This is a day by day
account from one family’s perspective of the Snake River Community Church
Mission Trip to West Virginia during Christmas 2002.
SAT. /21: We rose early to meet at the church at 4:45am. Nineteen of us piled into an Astro Van, Suburban, and pick-up. We were headed for Red Oak, IA, home of Todd’s mom and dad. There we were treated to a feast of good home cookin’. We then went into the country and saw an amazing farm decorated in millions (not much of an exaggeration) of lights. The group split up to sleep in several homes. Still stuffed from supper we all rolled into bed.
SUN. / 22: We went to church at the Christian Missionary Alliance in Red Oak. We had an awesome send out as the pastor asked us to all stand and the congregation gathered around us and with the laying on of hands, prayed over us and sent us forth in His name. Off to Corydon, Indiana. It was a long day- we arrived at midnight.
MON. /23: Up bright and early we headed for our destination-Newhall, WV. We arrived around 4:30pm to an old, run-down, no longer used, school. We were greeted by our AIM(Adventures In Missions) support staff: Bill (the head guy), Tim and Erin (married couple of 3 years) and Ashley (college student). They showed us to our bunking rooms, one for girls and one for guys. After a brief orientation and quick supper we were back on the road again to the town of Welch. Welch was 23 miles from Newhall but it was straight up and down, around and around, around and around, around and around the mountain. Are you getting car sick yet? Olivia and Rindy did! They learned quick to take the front seat. Yes, both of them together. After unwinding, we went caroling down the streets of Welch. It was so neat. We just went and sang wherever we felt God led: to a car full of people parked along the street, a Kwik Mart, a barbershop open late cutting a few policemen’s hair, then on to the police department, and to the long-term ward of the local hospital. What a day. Back to Newhall for snacks and bed.
TUES. / 24: Christmas Eve morning started off in the kitchen. Hams a bakin’, green beans a cookin’, men, teens, little kids and ladies, all peelin’ potatoes for 250 people! Taking the curves a little more slowly, as to not spill all the food, we headed for Welch to serve a free Christmas Eve dinner to all who would come. Fifteen other people arrived! But God had it all planned!! We loaded up all the extras into Styrofoam containers and headed to an apartment building a few blocks away. There we spit up into groups of 3 and went door to door knocking on all 6 floors, inviting the people to come to a service downstairs and to receive a free ham dinner. Some politely declined, some slammed doors, and some accepted. I personally, knocked on door #401 and got a “come on in”. I slowly opened the door, and peering around the corner, saw a frail women lying on a couch. Introducing myself, she invited me to sit down. Gloria was her name. She was too sick with cancer to get up. We visited for quite awhile and in a small moment of time we became friends. She opened her heart to me and shared her life. I told her I would bring her up a meal after the service. I left her room, touched by the Savior’s hand. During the service, an old weather-worn Romanian lady, was asked to sing. She stood up and sang in her native tongue to the Lord. No one knew what she sang, but everyone felt her love for Jesus. It was amazing to behold! We delivered over 100 meals to those residents. One lady, sick in her apartment, thanked God as her 3 grandkids were coming that night and she was too sick to make them supper. We gave her 4 meals! I went back to visit Gloria and say good-bye. Her daughter was to come that night and take her to her mother’s for Christmas. I didn’t understand it, but it was so hard for me to leave. Back at Newhall, we circled up every evening to share what God had done. It was an awesome time to listen to the different ways God was moving in each person’s life. As we served, we were served, and as we touched in Jesus’ name, Jesus touched us.
WED. / 25: A Very Merry Christmas started with a beautiful snowfall and it snowed all day. While turkeys were roasting, we began to separate and mark coats with individual names for the people at the S.A.F.E. House. We marked 38 winter coats. Olivia, Lydia, and Ellie brought along 40+ Beanies to tie on top of all the gifts. ( We also gave gifts last night at the apartment building). During this time, 7 of the men went to the prison in Welch to minister. They thought just Perry was going to preach, but then one by one they were asked to give their testimony. Unprepared, they spoke straight from their heart. God touched the lives of 7 inmates that accepted Him that day!
The roads to Welch were very slick that day but we made it to the S.A.F.E. House and the men joined us there. We all met in the gym and played games with the kids. Their laughter was contagious. Then, one by one, we called their names, mothers and daughters and sons, and gave them a new coat and a wrapped box full of surprises. One family stands out in particular- the family of Lucy. Lucy, was a teeny tiny black lady with 6 kids: Jackie, Jennifer, Jessie, Jasmine, Kianna, and Joshua. When Jasmine, 5, got her coat, she nuzzled it into the side of her cheek and cuddled it. It was a picture worth a thousand words. We all gathered for turkey dinner and then Olivia and Lydia took the kids aside and put cute little glittery tattoo’s on them with a washcloth ( they had brought them with from home). That was fun to watch. The kids really thought that was neat. Back in Newhall, we finished the night out with a late game of basketball.
