Mission Trip to Kentucky

We have been away last week. (I haven't really been near a computer for a while.) We went on a mission trip to Louisville, Kentucky. We have been at our church for 1 year now, and last year they didn't go, but before that they went every year. This year we had 9 people. 4 adults and 5 teens.

It takes 12 long hours to get there. It was raining when we left and we saw 8 accidents on the way. But eventually the weather cleared and we enjoyed the scenery as we neared Louisville.

 

We stayed on a camp in Indiana very close to the border to Kentucky. 

We arrived at midnight.

These are our cabins. The girls stayed in the one with the umbrellas drying on the porch. They boys (all 3 of them) stayed in the next one which was called the Bunny Hut. It had the name plaque on the front of it! It had double beds and double sized bunks too! We just had single bunks, but we had a loft that slept 2.

Our main job for the week was to put in an irrigation system in this orchard that had been planted on a vacant lot in the middle of the city! In the spring they had planted 50 apple trees. They had been watering them with buckets of water. Another group had dug the trenches and we put together the PVC piping for the irrigation. Lots of details!!

Laying pipe in the trench

Putting together some of the pipes

The MSD- the Municipal Sewer Department- donated an unused tank they had so we could have it for water storage. The plan was to run gutters off of the building right next to the orchard and the water would go into the tank and then piped out to water the trees. They started us out with a donation of 15,000 gallons of water!

It was quite a procedure getting that tank put in. It was 15 feet tall and 10 feet in diameter. 

The press showed up for an article for the local paper too. It was exciting. they interviewed a few of us working on the project. 

The pipes are all in and we are checking for leaks as the water courses through them!

We also had to weed around every tree! I have to admit, I have never done so much weeding in my entire life! And those weeds had the longest roots I have ever seen too! Wow! 

This was one of the two interns who told us how to do this whole project.

Ice Cream Break!

(Raspberry Sorbet)

When we weren't in the orchard we were sorting shoes! 

These shoes were donated to Edge Outreach. Edge Outreach provides water purification systems to villages in 3rd world countries who need clean water. These consist of a big tank, about 4 ft. tall and about 3 foot round with a filter. It takes 1,000 shoes to pay for one purification unit. The matched shoes are sold to a distributor who sells them  to some people who take them to the market places in these countries and sells them to the people there for very little money. ~

Please, next time you donate shoes, tie the laces together or rubber band them together, and if you can, please wash your sneakers first! We handled some pretty dirty shoes! And stinky too!!

We also sorted medical supplies that would have otherwise been disgarded,  donated by different hospitals.

We also visited a nursing home and spent time with the residents during a "jazz morning." A man comes in on a regular basis and plays jazz on a keyboard and sings oldies while the folks sit around and enjoy!. There was one woman who was trying to dance while holding onto her walker! It was so funny! She was trying to do her dance steps and didn't care what anyone thought! She was having a blast!

We also got to sing some songs in the dementia unit and visit with the folks there.

We had a good time. 

All in all it was a good trip. It was a REALLY long drive ~ 12 hours~ in the 15 passenger van! On the way back we stopped in W. Virginia and spent the night. That helped break up the trip.

This is our team. The sign says "Portland Orchard Project." Portland is that part of Louisville. Now next year and the next and next, the neighborhood folks will be able to pick apples for free. It's a very rough and poor neighborhood and a lot of the kids living there haven't even seen an orchard or anywhere where the food they eat is grown. ~ They plan to put in some raised gardens too next spring so veggies can be grown.

We worked really hard, got hot and tired, but we were satisfied. My son told his grandmom, "Hard work makes you strong." We didn't do just for Edge Outreach, but to be helping hands for the Lord. ~ It was worth it.