Appalachia mission 2001 report.
Ashley's pictures from Appalachia '02.
Katie's Pictures from Appalachia '02.
To read Ashley's testimony, scroll down.
DAY ONE - Friday, July 5.
I think one of the best days on this trip was the very first day. I woke up at about 5:30 that morning and got dressed and checked my bags and we left my house to Katie's house to get ready to leave. We were just a little bit behind schedule when we left, but it was okay. When we were leaving, we picked out our seats in the van and some people made car changes (we took three cars, a big van, a little van, and an suv). We all pretty much just relaxed on the trip to Bonclarken that day. At around 7 that night I think is when we finally arrived at Bonclarken in North Carolina. We all went out to dinner as one huge group (of 20 people) at a buffet called Ryan's (which some people later regretted). I wasn't very hungry that night although I couldn't understand why. The same thing had happened on the first night of the trip last year! I lost my appetite because I was homesick last year but this year I wasn't homesick! Maybe it's just some weird feeling I get in unfamiliar environments...lol. I don't know what it is. Anyway, after dinner, we went to this grocery store, where I do remember crying because my klutz brother hit me in the jaw really hard with his elbow. Then we went back to Bonclarken and had our devotional and then some people (if not everyone) took showers. Before my shower I went out for a walk with Kim, Myles, Mr. and Mrs. Acosta, and Mr. Klukow. Then when we got back, I got my shower, got my pajamas on, said goodnight to everybody, then went to bed. Since I had trouble sleeping on evenings prior to that evening, I had trouble sleeping that evening.
DAY TWO - Saturday, July 6th.
Saturday morning, we all woke up (at various times) and ate breakfast. We were only staying in our cabin for one night, so we packed everything up that we needed for that one night and had our devotionals and left for the "Great wall of Bonclarken." Had I not been so fatigued, I would have climbed it too. After a little while at the wall, we all left and started towards the Nantahala River, where we all (except Mrs. Sheila) went white water rafting. Our tour guide was kewl. He talked to all of us in my raft while we were going down the river. We got into some cold water fights too (because the water was cold). After all that, we got out of the river and waited for our bus to take us back to the outfitters. Mrs. Sheila brought us all cheeseburgers for us to eat after we were finished. I was very hungry then. Then we left the outfitters, somehow losing the Acosta's on the way out, because Heather had left her shoes. We stopped on the side of the road for a little while (we were all burning up) and we waited for them to catch up with the rest of us. Then they finally caught up and we were on our way to Tennessee, where we stopped for dinner at a Taco Bell (where I got more stains on my new shirt) and after that we made a couple more stops before we made it to LMU at midnight! Now, I do remember last year when I was writing the testimony for Appalachia 2001, I described the boys' dorms and said that I wouldn't be able to live in an environment like that for a week. Well, this year, instead of getting the wonderful staff dorms I so desperately wanted again this year, we became average and got the girls' dorms, which are just exactly like the boys dorms, only they are for girls (duh). Well, I survived! It really wasn't that bad either. The boys just made a big deal out of it last year and gave me the wrong impression of it (which is another reason why what boys say is not always true...LOL). We couldn’t make it to the evening session (it was looong over with by the time we got there). We were all pretty tired and ready to go to sleep. We found our rooms and brought all of our stuff up and we finally got some sleep. Me and Katie prayed that night that I would sleep better. That was a very powerful prayer, because that night, I slept better than I had in three weeks!
DAY THREE - Sunday, July 7.
That morning, I woke up and realized how great I slept! I really felt like God was there the whole night making sure I was sleeping more like I should have been. It was Sunday morning. I got together my church clothes as soon as I woke up, then got into the shower to get cleaned. I got my church clothes on and went down to breakfast, where I found out that we would not be leaving for church for a few hours. So I ate and just walked around the university by myself for the most part. The boys were all in the student union playing games, so I decided I was bored just being by myself and I went down there to watch. We all ended up there, and we left a little while later to the church we were attending. They were having a service for the fourth of July. It was a lot like a performance to me. I didn't really feel like I was there to worship God like I had expected. Some people were disappointed with it, but others didn't mind it. It was a great service though...it seemed like it took a lot of work to get it all together, and I applaud them for the great work they did. But it just felt like the most important part of the church service was missing. Then after church we went to this buffet at a hotel and that’s where we had our lunch. Everyone else didn’t really like the food. I really didn’t think it was that bad. I mean, I was hungry so I didn’t really notice it if it was bad. Then, after we were done there, we may or may not have gone to Wal-Mart (we went to Wal-Mart several times throughout the week, so it is hard to tell). Then we all went to the university to start decorating our vans and commence canvassing. While we were out canvassing, Myles (ever the orator) found a lady and told her about what we were doing. Turns out her daughter was like the president or something of the community center and would let us use it for this week. We had a site! Yay! Then, we started our canvassing and gave out balloons. It was great. After about maybe an hour or two of fixing everything up and inviting people, we headed back to the university and just hung out with the limited free time we had before dinner, then Sonic (oooooo), and then bed time. It felt so great to go to bed that night.
