Youth Missions Organization
Y.M.O. Mission Trip July 2-10, 2011
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| Synopsis of Day 1: The St. James Episcopal Church and St. Paul's Hanover mission team arrived safely today at St. Paul's in Hollywood, South Carolina. We had a wonderful shrimp boil dinner (shrimp, sausage, corn) provide by Johnny. While at Johnny's we relaxed and we able to unwind from the bus trip by walking down to the inlet, hitting around the volleyball, throwing frisbee, and tossing the football. After dinner Father Chris talked about community building, and then the kids....we worked within there teams to define their personal/team view of community. Some of the terms they used to describe their since of community were cooperative, unity, and caring. The night ended with songs and stories. Looking forward to a 300 person breakfast in the morning, then an excursion to the town of Charleston. YMO 2011 Day 2: The mission team woke refreshed this morning to a scrumptious breakfast of eggs, sausage, and sticky buns. We celebrated eucharist at 10am with two other large groups that were finishing up there activities for the week (Summer Boot Camp and Vacation Bible School). We enjoyed a Sunday hot dog and hamburger cookout provided by St. Paul's. Then our team enjoyed the rest of the afternoon downtown in historic Charleston. Everyone had a great time exploring the shops, walking along the waterfront, and dining out for dinner. Father Chris, the greatest "one man band", embraced the opportunity to lead us in song with his energetic guitar play. During this time he shared some of his personal experiences with the team with events where disappointment occurs when expectations aren't met. He encouraged us to think about being open to opportunities that God presents. We later separated into our teams, and had open discussions about our experiences and how they relate to question... "who are you?" The mission team is excited and anxious about starting our first construction project tomorrow, which will be one of the first steps towards developing relationships in order to build healthy community. Thank you for all your prayers!!! YMO 2011 Day 3: The first day of construction rocked the house, literally! The youth mission team started transforming the one bedroom structure (no bathroom) into a home for Linda Youngblood by renovating the entire inside, replacing the roof, and adding an addition that will house a bathroom and a room for a washer & dryer. We had demolition and clean up teams engaged in tearing off shingles, removing the front door, and gutting the inside to its bare bones. We had a team scrambling and crawling under the house rebuilding and repairing the joists to ensure a solid foundation for the floor. Another team worked together on the addition by setting the joists and laying the plywood flooring. It was an awesome day, and you could see everyone was motivated, determination, and happy from start to finish! We had the unexpected pleasure of meeting with Gina Mitchell, the very first person Father Chris had the divine pleasure of serving in the Hollywood community. Father Chris led his first team of 9 YMO students here 20 plus years ago, which helped enable Ms. Mitchell to raise her family. Ms. Mitchell told us how blessed she was that God had sent Father Chris and his team, and the impact on her life. We were truly blessed today, on the first day of construction, that we had the opportunity to see full circle the fruits of labor from the initial YMO relationship within the community. After we completed the work day at the site, we cleaned up and were served a wonderful roast pig dinner at the home of Steve and Paula Coffin of Meggett. Once back at the church, we sang a few songs with the St. Paul's music band. Then during fellowship Father Chris asked the question "Who are you?". He reminded us that we are here for a purpose, not by accident, and that we need to slow down to take a moment to listen in order to be transformed by the Holy Spirit. Thank you for the prayers, and continue to keep us in your thoughts. = YMO 2011 Day 4: Our YMO trip has achieved national attention! Go to the following link below, starting 40 seconds into the clip, to see Margy and Father Chris explain the YMO mission to build relationships within the community; and how the outreach enables us to be transformed by the Holy Spirit. http://www.abcnews4.com/video?clipId=6019287&topVideoCatNo=189728&a utoStart=true (Go to #2 at bottom, click on Home rebuild & wait a bit...) We were visited by Mayor Heywood again today at the work site. She brought several of her young nephews, neice, and grand childred to work at the site along with us. Our youth welcomed them immediated and bonded with them as are team our guests how to work power tools, use hammers, and even mix cement. On the way back to the church for lunch, one of the childern, Ismael (about seven years old)... sang the Justin Bieber "Baby" to the team on the bus over the speaker system, and our kids joined in on the chorus. The team accomplished many construction milestones today. The roof was completely sheathed, the new addition walls were raised and the rafters were started on it, the floor and rafter blocking was completed, the subfloors we laid, and ... so many other important tasks completed. The team continues to work very hard and tirelessly. The kids continue to impress us with the high level of work ethic and their support for each other. We are so very proud of them! Father Chris and Father Craige both spoke tonight during fellowship in the chapel. They focused their reflection on the disruptive power of the Holy Spirit, and how it enables change in our lives and our relationships. Thank you for all your prayers! Please continue to pray for the teams safety. P.S. We were visited by another news crew today! |
Y.M.O.
