Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Mission Trip to Dugannon - July 27

After the long car trip down to Dungannon, the volunteers unpacked, settled in and then were off to the Carter Family Fold for some bluegrass music and dancing. The locals generously taught the volunteers some of the local dances and were welcoming and kind to all the newcomers. We ended with a peaceful compline outdoors.





Monday, July 29, 2013

Mission Trip to Dungannon - Photos

Our youth and adult team, along with two other local churches, are down in Appalachia and will be working on home construction projects for low-income families in Dungannon, Virginia.  They travelled down on Saturday and went to visit the Janette Carter Old Time Music show.  The Carter Family are known as the first family of country music.  The 70-person team starts working on construction today.  Here are some photos from their first two days.








Sunday, July 14, 2013

Album of DR 2013 Photos

Here is a link to a few photos from our trip to the Dominican Republic.
If a picture is worth 1000 words, this is a very wordy album!
Enjoy!

St. Anne's DR Mission 2013 photos - click here.


Saturday, July 13, 2013

Hello, Hola...

If you walk up to a St. Anne's member who has been on a DR mission trip and say "Hello," you might get more than you expected. The response could be, "Hola!" and continue with "Jambo, Buon Día. Aloha, Namaste..." Following laughter, you will get the explanation that this is a call and response song we have sung with the VBS kids at Cristo Salvador. And then, you might get a lesson in how to sing the "Sammy Sosa" song! These are some of the things that bond us as a team.

Learning about chocolate.
Our Saturday field trip included a visit to "The Cacao Trail" for a hands-on lesson in chocolate making and a visit to the Mirabal Sisters Museum for a real-life encounter with the Butterfly Sisters. In the evening we had a planning session for worship music. Poly and his family gave us a lesson so we could sing along to "La Niña de tus Ojos".
The offertory hymn: We Worship You

Padre Hipólito and Fr. Jim
Sunday's service was especially wonderful as it included baptisms. The baptismal candidates ranged in age from 16 days to grandma age. In fact, there was a 3-generation trio baptized. The candidates closest to our hearts were José, Maria and Estacie. Their godparents include our very own Bob VH! Once again we were struck with the similarities of Cristo Salvador and St. Anne's as both Fr. Hipólito and Fr. Jim had trouble getting us back into our seats following the Peace.


We lingered following the service. More pictures were taken, contact information shared, hugs given and returned, tears shed and dried. Finally, we had to get in our waiting bus and wave goodbye.

Bob & Lisa with Stefanie, José, Estacie and Maria

It is not easy to leave. A day at the beach gives us time to reflect on our mission. We spent the morning snorkeling, splashing in the waves, reading and napping. Various vendors stopped by our palm thatched beach umbrella to offer us dive trips, pedicures, horseback riding, tropical shirts and jewelry. I'm not sure what the final vendor was trying to sell but he looked at us and said, "Hello!" With one voice we responded, "Hola!" and continued with our VBS song. I guess that goes to show you can take the team out of Cristo Salvador... but you can't take Cristo Salvador out of the team!


Thank you, St. Anne's, for supporting the Dominican Republic mission again this year!








Friday, July 12, 2013

Mission Possible - Rev. Laura's Summary

The theme for this year’s Mission Possible week was “Love in Action” – taken from 1 John 3:16-18.  Whether cleaning the stalls at a therapeutic riding center, making sandwiches for the homeless shelter, helping day laborers perfect a new skill, decorating housewarming gifts for future Habitat for Humanity homeowners, leading crafts at a senior home, playing charades at a senior assisted living community, or working in our own St. Anne’s food pantry, we put our love in action by sharing our time and talents with others in our greater community.  The Mission Possible campers were witnesses to Christ’s love through their joy, laughter, sweat, support, encouragement, kindness, patience, and care for others. They have truly practiced and know what it means to go in peace to love and serve God and their neighbors. 

Here is what some of the kids had to say:

“Mission Possible is the best camp ever because I learned that since we are the body of Christ, we should do what Jesus set out to do, which is to serve the world.  I have learned that volunteering may sometimes be challenging, but in the end, it helps the world more than anything else.”

