Mission Trip to Philadelphia - Day One - Kathryn, Izzy and Margaret

At 12pm today our Philadelphia mission team set off on their journey. In a lovely three car caravan our group of 14 made a 4 1/2 hour journey to PA to work at Stenton Family Manor.  Our first stop was Reading Terminal Market where we had an early dinner and explored the various stores and restaurants.  We then headed to our home for the week at the Chamounix Youth Hostel. Hauling in the luggage, we next made a trip to the local grocery store and stocked the fridge. We unpacked and ended the day with compline. The whole group is extremely excited for the week to come!
-Kathryn, Izzy, and Margaret

Mission Trip to Dungannon - July 29 - Arthur Payne

Monday was the first day of work and the volunteers and they were all very excited but tired.  One of the work sites lead by Tanner Poole and Eddie Webster was actually at the  the DDC (Dungannon Development Center) and so they had a more relaxed morning than most, although they still had to work.  Their work at the DDC mostly consisted of 

Cleaning gutters, cool sealing the two shed roofs and replacing metal door frames. In order to cool seal the sheds, they had to get on the shed roofs with ladders and spread the liquid cool seal over the roof so that the sheds could be better protected from various forms of weather.  The purpose of trying to improve the DDC was so that if we made our living conditions better, we could better help others who needed it.  After the volunteers returned from their work sites they ate dinner and ended the evening with a reflection about baptism in Dungannon and a peaceful compline.

Mission trip to Dungannon - July 28 - Stanley Payne

After a hearty breakfast the volunteers had to choose one of three churches to visit, a baptist, a Methodist, or a catholic. Going to the churches gave the volunteers an outreach to the locals and a way to understand them. When the church session had ended, the volunteers set out to Jefferson National Park to swim in the small lake below the waterfall. As we came to the entrance, the volunteers had the choice of taking a 2 and a half mile scenic walk or drive up to the waterfall. The water was cold but refreshing. After the volunteers returned they started on the allocation of people at different job sites, the jobs mostly consisted of painting walls, replacing floors, cool sealing roofs and even constructing a stable for one group.

The evening concluded with a peaceful compline outside lit by flashlights.

Mission Trip to Dungannon - Photos - July 31

Dungannon Thrift Store gets a facelift!

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.