Youth Missions Organization is our Senior
High youth group. Y.M.O. was founded in
1987, by Fr. Chris. This mission based youth
group has grown to have chapters all over the
world. Y.M.O. focuses on both local and
traveling missions. Y.M.O. meets every
Sunday night (September-May) at 6:30 at the
Residence in the youth room.
Youth Missions Organization is our Senior
High youth group. Y.M.O. was founded in
1987, by Fr. Chris. This mission based youth
group has grown to have chapters all over the
world. Y.M.O. focuses on both local and
traveling missions. Y.M.O. meets every
Sunday night (September-May) at 6:30 at the
Residence in the youth room.
YMO 2011 Day 5:
We had another productive day on the main job site, and a secondary
site. At the primary site Gina Mitchell’s son name T.J. worked with us
on the house. T.J. was only a toddler when Father Chris’s first YMO trip
initiated the relationship and community building twenty plus years
ago. He worked alongside our students, cutting plywood and assisting
with windows throughout the day. At the second site, a single team of
six students disassembled a 24’ handicap ramp into three sections,
and then was put on a trailer and driven to the main building site. It is
to be retrofitted and attached to the house that we are restoring for
Linda Youngblood. Back at the main site, the inspector passed our
construction on the roof, and now we will be able to put the tar paper
down and install the roofing shingles. Inside the home, the electric has
been run, and the team has started installing the insulation and dry
walling the ceiling. Our YMO team has developed close bonds and
continues to nurture those new relationships with each other.
We participated in a historic event in Hollywood, South Carolina
tonight. Father Chris, Father Craig, and Mayor Heywood planned a
cookout at the park in an African community in Hollywood to take
another bold step to foster closer relationships within the community.
Over 200 people attend the impromptu event, which included Mayor
Heywood along with her family and extended family, Linda (Mrs.
Smiley), Gina Mitchell, members of the community, and the YMO
team. We also had the opportunity to meet Linda Youngblood at the
cookout for the first time.
The YMO kitchen staff, Greg and Lisa, along with Jody, April and
several YMO students prepared and cooked an awesome meal for the
YMO to share with the community. The tiramisu was superb!
Everyone had a great time at the park! Our YMO students and the
community kids established a special connection through playing
games like tossing the football, playing basketball, braiding hair,
singing, dancing, and by simply taking the moment to sit down and
enjoy each other’s smiles and laugher.
Hopefully, this is the first step of many for enabling future opportunities
to develop closer relationships.
YMO 2011 Day 6:
The youth mission team's spirits are high and energy levels are off the
chart today! High fives, thumbs ups, “HOOAHS”, and smiles were
everywhere! We accomplished so many milestones on the house by
the end of the day. Shingles were laid on the front roof, the front door
was put up, the first replacement window was installed, the roof on the
addition was sheathed and papered, and … the kids continue to grow
in their relationships with God and each other. Truly another amazing
day at the site!
This evening we had the opportunity to meet Father Dallas, as well as,
other members from a Charleston inner city Episcopal Church. Father
Dallas gave an inspirational talk to the YMO team, and Crystal (a
published recording artist) played piano and sang beautiful songs for
us to sing along with her.
Tomorrow is our last day to work on restoring Linda Youngblood’s
home. Please pray for extra super safety for our last day. When we
get on the bus and head off for the site, Father Chris will most likely
give the following public service announcement: “Friday is the worst
day for accidents on a job site statistical speaking. Before using
power tools, please check three times before proceeding. How many
times? Three times!” By the way, he gave this public service
announcement every day, he just replaced the Friday, with the
whichever day it happened to be.
