer. He doesn’t answer it for us, but is our guide along the way.

Our theme for the 2017-2018 program year is: Connect – Create intentional & systemic opportunities to connect individuals & families in their spiritual growth. The goals are to: Connect to Each Other, Connect to God, Connect to Self & Connect to our Neighbor. To me, this theme highlights the power of Work Trip, and allows us to Connect in all of those realms (areas).

My very first work trip was to Boggs, Georgia. I remember the feeling that

I had during that week – this is a true vacation! Now expressing that feeling to people after I returned was always met with a little bit of disbelief or more like “are you kidding me?” But as I reflected on why I felt that way, I realized several things – my world & focus during that week was my work site and the people surrounding me.

I was given the chance to connect – to the advisors, to the kids, and to the people I had just met & that I was there to help. I also was given the chance to connect & focus on myself – how to manage & experience everyday life without a lot of outside pressure or material things. And lastly, and most importantly, I was given the chance to connect to God – to deepen my faith through our worship, & through our work trip community, by really paying attention for 5 days on the way that God works through us and in us to help & to connect to other people.

Yes, Work Trip is all of that and so much more. For me, Work Trip has not only provided connections, but in those connections, I also received “support”. And with this “support” I found help that carried me through my life’s challenges & struggles and also with “this support” my life’s joys and celebrations were shared and magnified.

I encourage you to get involved in our Church’s legacy which is an All

Church Ministry, & experience the Connection to each other, to yourself, to your neighbor and to God.”

Lindsay Folker:

“If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look out to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 2:1-5

“I feel that this verse relates to work trip in the aspect of helping others and doing service. But that is only one part of the work trip experience. There is so much more to discover on work trip than what others may think. My freshman year of Work Trip, I had no idea what to expect. Since I joined First Pres in 8th grade for confirmation and I was the first in my family to join the church, I didn’t have anyone to tell me how much fun Work Trip is or the type of experience I was going to have. Because of that, I felt a big part of my freshman year was getting to know the people in Youth Group and on Work Trip which is another aspect of work trip. I loved the community of Work Trip and not only were the locals amazing but I made connections with a lot of people from Youth Group and on work trip so I had people to connect to when I got back home.

I also think that since I was more focused on getting to know people from work trip I had an entirely different experience my sophomore year. Since I had already made many friends on work trip my freshman year and I was more confident in participating I feel my sophomore year of Work Trip I really got to focus on the people we were helping. That year I felt more connected with the people we were helping and I finally saw how much of an impact we were making on these people’s lives. How something as little as buying ice cream made the world to some people.

I really got to see the impact of the work we were doing since I wasn’t as focused on getting to know my fellow Work Trip gosers. Now I am heading into my junior year and I'm excited to see what new aspect of Work Trip I discover this year.”