“I liked Mission Possible Camp because I met new people and made new friends.  I liked to help these people and see the smile on their faces when we left.  I can’t wait to start doing some volunteering on my own.”

“I liked Mission Possible because I got to help people in need of it and also had fun doing it.”

“I liked Mission Possible because we get to serve others and have fun and connect with God all at the same time!”

“Mission Possible Camp was really fun because I got to make new friends, help the community, and love God.”

“I met so many new people and friends and I loved volunteering in the community.  It was so much fun and I’m glad I came.  On the first day I really didn’t want to come, and on the last I wished it wasn’t ending!”


Mission Possible - July 12

Sadly Mission Possible comes to an end today.  We all know each other a little better than we did before, we've become a well-oiled machine, we've helped our local community, all in all a great week.

This morning we worked on St. Anne's Food Pantry.  Twice a month our Food Pantry provides 70 bags of food products to people in need, the bags include items like tuna, mac and cheese, canned products, etc.  The Mission Possible team put together the bags, working hard and having fun at the same time.  Very cool.





In the afternoon we put together collages of photos from the week to celebrate our achievements, we also reflected (as we have every day) on what we've seen and done this week.



Thursday, July 11, 2013

Mission Possible - July 11

Today our morning was spent just around the corner at Reston's Lake Anne Fellowship House.  The Fellowship House is an apartment complex designed for individuals with limited income who are over the age of 62 or who are handicapped or disabled.  The Fellowship House also offers a variety of activities in the House's common areas.  Our Mission Possible group spent the morning making crafts with residents.  We made small flower pots with tissue paper flowers, beaded key chains, and "God's Eyes". 






After lunching back at St. Annes', we took a very energetic group to the Sunrise Assisted Living Center at the Reston Town Center.  We played charades with the residents -- the kids were the "actors" while the residents were the "guessers".  The charades presented included common activities like setting the table, movies such as Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs, one legendary sports figure (Jackie Robinson), and Bible Stories (Noah's Ark and the Parting of the Red Sea.)



Today was another great Mission Possible Day! 

-Kim

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Mission Possible - July 10

Today was definitely focused more on construction.  In the morning we visited Centreville Labor Resource Center, which connects employees with trades like painting and carpentry with people looking for workers with these skills.  In addition the center teaches construction skills and helps folks with their English.  We worked creating the frame for a raised garden bed which is an item that the workers there put together and sell.  Under the expert direction of their skilled employees our team screwed the boards together and sanded them down.  The workers from the center also talked to us about Guatemala where many of them come from, their lives here in Northern Virginia, their families, their work and taught us some Spanish.  The center is financially supported by businesses and local churches.  They have a website with more information at http://www.centrevilleimmigrationforum.org/centreville-labor-resource-center.html







Then we visited Habitat for Humanity.  We were surprised to find out that as well as building new houses they rehab older houses too.  The house we toured was undergoing some major construction, missing walls, no bathrooms, no doors.  Our hosts explained how Habitat requires that new homeowners invest their own time and helped to build their houses.  Here we decorated flowerpots for the new homeowners and put together some amazing creations!








Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Mission Possible - July 9

We had a fantastic day together today!

This morning we visited SPIRIT Open Equestrian Program at Frying Pan Park in Herndon (www.spiritequestrian.org.)  They use horses and horsemanship to enhance the lives of everyone with a focus on people with disabilities.  After orientation we spent time cleaning up the yard and mucking out the stalls of the inevitable gifts that the horses had left behind, moving some tarps and cleaning saddles.  It was a very rewarding trip; the yard looked a lot cleaner and tidier than when we started.

If you're interested in volunteering with horses check out their website or drop them an email.  They have volunteer opportunities and riding lessons!!!






After lunch we provided over 120 sandwiches to Embry Rucker Community Shelter in Reston (http://www.restoninterfaith.org/services/housing/shelter/.)  One of the staff at Embry Rucker also talked to us about the work they do to support people in our community and answered our questions.  An interesting statistic that she mentioned is that the fastest growing demographic that they're seeing are single mothers with one or two children.  They are also looking for volunteer support, St. Anne's is one of the founding organizations of Reston Interfaith who run Embry Rucker and we have several programs in which we work closely with them.