We’d love to be able to complete the restoration and hand Linda her
keys to her completely finished home, but we understand that is not
possible. We may want to push hard tomorrow in order to complete
the multitude of tasks, but that is not our primary goal. We are here to
develop relationships through our good works and enable the
community the opportunity to experience God’s love. We have
received the greatest gift, by helping those who are poor and are
unable to help themselves. We should be pleased, for we have done
our best to promote relationships with the community of Hollywood, S.
C. through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Thank you for your prayers!!
YMO 2011 Day 7:
We end the YMO 2011 mission trip tonight, which began on July 2nd,
transformed by the Holy Spirit. We developed relationships and
completed our part of restoring a home in Hollywood, S.C. to help Linda
Youngblood. She is blessed to have her home being restored and to
have a bathroom added where none existed before, but we are truly
blessed for taking the opportunity to help her. As we understand it,
another YMO like group will be working on her house in another week
or so.
We had a great last day on the construction site. We finished the roof,
attached the stair treads to the back deck and installed decking,
insulated the crawl space, hung drywall, and completed five windows.
The air horn was blown as the last screw was put in for the last
window. We completed the construction with no serious injuries, and
without the need for any mandatory shutdowns for safety violation, 1st
time every in YMO according to Father Chris. After we cleaned up the
site of construction debris and tools, we took the moment to pray, and
give thanks for this opportunity.
We had Greg’s famous chicken enchiladas, which were awesome!!!
We were invited to go to the pool at a nearby country club for an hour.
It was a fun and enjoyable activity that everyone took the opportunity to
relax.
After, the pool Father Chris opened the 8pm YMO 2011 mission trip
graduation ceremony with the same question he has been asking all
week. "How are you? ... How are you? ... Who are you?" Father Chris
offered the answer, "I am completely human and loved by God.” Father
Chris also reminded us that poverty is not an economic condition, but
an attitude. Also that it is God’s mandate to serve and protect the poor,
and it is our mission to build the church/community. At the end of the
evening, we watched three days worth of pictures as a slideshow in a
contemplative fashion with music in the background. Let’s just say a
couple of minutes, as the pictures were displayed on the big screen,
the room was far from quite ;-) We had an awesome time cheering,
pointing, laughing, and “aaaaaahing” together with each other tonight
as the pictures were shown.
Father Chris explained that we may feel a little down and disconnected
from our YMO team after sharing this close intimate experience twenty
four by seven for a week when home. The relationships that we have
had the opportunity to foster with each other, and the community we
served during this past week in Hollywood, S.C. will be sorely missed.
Father Chris described the concept that all things have a beginning and
an end, and with the end of the 2011 YMO mission trip, we have the
opportunity to accept and start the next journey.
Thank you for all your prayers!
We had another productive day on the main job site, and a secondary
site. At the primary site Gina Mitchell’s son name T.J. worked with us
on the house. T.J. was only a toddler when Father Chris’s first YMO trip
initiated the relationship and community building twenty plus years
ago. He worked alongside our students, cutting plywood and assisting
with windows throughout the day. At the second site, a single team of
six students disassembled a 24’ handicap ramp into three sections,
and then was put on a trailer and driven to the main building site. It is
to be retrofitted and attached to the house that we are restoring for
Linda Youngblood. Back at the main site, the inspector passed our
construction on the roof, and now we will be able to put the tar paper
down and install the roofing shingles. Inside the home, the electric has
been run, and the team has started installing the insulation and dry
walling the ceiling. Our YMO team has developed close bonds and
continues to nurture those new relationships with each other.
We participated in a historic event in Hollywood, South Carolina
tonight. Father Chris, Father Craig, and Mayor Heywood planned a
cookout at the park in an African community in Hollywood to take
another bold step to foster closer relationships within the community.
Over 200 people attend the impromptu event, which included Mayor
Heywood along with her family and extended family, Linda (Mrs.
Smiley), Gina Mitchell, members of the community, and the YMO
team. We also had the opportunity to meet Linda Youngblood at the
cookout for the first time.
The YMO kitchen staff, Greg and Lisa, along with Jody, April and
several YMO students prepared and cooked an awesome meal for the
YMO to share with the community. The tiramisu was superb!