DAY FOUR - Monday, July 8.
I woke up on Monday morning and the first thought that ran through my mind was “The first day of VBS!!” I got out of bed and took a quick shower, then dressed and left to breakfast. Shortly after breakfast we had devotionals and then left to our site. We got there and we already had kids standing outside waiting for us to arrive. We got in and signed them in (I helped with registration) and more and more kids started to arrive. I don’t remember how many kids we had that day but there were a lot! Last year we had started out with around 10 kids, and now this year on the first day we had so much more! It was a great day, because we got to see kids that came to our VBS last year! It was an awesome first day for us, although there were some things that everyone agreed we needed to work on. We ate lunch and went back to the university and had, oh yes, free time! I walked around the university...not alone of course. I walked around with various people in my group, such as Marcus, Amber, Katie…not sure if there was anyone else. But I loved walking around the university just to see it and remember what it looks like. It brought back good memories of Appalachia ’01. Then that night we went to dinner, then hung out a little while longer until the evening session. The speaker was Johnnie Price, who told really corny jokes, but I thought they were so corny they were funny. He was a good speaker. He made us laugh all week. At the end of the session, we were told by Bob that we were to pair up with another youth group and have a big group prayer. And so we did. It was great. After that, we left the big gymnasium where we were and headed back toward the dorms, where we stayed for a little while and watched people play games and stuff, and also celebrated Ricky's (my brother) birthday. Then around midnight we said our goodnights to everyone and everyone went to their own dorm rooms. Once again, I slept well.
DAY FIVE - Tuesday, July 9.
The second day of VBS was a lot like the first, only there were just a few changes. Mrs. Sheila thought it would be best if all the girls with long hair put it back to keep it from getting touched by the kids because a few of the kids had lice. So everyone put their hair back that day. Things went really well on the second day from what I remember. Afterwards, we went back "home" (referring to the university, our home for the week), and we all just chilled the whole afternoon during our free time. At dinner time, we all migrated over to the cafeteria to eat, then afterwards we chilled for maybe another hour or so and then went to the evening session. That night we had to do yet another group prayer, this time in smaller groups of like 7 people divided from two churches. Everyone in my group was given an opportunity to pray. Then afterwards all the way until bedtime we all just chilled some more. It was okay, but it was evident that everyone was really exhausted.
DAY SIX - Wednesday, July 10.
Wednesday seemed like an awfully fast day for me. I don't know why. The VBS went great, as we hoped. We had a lot of kids show up. I think we had almost 50 kids from Tuesday all the way until Friday. It was great. The kids seemed to be having lots of fun. I could tell they really seemed to like being outside a lot. It was fun to play with them when they wanted someone to play with. After VBS that day, we ate our lunch and went back to LMU. The rest of the day pretty much went the same as the first two days of VBS. A few hours for a break, then dinner, evening session, bed.
DAY SEVEN - Thursday, July 11.
