Playground!

Here is news!!! :

1. I get to stay for the full week next week.

2. I get a group for next week at... The Korean Church!

3. I get to build a SURPRISE PLAYGROUND!!!



Can you tell im a little excited??



I have worked all summer at the Korean United Methodist church building and beautifying their first sanctuary of their own. It has been a beast of a project but it has been amazing to work there. The Korean people seem a little timid so it took about 4 weeks to really get to know them. They have opened up so much and Mrs. Hye even said she considers me Korean if I would just duck down a little to be as short as her.... they are hilarious! Rarely do staff stay at one site all summer, but new projects kept coming up. We completely transformed the pastor's office and built him some awesome bookcases. We also got to build more of those awesome bookcases for a mini library where they can hold Korean Intensive courses for the community which teach people how to read and write Korean. The rotten wood on the outside of the church is replaced and repainted and the jungle of ivy and weeks is tamed.
It looks like a real church home and they are so so so excited!

Joe, my director, knows how much i have fallen in love with these people and has been helping me figure out one last surprise project for them. At first it started out as a couple of swingsets but now it has become an all-out playground. I am building two swingsets, a fort/platform with a ladder, connecting monkey bars, and hopefully a slide. I have never done anything like this, not even a deck, so i have been thinking and drawing and shopping all day. I have a team of 12, but im not sure if they are in jr or sr high. If you think about me next week say a mini prayer for me because i will need it.


Love!

If I sent you a postcard and you havent sent me one back...shame on you.

Homes

7.25.10

Today was beautiful. Actually the last two days have been. Yesterday the girls on staff went to Mrs. Janice's house for the most delicious low country boil. Emily has worked on her house a lot this summer and has become like part of their family. Mrs. Janice’s daughter died when she was 22 and her spunky granddaughter Jayana now lives with her. Emily says she thinks she has opened up to her so much because she is a lot like her daughter.

After lunch we all snuggled up on the couch and watched a murder mystery on lifetime. It was nice to be in a real home for a while, and not to mention having a real home cooked meal.

Later yesterday three staff from Gatlinburg came in and I love them all. Jon is a worksite beast, Megan is the sweetest girl, and Griffin leads worship with Matt and Natalia and has a superb ghetto alterego.  I really wish they were staying for more than a week.

This morning we all went to the Korean church for their 27^th year anniversary celebration service. Yeah! Here’s what’s up: last week we all had a major change of plans at the church and had to paint the ceiling. It was a little frustrating because our walls were halfway painted and ceiling wasn't going to look good without popcorn texture. But later they explained that they had to have it painted so they could go ahead and put the lights and air conditioning in. They wanted to have their anniversary service in their new building whether it was finished or not. I told Mrs. Hye we were coming to the sunday morning service last night but she decided not to tell the pastor or anyone else because she wanted us to be their surprise. I wish you could see the look on their faces and tears in the eyes when all 13 of us walked in.

Other than the scaffolding in the back and the paint tape around the window frames and doors it looked like a real church. I couldn't understand most of the message but I knew what it was about. He spoke on a passage in Luke-- the one about how to pray and the power of persistent prayer. Throughout the message I kept hearing "TEAMeffort" and I knew he was talking about us being the fruit of the church's prayers. The members told us so over a delicious, authentic Korean lunch. One older lady who had been a part of the church since the beginning told us that we were a miracle to them. 

Their appreciation and warm hugs made me forget about the splotches on the walls and the many other imperfections that annoy me. The people there remind me of little kids on Christmas morning when they walk into the new church. It's not just thankfulness that I see but awe and excitement. I can now understand why they were so anxious to move in. They just couldn't wait to see their new home! I love that! That is the joy of the Lord! They are the body and bride of Christ and they are so beautiful!

I am so thankful that it was easy to see the kingdom come and the will of God done on my worksite because some homeowners aren't grateful. I've heard stories of homeowners asking for thousands of dollars so they could hire their own builders who would do a more quality job. I don't know if i'd be as gung-ho about working on the church if they were like that. I'm so happy that the Korean church is loving and giving, but I don't want to say that that's the reason i do the work. I want my motivation for working at TEAMeffort or anywhere else to be the same whether people care or even notice. I want my reason for working, giving, and living to be the glory of God. I want Him to be so important to me that I have no other reason for doing anything. 1 Cor. says that I can move mountains, but without love it is worthless. I want to love fiercely before I get recognized or appreciated for doing great things. I mean why would I take credit? Don’t all good things come from God anyway? 