Everyone had a great time at the park! Our YMO students and the
community kids established a special connection through playing
games like tossing the football, playing basketball, braiding hair,
singing, dancing, and by simply taking the moment to sit down and
enjoy each other’s smiles and laugher.
Hopefully, this is the first step of many for enabling future opportunities
to develop closer relationships.
YMO 2011 Day 6:
The youth mission team's spirits are high and energy levels are off the
chart today! High fives, thumbs ups, “HOOAHS”, and smiles were
everywhere! We accomplished so many milestones on the house by
the end of the day. Shingles were laid on the front roof, the front door
was put up, the first replacement window was installed, the roof on the
addition was sheathed and papered, and … the kids continue to grow
in their relationships with God and each other. Truly another amazing
day at the site!
This evening we had the opportunity to meet Father Dallas, as well as,
other members from a Charleston inner city Episcopal Church. Father
Dallas gave an inspirational talk to the YMO team, and Crystal (a
published recording artist) played piano and sang beautiful songs for
us to sing along with her.
Tomorrow is our last day to work on restoring Linda Youngblood’s
home. Please pray for extra super safety for our last day. When we
get on the bus and head off for the site, Father Chris will most likely
give the following public service announcement: “Friday is the worst
day for accidents on a job site statistical speaking. Before using
power tools, please check three times before proceeding. How many
times? Three times!” By the way, he gave this public service
announcement every day, he just replaced the Friday, with the
whichever day it happened to be.
We’d love to be able to complete the restoration and hand Linda her
keys to her completely finished home, but we understand that is not
possible. We may want to push hard tomorrow in order to complete
the multitude of tasks, but that is not our primary goal. We are here to
develop relationships through our good works and enable the
community the opportunity to experience God’s love. We have
received the greatest gift, by helping those who are poor and are
unable to help themselves. We should be pleased, for we have done
our best to promote relationships with the community of Hollywood, S.
C. through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Thank you for your prayers!!
YMO 2011 Day 7:
We end the YMO 2011 mission trip tonight, which began on July 2nd,
transformed by the Holy Spirit. We developed relationships and
completed our part of restoring a home in Hollywood, S.C. to help Linda
Youngblood. She is blessed to have her home being restored and to
have a bathroom added where none existed before, but we are truly
blessed for taking the opportunity to help her. As we understand it,
another YMO like group will be working on her house in another week
or so.
We had a great last day on the construction site. We finished the roof,
attached the stair treads to the back deck and installed decking,
insulated the crawl space, hung drywall, and completed five windows.
The air horn was blown as the last screw was put in for the last
window. We completed the construction with no serious injuries, and
without the need for any mandatory shutdowns for safety violation, 1st
time every in YMO according to Father Chris. After we cleaned up the
site of construction debris and tools, we took the moment to pray, and
give thanks for this opportunity.
We had Greg’s famous chicken enchiladas, which were awesome!!!
We were invited to go to the pool at a nearby country club for an hour.
It was a fun and enjoyable activity that everyone took the opportunity to
relax.
After, the pool Father Chris opened the 8pm YMO 2011 mission trip
graduation ceremony with the same question he has been asking all
week. "How are you? ... How are you? ... Who are you?" Father Chris
offered the answer, "I am completely human and loved by God.” Father
Chris also reminded us that poverty is not an economic condition, but
an attitude. Also that it is God’s mandate to serve and protect the poor,
and it is our mission to build the church/community. At the end of the
evening, we watched three days worth of pictures as a slideshow in a
contemplative fashion with music in the background. Let’s just say a
couple of minutes, as the pictures were displayed on the big screen,
the room was far from quite ;-) We had an awesome time cheering,
pointing, laughing, and “aaaaaahing” together with each other tonight
as the pictures were shown.
Father Chris explained that we may feel a little down and disconnected
from our YMO team after sharing this close intimate experience twenty
four by seven for a week when home. The relationships that we have
had the opportunity to foster with each other, and the community we
served during this past week in Hollywood, S.C. will be sorely missed.
Father Chris described the concept that all things have a beginning and
an end, and with the end of the 2011 YMO mission trip, we have the
opportunity to accept and start the next journey.
Thank you for all your prayers!
YMO