THURS. / 26: This morning didn’t start in the kitchen, but circled up in prayer- ATL-Ask The Lord. We drove to Welch, and in groups of 3’s, we walked the streets asking God to show us who to speak to. When we came to a corner, we stopped and prayed about which way to go until someone was given a direction. As we spoke to people, we always asked them if there was something we could pray for them for and if they knew Jesus as their savior. Luis accepted Christ right there. As we were walking nearer and nearer the apartment building where Gloria lived I so much wanted to see her again but I knew she said she was leaving. I just couldn’t shake the sense that God wanted me to go knock on her door. So we went over there. She was home. Her daughter hadn’t come to get her. We all got to visit and pray for her. You know, I could leave better this time. It was as if something was finished, or maybe,… healed.
We then all gathered at the local hospital again, and just visited with the residents. The long-term ward is heart wrenching. But what a blessing to see my girls shake hands with the crippled, say hi to the mute, and sing Jesus Loves You to the hurting.
FRI. / 27: Our last day started with a beautiful sunshiny walk down the railroad tracks and then up, up, up, and up, the mountain behind the school. Only a few of us made it. Needless to say, we took a picture to document the feat. The best pictures, however, would have been all the falls trying to get back down the mountain in the slippery, leaf covered, snowy, muddy terrain.
After lunch, we drove down to the “Bottoms”. This is different from a Holler, which is a group of houses in the ravine of the mountain. The “Bottoms” are the poorest. Here we parked our vehicles, and with hams in hand, we started walking the narrow streets. As we approached the worn homes, there was no need to knock. If someone was there, they saw us coming and met us outside. Our family took about 3 hams. As we approached our first home, a large black man and a little white guy met us at the porch. Morgan, the black guy, and Todd immediately started a conversation. Though I think at first, a little hesitant on Todd’s part- there was a little apprehension in the air. They ended up talking close to an hour! Morgan wore a large chicken foot around his neck to protect him from Voodoo spirits. You could feel the satanic oppression in the air. Not just in the Bottoms, but everywhere we went in WV. I talked with another lady a few houses down from Morgan’s, Christina. We spoke for a long time and again in a moment of time a friendship was formed. The back wall of her house had fallen in and the roof over the section was soon to go. Her attitude was amazing though. She was renting to own and by paying $100/mo., in 12 months she would have it paid for. She had been shot in the neck years ago by her first husband, the 22 caliber bullet lodged within, and unable to care for her 5 children she gave them away to family and friends to raise. As we stood in the damp chilling cold, she told me how her relationship with the Lord was the only thing that brought her peace in the midst of all her pain.
That evening, back at base, we circled up one last time. We were each to say what God had spoke to us while we were here and what we would take back to Baggs with us. Ellie- I liked giving hams to people. Lydia- I’m glad I came. Olivia- I made a new friend( at the SAFE House) and God’s love(what she would take back). Mom- to store my treasures in heaven and not on earth, to not get so busy in life that I miss the relationships He’s asking me to form, and to ask my friends, “Is there anything I can pray for you for?” Dad- As he saw Jasmine cuddle into her coat, it was as if she was cuddling into Jesus, and as he served turkey to a lady, it was like he was serving Jesus. Dad brought back with him the desire to be involved in missions and to start a new family tradition in which we serve others and share Jesus with them in some way during the holidays.
SAT. / 28: Woke to a quick breakfast, only to find a flat tire on the van. Put on the spare and we were off. Lots of thoughts, sights, and emotions to fill the early hours. At the first Goodyear place, a couple of hours down the road, we stopped to get it fixed. An hour later of sharing Jesus to the tire people, they said they didn’t have a tire for us! Only God knows the real meaning of that divine appointment. But later we got it fixed and arrived in Lexington, KY at 12:30 for our 12:30 tour! We toured downtown and then the racing horse farms with barns, just barns, that were mansions of their own. You can only fathom the owner’s house. What a contrast to where we had just been!
SUN. / 29: Went to Pleasant Hill Baptist Church ( ALL black church). It is the oldest black church west of the Allegeny River, founded 1792. It also served as a station in the Underground Railroad in getting slaves to Cincinnati. They greeted us with such love and open arms! As the service progressed, they asked for all the children under 11 to come down. Olivia, Lydia, and Ellie went on down. Shoulder to shoulder, side by side, with 20 other kids they started to sing, “Get all excited, go tell everybody that Jesus Christ is King”! They had never sang that song before but they did their best. Lydia wasn’t real thrilled with being up there, Olivia was trying to figure out the words, and Ellie just beamed the biggest smile the whole time. If only I would have had a picture. They were the only blondes, but no one knew any of us had different color skin. We all worshipped the same God togther!! In case any of you get CBS, channel 27, it was actually on TV! Did I say, we got there at 10:30am and Brother People’s ( the preacher) was still preaching at 1:00! It was awesome! He’s actually comin’ to Baggs sometime!! Believe me, that’ll be big news in Baggs.
MON./ 30: Ellie wakes up 5 in St. Louis. It was magical for her. “I’m 5, I’m 5, I can’t believe I’m 5, can you believe I’m 5, Mom?!!!! What an awesome place to turn 5- on her first mission trip!
TUES. / 31: Arrive home about 4pm.
**For a documentary video of our trip, send us an e-mail and we will get a copy to you. A picture is worth a thousand words!