That is what I’m learning this summer. I pray that I can have this kind of heart next year as an RA. Surprisingly I feel really good about going right into another year as an RA. I thought I’d be burnt out from this summer but the more I work the more rejuvenated and refocused I feel. It’s funny how faith works isn’t it?

Doris and I are chillin in the chesty-chest waiting on my last group of campers to come in. Something dramatic is on TV so im going to peace out.

Love to all!

Le Pier Deux

Relaxing at the Pier again with Kylie. I'm glad no one's here because it has been hec-to-da-tic! 211 campers this week and Gus and I have 50 at the Korean church. We got a lot done but I probably heard my name 100 times today. I think the first day is the most stressful because i have to get everyone in their stations and into the groove. I tried to make it easier for myself by making a worksheet for each team that has a list of tools needed for the job and a step by step how-to list. Type-A? Yes. I think it worked but by the end of the day the sheets were destroyed by paint and sweat.

This is my 5th week at the Korean church and i love it now more than i ever have. I think it takes a while for the Korean people to really warm up to somebody. Im positive they love me now. Eun Park, the pastor's wife and also the assistant pastor, gives me hugs and holds my hands and the pastor, Jung Pai, gave me a glow in the dark necklace and a stinkin' awesome pen with their church name on it that has all different kinds of ink. He gave me a hug too!

We are doing some stuff around the church that they don't know about and i'm pretty happy about it. We are building a gate for their air conditioning unit, landscaping and making a pathway to the back of the church, and washing the outside walls. Mr. James said he thought the church looked 2 times whiter than when he saw it earlier today! Gus also had the amazing idea of making a prayer labrinth around the back of the church. It's basically a little prayer garden with a winding walkway. He wants to make the path out of seashells and I hope i can pick the flowers.

Im in the skit tonight at chapel... look on my facebook wall to look at the lastest video im tagged in. It's a tidbit of how it goes.

That's all for now I think.

Tell me about your lives!

Love!

Le Pier

Im on Pier duty with Gus but no campers are here... so that makes for a perfect time to blog.

This weekend we (the teameffort staff) got to hang out with Karen's ministry staff (Bri, Kelly, Emily, and Luke) and it was loads of fun. Have you ever played Neos? They look like something from the Jetsons and they are the most exciting thing. Let me see if i can explain this... it's like a cage or a wall, depending on which one you go to, of lights that you have to catch or hit, depending on which game you play. One person has to get the red lights and the other green. It gets so intense and you're running around and into one another and you get a little dizzy. Don't you wish i had a picture? 

This week's group is my favorite so far. We have already made another tribe.. "Panasty-nast" (For the nasty paint) Of course i am the chief and my face got attacked with war paint. I have a heart, many dots and lines, and a swirled mustache at the moment. I plan to keep it on through chapel. 

Oh here's something! We no longer have campers or complete strangers walking into our house! That's good right? You see we put a sign on our door that says "Staff Only" and "No, This is Not the Sea Palms Office". That solved that right up. 

All of you lovely people need to check your mailboxes because I just might have sent you some love in the form of a postcard. 

Cooper out!

free time? what is this?

This is bizarre that I have free time let me tell you. I am sitting here with Megan and Emily in our freshly cleaned kitchen eating pretzel sticks and orange blossom honey. Megan stole some of Matt's fantastic cds and we're jamming as I try to think of something interesting to tell you all. 

Oh! Here is something: Due to our house being the storage room for the Pier (our concessions/hang out area) a lot of flies get into our house because we open and close the door so much. With that in mind (we are not complete slobs) let me tell you that there were maggots in our sink. Is our house cursed with every kind of bug on the planet? I think so. 

Also exciting: My group for this week was beastly this week and we finished the altar for the Korean church and built two walls along with sanding and remudding the ceiling. Er.. excuse me "muddockarockin" the ceiling. That's what we call mud. We also call sheetrock "sharockarock". My groups are the tribe of "mudockarock" and I am chief, or Queen depending on the group's preference, "Sharockarock". Clever huh? We have war paint and everything! 

Another fantastic thing that happened today: one of my camper's butt fell completely through the ceiling. We have to get new sheetrock or whatever...but im pretty sure it was worth it. 

And also an old guy on the team took out his teeth at me. I was shocked. 

I still cant get my computer to load my camera, but I'm going to use Emily's because hers magically works. Stupid computer. 

I love you guys and I want to hear all about your lives! I bought postcards today so check your mail this week. 

love!