It stared Sunday morning with good news on Facebook. The folks in the Gatchelville, Pennsylvania, Congregation will be helping collect school supplies for distribution here in August. We're anticipating having even more kids this year than last so the more help we can get the better.
For about an hour before Morning Worship, kids and their parents started arriving for the trip to camp. Kids checked in with me then stashed their luggage in the back of the church. About eight kids from Dunalk also joined us in waiting for the bus.
In the end, we had nearly 70 people for Morning Worship. We sang camp songs, reviewed the youth ministry achievements for the year, and had a blessing for the campers and staff.
The bus arrived at 12:15. The kids quickly loaded their luggage and chose their seats. Vonceil and Gloria had packaged hot dogs for the kids so we distributed them, along with chips and a drink, once the bus got on the way.
Though the campground was more than twice as many miles away from Baltimore as our old campground, we arrived there in about the same amount of time since we didn't have to go through the same traffic. We got our 20 kids registered and to their cabins then Vonceil (who had driven down behind the bus), Robert, and I rode home.
I spent the week "on call" for issues at camp. For the first time in the 14 years I've been taking kids to camp, we went the whole week without a single phone call from camp staff.
While working on paperwork at the church one afternoon, I heard a horrific crashing sound. When I went to see what had happened at first I couldn't find anything. I then noticed a mark on the glass door from where someone had pitched a large rock at it. There's no reason that door shouldn't have been completely shattered but it remains intact.
Also while looking for the source of the noise (before I found the rock) I discovered that our gutter's downspout was plugged by a tennis ball. This explained the strange problems we've had with the gutters the last few weeks. I went out in the rain, cleared it plus several rocks and sticks, and got things flowing again.
With so many our our core kids away it was a good time to work on work on lessons, crafts, and snacks for Bible School. We've got things roughed in and will gather the necessary supplies next week.
When I went to get in my car on Friday morning, I discovered that it was blocked in the parking lot at the church. This was because a neighbor had illegally parked her van in the alley. I knocked and she came to the door. She began yelling, cussing, and accusing me of lying saying that she had the right to park wherever she wanted and that if I worked hard enough I could get my car out. She went back inside. I called the police. Once she saw me on the phone she moved her van while hurling accusations and snide comments at me the entire time.
Friday night brought Pizza Church. Between two of the sessions we discovered that ants had invaded. Several of the pizzas had to be tossed out. After all the kids left we went to Home Depot to get ant bait and distributed it around the church.
On Saturday Vonceil and I drove down to camp to be at the baptism service. Though no kids from The Power House were baptized we like to be present for this sacrament whenever possible. We then loaded the kids on the bus and headed back to Baltimore.
The bus that came to get us did not have the features that we had included in our contract. When we got home I filed a complaint with the company. The errors on there part were quite significant and we are owed at least a partial refund on the money we paid.
Looking ahead to next week we have our full schedule of activities. In addition, we have our monthly Celebration Service on Sunday evening during which we'll give the kids a chance to tell about their experiences at camp. We're taking the four kids who came to church 90+ times last year out to dinner at Golden Corral on Tuesday night. We've got a Pigtown Peace Pavilion planning session scheduled for Wednesday evening. On Saturday we're taking five high school students to Graceland University in Lamoni, Iowa, for a week at Spectacular. Next Saturday evening is our monthly Sundae Church.
Along with the individuals and activities mentioned, please keep the following families in the forefront of your prayers:
The McCusker Family
The Kelly Family
The Dance Family
The Logan Family
The Boston Family
The Liason Family
The Mitchell Family
The Sugars Family
Thank you for your continued prayer support.
Jeff and everyone at
The Power House
“Building the Kingdom of God Here and Now”
PowerHouseMD@Juno.com
www.pigtownchurch.org
http://thisweekatthepowerhouse.blogspot.com/
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