Home Safe!

We have arrived back in Windham safe and sound.  We left the Hope Force house this morning at 4:45 and arrived home around 10 PM.  For those of us who were in the van, from Danbury, CT on for almost 4 hours we had an incredible dance party.  Almost every genre of music playing and it was an phenomenal cap to a phenomenal trip!

I can't begin to express my gratitude to everyone who was on this trip!  This was an absolutely incredible time in which we all grew closer together and closer to Christ.  I am very proud of how hard everyone worked and how well they all cared for JR and Ellen and their grandchildren.  It was very touching to be able to help them out in this very tough situation.  Please join me in praying for them and their court date this coming Thursday July 19th.  They will be bringing pictures to court to show the improvements made to their home making it safe for the children to live in.  Our prayer is that social services recognizes the effort and improvements that have been made and stop the process of having those 4 beautiful, incredible children put into foster care!

I am also incredibly proud of Liz, Rachel, Colby and Brandon for taking the next step of faith in baptism.  What an incredible thing to be a part of!  Please continue to uphold the 4 of them in prayer as they walk in their journeys with Christ in College.

All in all it was an incredible trip, God moved in all of our lives we had a blast together, we prayed, sang, ate and worked.

Thank you, it was a highlight of my life to spend this past week with you!

Sarah, Melissa, Brandon, Laura, Ben, Barry, Liz, David, Drew, Andrew, Luke, Fred, Colby, Kimball and Rachel.


- Aaron Stetson

Day 7 - Wednesday

Today was a day of goodbyes and finalizing the project. In the morning we woke up and fended for ourselves in the kitchen. After a quick breakfast we had our final devotion time with Craig. He spoke about the breath of God and John 20 "valley of dried bones" and how God came down and put the holy spirit into the valley. He spoke about how the tough times everyone goes through can only be rejuvenated and saved through the breath that God puts upon us to take us out of these slumps. This discussion felt very relevant to me because everyone goes through these times and it taught me that the only way to come out of these slumps is by going to God and opening up your heart for him and let him take over.
After the devotion, we packed up our last sandwiches for the week and headed out as usual. We finished up putting the metal roof on, electrical, and putting in windows. A few of us put tarp on the one open side to protect it from weather. After a nice short day that ended at 2, we packed ALL the equipment in the trucks and on the van while saying our goodbyes to the family.
We got back to the house, everyone got cleaned up and we headed out to get pizza for dinner at the local pizza shop.  After getting pizza, the cutest dog ever stood outside the shop while we gathered around, fed it ice cream and petted it.  Unfortunately Aaron did not let us take it home with us despite much begging and pleading.
After dinner in War, we back to the house and had our discussion led by Aaron about how to preserve the feeling from the trip and apply it to real life.  We talked about changes we are going to make in our everyday life and how to constantly strengthen our relationship with God.  Following our discussion we got a head start on the packing and prepped our rooms for leaving.  Most of the group finished the day with a massive hike to the top of the hill while getting partially lost and returning at 9:30.
All in all it was a great finish to a great week, that I will remember forever.
- Luke Looman

Tuesday-Day 6

This morning we all woke up to the wonderful smell of waffles, syrup, eggs and bacon! We enjoyed these as we had our regular early morning conversations, which i was half asleep for. Next we packed up our lunches for the day and got on the road a bit earlier than we had the days before!

Today on the job site we finished up the siding. A few of us had tasks of carrying various sizes of wood to certain areas, while others completed the walling and the rest of the siding. Liz, Drew, and I (aka. the dream team) spent most of our day mixing some of the best cement anyone has ever seen. Aaron finished all the wiring while the rest of us finished the deck and the roof. Towards the end of the day we made a group effort in filling in any spots that were missing nails which actually was quite a lot! We then covered the house in Tyvek to protect it from any moisture that could get in over night.

After we finished up the house for the day we all got in a picture with Ellen, JR, and Dalton Gage the baby. We then proceeded to have a group prayer around the family, praying for each child individually and blessing their house and lives.

When we returned home we had an excellent dinner of taco salad, hamburgers and hot dogs made by all the kids. After dinner we had our nightly discussion where we talked about baptism. Aaron mentioned that any of us that wanted to be officially baptized could be in the lake tonight by our very own Craig. He gave us a few hours to make our decision. In the mean time, we took a trip to the convenient store and bought many snacks.

