Mission Trip

R

randlemanboater

God
I typed this yesterday but it got lost when I hit send so I will try again in smaller installments.

On Saturday, 8-2-08, I left for SC for a mission trip with 10 middle school kids and 7 other adults. We went to Hollywood SC, which is about 10 miles south of Charleston.

Our mission was to do some painting and light repairs (you cant do construction with 11 and 12 year olds). We apparently picked the hottest week of the year with heat indexes in the 100's everyday and the worst 113.

One of the kids on the trip had an ear ache when we arrived so his dad took him the the ER, turned out to be swimmers ear. (ER trip #1)

When we got there we found the A/C broken in the building that we were to stay in, it was 87 degrees inside.


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So we spent the evening trying to fix the A/C with no luck so I went to Walyworld to get window units, they were out!!!!! But Lowes had em.

Got back to the church and got them put in, got showered up and ready to hit the sack when one of the other kids says his belly hurt.

One of the ladies with us is an RN so she checked him out and thought it might be appendics so the RN, the kid and I were off to the ER. (ER trip #2). He had an elevated white cell count and some inflamation near the appendics. We got back to the church at 0430.

After church Sunday, they were having a hotdog lunch fund raiser, but they ran out so we had to go to Subway. While there, the RN saw that the kid still had on his wrist band from the hospital so she borrowed a pocket knife from one of the guys and ended up slicing HER wrist. She was bleeding like a stuck hog.

Back to the ER for 6 stitches. (ER trip #3)

Then that evening we had to take the belly ache kid back so they could check his blood again, this time it was back to normal. (ER trip #4)

So in the first 24 hours, we were at the ER 4 times.

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The rest of the week, we managed to only need bandaids to treat minor injuries.

Our mission was to do some painting and light repairs through "Rurual Missions Inc." (That is a very worthwhile program for you locals down there in the low country)

The first day we painted a porch for an elderly lady.

The rest of the week we worked on another elderly ladies house. We painted the outside, removed a rotten porch, replaced some steps, repaired an outside wall, repaired a roof leak, and cased in all of the inside windows.

Did I mention it was HOT!!!!!!


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We worked in the mornings when it was bearable, and then did tourist stuff in the afternoon/evenings.

We went to Fort Sumter one afternoon where the kids who are boyscouts got to lower the flag at the end of the day (my son said it was "a once in a life time" experience). We did some touring of the historic area, went to the aquarium, took in a Riverdogs baseball game, and went to the "Angel Tree" which is a live oak tree that is estimated to be 300 to 1400 years old, depending on who you ask, either way it is HUGE!

All in all, our kids, and adults, got to experience sacrafice for the good of others, we all grew spiritually, and the kids made strong bonds with each other that they will be able to lean on when things get bumpy during the comming school year, and the rest of their life for that matter.

I will put up some pics as soon as I can.
 
Thats a lot of ER trips for a day, however it sounds like ya'll got the
"Mission Accomplished" :clap:

Good for you being a role model for the kids. That is something alot of kids never have.
 
That'll teach you to come to SC in August! No good deed goes unpunished . . . or something like that . . .

Good work, and glad you got to take in some sights.
 
All we could do is laugh....once the bleeding stopped anyway.

It is amazing down in that area how on one stretch of street there are million dollar houses with yachts parked out back and the other side of the street there is poverty.
 
4 ER trips in a weekend,
sounds like our house, but we usually have at least one call to poison control

sounds like you banked some good karma!
 
Pics

Here are some pics, I must have been too busy working to take pics of the work.


Ready to go.

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At Folly Beach.

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On the boat to Fort Sumter, the USS Yorktown behind Joey, my boy. Note the paint in his hair, the kids got a lot of paint on themselves during the week but managed to keep most of it on the parts of the house that it was supposed to be on.

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The flag at Fort Sumter was flying at half mast for two National Park Firefighters who were killed a few days before out west.

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Lowering the flag, thats me in the camo shorts.

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The new Cooper River Bridge.

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Joey and his new friend at the aquarium.

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The Angel Tree, named for the family who used to own the land it is on, the Angels.

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glad you had a good time down here, you could spend a month just seeing the sights and still not see them all. You get a little spoiled having it in your back yard, you tend to take it for granted. Ya'll come on back when you get a chance.
 
spareparts said:
glad you had a good time down here, you could spend a month just seeing the sights and still not see them all. You get a little spoiled having it in your back yard, you tend to take it for granted. Ya'll come on back when you get a chance.
Click to expand...

I could spend weeks walking around the historic district....I am fascinated with history and old stuff.
 
randleman, next time you come down here with the history buffs. take them to Fort Multrie on Sulivans Island, the park service has done a great job with it and no one knows about it. Its also the cheapest admission around here. You can see Fort Sumter from the walls.
 
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