I was so grateful when Thursday came. I couldn't wait to see all the kids again. I was so anxious to see them all. As usual, we ate breakfast, had the devotions, and left. We got there and set everything up and had a great day of VBS that day. I was so happy. Thursday was the day that Katie brought all the clothes she had bought for them and gave them out. They looked so happy to be getting something like that. I was really happy they were enjoying themselves that day. During the whole week I had noticed that a lot of the kids didn't want to go home when it was all over for the day because they said they were having so much fun. I can't blame them. :) Hehe. Afterwards, we all left to the swimming hole (where the water is green) :P and we all swam for a few hours until it was time for them to close. It was so great. I love that place so much. :) Then we left and I don't remember, but it was either Wednesday night or Thursday night they had a little barbecue (but not outside like it was planned to be, since it was storming out). There was hot dogs, cheeseburgers, chips, and mint popcorn (it's much worse than it sounds), and lots of other things too that I can't think of right now. Whether or not the barbecue was Thursday night or not, we still ate dinner that night, went to the evening session where we took communion, then we went to Sonic. I remember this night VERY well, because I embarrassed myself so bad, I think. I was VERY sleepy that night and had no energy to get up and walk around, and I wasn't hungry at ALL. So I stayed in the van and I fell asleep a few times. Before I know it, I'm all alone and it's quiet and I'm enjoying the silence when all of sudden, everyone comes rushing into the van for no particular reason, and it gets very loud. Well I didn't like this very much so I got out of the van and started walking around the Sonic. Then after I walked a full circle around the Sonic, I got back in the van and for some reason started feeling really cranky. I started crying and people were trying to figure out what was wrong with me, then started making assumptions of why I was crying. Whatever they were thinking, and I knew what they were thinking, it wasn't why I was crying. I know I'm not the only person that cries when it gets loud and I get cranky and I'm soooo tired. I cried so much that night...I don't think I ever cried that much in one night for something I didn't neccessarily need to cry about anyway. For some reason, I just couldn't stop myself from crying no matter how hard I tried. It was awful. But, on the good side, I did sleep very well that night.
DAY EIGHT - Friday, July 12.
The very last day of the VBS was really emotional. We woke up and ate breakfast, and had our devotionals like we had done all week. Then we left to the site for the last time this year. The kids realized that this would be the last day we would be with them until next year. We got videotaped that day for the video (I was NOT on it :( sniff). It was a sad day because we would not be seeing these kids again for a whole year. It seems so far away. It still does now. We got each other and the kids to sign our Appalachia shirts. It was an especially sad day for me because I would not be going home with the rest of my group Saturday morning. The feeling stayed with me all day. :( I felt really bad about it, yet there was nothing I could do about it. After it was all over and the transportation people (or was it "transpiration people"? LoL) brought all the kids home after we said goodbye to them all. I couldn't believe it was all over. I didn't want it to be. But it was. They were gone, and who knows if I'll ever see any of them again? You just never know. We went to the university, welcoming our long break, which I took advantage of by, yet again, walking around the university, possibly for the last time this year. I just had to soak it all in so I could remember it well for next year. Later was dinner, the last evening session (very sad time for everyone) in which I had been temporarily, but unvoluntarily made over, and we watched the whole Appalachia '02 video that night on that huge screen they had. It was great. I wasn't ready to see my parents that night, yet they had showed up, and I went to go see them (they were sitting in the car in the gym's parking lot). They gave me a choice of whether or not I wanted to stay at the university. I chose to stay. My brother decided to go with them to their hotel. Later that night, we went to Krystal. Somehow, I don't know how, or why, my stomach started aching SOOOO badly on the way there! I couldn't even go in when we had gotten there! I wanted to go and have fun and eat something because I was hungry. But now I couldn't. I HATE STOMACH ACHES!! Eventually I got enough energy to get out of the van and shut the door and walk into the Krystal to use the bathroom. I felt better, but not 100% better. I managed to stay in the Krystal for a little while to watch the little eating race that was going on. It was fun to watch, but it kinda upset my stomach a little just to watch them, so I started walking around to settle my stomach, and it helped. Then later we left, and I went to bed. Just lying down on that bed in mine and Katie's dorm room made me feel so much better. That night, I was out like a light.
DAY NINE - Saturday, July 13.
This was the last day. I couldn't believe how fast the week went and how much slower I wanted it to be. I woke up that morning realizing that I wasn't going home with the group. I was sad. I brought everything down and my dad was out waiting for me. He was waiting for me so that we could leave (I was gonna spend the whole next week in Illinois with the rest of my family). I wanted to go back with them so badly. I knew I was going to miss them all sooooo much, even though I would only be gone for one week. If the week of the missions trip went as slow as that week I was in Illinois, I would have been VERY happy. When I had to leave, I gave mostly everyone a hug and said bye, and as soon as I got into the car, I started to cry. I wanted soooo badly to go with them. But then, almost in an instant, I was gone.
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This months verse from the bible is:
Psalm 118:8 - It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man.