Around sundown, we all hopped in the van and trucks and headed down to the lake. Four of us, Brandon, Colby, Liz and I decided we would like to be baptized and commit our life to christ. We gathered near the lake and one by one was baptized by Craig. He first prayed over us and then dunked us backwards into the lake. It was a feeling i had never felt before. I felt new, refreshed, happy, and filled with inspiration to do right.

Once we returned back home we played some games including 30, Yahtzee, and most of the girls painted there nails ( oh and ben too....questionable). Today was our last day with Craig because he is leaving tomorrow morning after breakfast. Tomorrow will be our last day on the house and we will finish up everything!

-Rachel Vignos

Day 5 - Monday

Wow, what a trip we are having again this year!! It's really incredible how quickly a raggedy bunch of people like us can come together and make a workforce to be reckoned with. But even more importantly, it's incredible to see how many connections everyone has been making. Youth who have never met each other are becoming close friends in Christ and even coming up with little group names for themselves (to be specific, Ben, Melissa, and I are now referred to as "Ginger and the Two"). So to sum up today:

We once again rose early around 7:15 for another fantastic breakfast of eggs, bagels, and even some bacon. Following breakfast, as we have happily become accustomed to, Craig taught a lesson on his favorite mantra, Love. It was both an inspiring and thought provoking lesson to start the day off right.

Then we all headed off to the job site once again to resume the projects we have been working on so fervently for the last few days. Let me tell you, I'm not sure how the ride was for everyone in the van, but driving with Barry Hebsch is quite an experience. Ben, Liz, Dad, and I all had a blast cruising to the sound of With or Without You by U2 as Barry got into his zone... And then right when you think he's calm, Barry raced up the driveway to the race site, jarring us around the truck like rag dolls.

Once the day began, it was nice to have the cloud cover as we ultimately had two teams working. One made more headway with the new room we have built from the ground up, and the other tearing down the next room to be replaced. Again, we made a lot of progress and have the frame of both the infrastructure of the first new room and half of a sloped roof over it and the remaining roof of the trailer. In addition, the demolition of the second old room is nearing completion. Tomorrow will be an exciting work day for certain.

Following the workday, we all came back to home base and had an incredible dinner of chicken, a vegetable medley, and some sort of grain, with a name I can't remember...      Of course that was not before a quick trip to the grocery store like every other day this week :) It was what came after the meal that was the best part of the day though. We continued with our journal-based lessons, which was specifically on "Who Jesus is to Me". We had some really good discussions and it left each of us really contemplating how each of our relationships with God are and how we can improve them.

Finally, we ended the day with a hunt for blackberries (which we ended up using as paint to make war-paint faces and other paintings on each other), some parkour (yeah Aaron!), a bit of in-the-dark frisbee, and finally a couple games of mafia to round out the night.

Just as I said last year, I think we can all agree, if summer ended thursday with our return home, we will have had one of the most fulfilling and enjoyable summers of our lives. Now the challenge we have to face is maintaining this spiritual high we've reached once we get home. At least we can be faithful that God will provide for us and keep us all not he straight-and-narrow as we readjust to normal life.

- Colby Putnam

Day 4 - Sunday

Today was our day off from the project site home and although it was a little sad not to see the little kids on Karen's birthday, the rest was very much appreciated. We began the day with breakfast at 9AM, all extremely fortunate to be able to sleep in for a little bit. It's Sunday, so we walked to the Caretta/War United Methodist Church, just down the street, for church service at 11AM. The service was held in a small church and I could almost count the number of people attending on my two hands. Something we all noticed in the church was that almost all of the congregation was senior citizens with exclusion to our large group of 17.

The service included hymns, joy and prayer concerns, offering and scripture lesson; but the culture and atmosphere of the church was different from the Windham Presbyterian Church. Back at the house for our group reflection, we discussed how it was almost a conversational type of prayer concerns and joys of gratefulness with the pastor. Also how the speakers added humor to make it interesting, while tying everything together and not straying too off topic. 

Yesterday, we all decided that we would go visit the coal museum exhibit and then head over to the lake in the local park. Craig had explained to us the background of the mountain that the town we are in, where a company came in and decided to create towns based on mining high demand coal. When the companies backed out, the many people were left without jobs and needing federal assistance. However, we never really understood what the coal miners had gone through working in the mines. When we got to the museum, we learned about the coal mining and how it has changed so drastically over time with technology. It is unbelievable the conditions and work that they needed to work in, sometimes crawling on their hands and knees, for such little wages. After we left the museum we headed to the lake where we took a hike around the lake (which was a lot longer than we expected), played frisbee, and took a swim in the local pool. Some of us even jumped into the pool fully clothed which still felt wonderful in the heat. While others went to the local grocery store that they are all kind of obsessed with. People who jumped into the pool dried off in the back of Barry's truck on our way back to the house. 

It was a really great day, but we're excited for another work day tomorrow and see what we can accomplish!

- Sarah Chau

Day 3 - Saturday

This morning we all ate pancakes.  They were delicious.
After breakfast we had a heartwarming talk from Craig Snow to help mentally prepare us for the day.  While on our way to the work zone we listened to Brandon Cole's music.  It was interesting. Music from Carly Rae Jepson, Taylor Swift, and the Back Street Boys were all part of our life after that car ride whether we liked it or not.

Yesterday we tore down the entire back side of the building (which was all rotted frame) to prepare it for a much needed renovation.  Even after seeing the massive amount of work we had accomplished in one day for the first time yesterday, I was still shocked when we arrived at the house to think that WE had done all of that work in just one day.  Yesterday had been a great day for work, but it was nothing in comparison to the amount that we accomplished today.  By the end of the day we were looking at a near completed frame for the new edition to the house, and it was glorious.

Yesterday was extremely hot and humid with temperatures reaching in the low 90's (fahrenheit).  Even though the temperature was higher today, no one complained but rather saw to it as a challenge to work through.
 
After dinner and a talk from Aaron on selflessness and helping others, some of us went down to the local supermarket to pick up some snacks.  However, a simple trip to the supermarket soon turned into a slightly longer trip when we decided to check out a nearby lake and play on some playground equipment.  I think it's safe to say the trip was a success.

Our last event of the day was a trip down the street to a local party/get together/country performance.  There were some fun mini activities to do such as darts and mini basketball.
All in all the day was amazing.  And I'm sure we will have many days to follow just like it.

- David Hutchings
 

Day 2 - Friday

Growing up in Windham, NH we never really realize how lucky we actually are. From having the simple necessities that we take for granted everyday, such as filtered water, warm showers, and a roof over head all the way to bicycles we ride, cars we drive, and technology we use every minute of our lives. Reality hit today when we drove up the narrow, dirt road to a small trailer home filled with water damage and falling apart.

As soon as we stepped foot out of the car, three little kids, a baby, a set of grandparents, and a very supportive friend emerged out of the hot, dirty house. Two young girls, Karen and Kyanna, covered in dirt with giant smiles ran up to all of their new friends, while the young boy, Derek, shied back with a machete (weed-whacker to him) in hand. Spending time with the children, they brought us to their toy box filled with a football, old computer keys, and a doll head. With the little that the girls had to play with, they used everything to their advantage, laughing, and loving life, having each other to play with. Derek, not wanting to play with his sisters, loved throwing the football, and tried to play with any one of us that was willing. All four kids were taken from their mother and father a little while ago and put in their grandparents home. With this big change, the kids had seen a lot more than the average 5-year old should see. Still, through everything, the young kids had smiles on their face, love in their hearts, and dreams of their own.

Although playing with the children was fun, work had to be done to better their environment. The house is a single wide trailer with an addition added in the back. Unfortunately the added room was full of water damage, had no solid foundation, and was not able to be lived in anymore. Throughout the day, everybody worked hard taking down the addition by knocking out wood, pulling out nails, and separating the usable wood from the non-usable wood. Because of those that braved the roof work in the 93 degree weather, we were able to knock that whole part of the house down and put in 6 footings for the new room that is to be the continuous project of this trip. Sadly, we are not here to fix the surroundings of the house, which consist of a 60 degree drop, leading to the edge of a cliff. With no fence blocking off the side of this house, the children, playing as far to the edge as they can on the rocks and clothes line and making each and everyone of us cringe, weren't very safe. The yard is filled with dead grass and remains of burnt objects, causing for an even more unsafe place for the children to play.

In our group discussion after getting back from the site tonight, Kimball brought up a good point. We were all comparing what we have and what they have, talking about how we grew up with bikes and basketball hoops, and how they are growing up with machetes and little plastic toys. Kimball looked at it in a different way, talking about how even though we look at our childhood as "normal", they are very likely looking at theirs as "normal" and are's as "weird". Thinking about that, the two girls were two of the happiest, most talkative little girls I have seen, which just backs up his point that even though they may not have what we have, they still have the same kind of happiness and love for life.

- Melissa Cino