2023 Spring Break Mission Trip - Calvin/Calvary - Day 1 and 2

 

Well, it's finally here.  

We left for Plymouth, North Carolina yesterday.  

Members of Calvin and Calvary CRC. 

A group picture will come later with our t-shirts on. 

We were set to leave at 6:00 a.m. from Calvin, and meet up with the Calvary group on the 416.  Here is the van we are taking.  Sweet. : ) 

We left a wee bit after 6:30 from Ottawa due to alarm malfunctions of some, but hey, these things happen : )

We drove to the border and, thankfully, that went VERY uneventfully.  

Just after that we stopped for breakfast break. 

At a Tim's of course.  

After a several hour drive, another stop at McDonald's. 

The group seems to know each other pretty well.  

Our wise adult helpers : ) 

After even moreeeee driving, it was supper time. 

Chick-Fil-A.  

Sorry, no real good picture of that stop : ) 

After about 14.5 drive, we finally arrived at the church. 

Our cooks left a day early and loaded up at a Costco on the way.  

It's nice to have cooks, that's for sure.  

Here is a plaque of the church we are staying at.  Just so you know some info about it.  

Some pics of the church the next morning.  

The inside of the church. 

Our eating area. 

Upstairs is the hallway with our sleeping rooms. 

One of the rooms already occupied. 

My room.  

I got a room to myself because, well, for the 

well-being of everyone they don't want to hear me snore : )

Our kitchen area.  

Our Cooks 

Jennifer is on the Left, Lisa is on the Right, and Cathy, well, she's not in the pic.  We are really gonna appreciate them, that I know! 

After we settled in a bit, just a bit of instruction for the group before we settled down for the night. 

After a short sleep, because, well, daylight savings time just happened to be happening this weekend, we awoke.  

I awoke to Andrew and Malan reading a school-assigned book. Apparently, that's a big deal. : ) 

Good Morning Tia.  : ) 

We had pancakes for breakfast this morning.  

As a continuation of our Pancake Breakfast Fundraiser Craig, and Ryne and Sam made them once again.  

Before Breakfast a game of UNO started.  

Very small cards : ) 

Breakfast is served.  

John helped out with dishes after. 

As did Megan and Denise.

Church was at 10 a.m. 

We seem to like the back left side of the church.  : ) 

Good singing.  

Some pics of the church. 

This balcony was the place where slaves used to worship long ago.  

A nice sanctuary.  

Not a lot of people in the church.  We doubled its size. 

Outside the church is surrounded by a cemetery and the church is even built over existing gravesites, with permission, of course. 

Some very old headstones.  

This one is dated 1818. 

Vickie, the pastor of this church came to say hello.  

And after church she shared info about the city and the church.  

This is the oldest church in the county. 

The church serves the poor of this county as best it can. 

The population is about 50/50 Caucasian and African American.  

Lots of people have left because there is no work here.  The main employer, Domtar, has shrunk its workforce.  

The organization we are going to be working with this week was started by this church.  

Some interesting things were shared.  

Lunchtime.  

And dishes.  

Done by Tia, Andrew, and Malan.

Today was a rest day. 

We start tomorrow. 

The youth played lots of games and did a great job of occupying themselves. 

Code Names here.  

Concentration.  

Then it grew in size.  

These guys unfortunately lost.  Twice  : ) 

These pickles have a story. 

In church, Jennifer and I were quietly chatting about our food, and she mentioned she didn't have pickles, which I thought was too bad. 

Well,,,, a lady in the church overheard us and ended up buying us these pickles and said, if you need anything, just call  : ) 

It was raining, so we couldn't do a walk on the boardwalk, but we ended up driving around instead. 

This plaque outlines a bit of the battle that took place at Plymouth. 

Lots of history here. 

We found a museum. 

With the Albemarle that was quite famous, for what I forget again  : ) 

Shelter from the rain.  

Nice group shot.  

The Domtar Paper Mills that was just behind them.  

The group decided to see if they could get on the boat, and eventually, they did.  

Where there's a tree, there's someone wanting to climb it.  No one was hurt in the taking of this picture : ) 

We are currently still playing games, and getting to know each other.  

Hide and seek is currently happening : ) 

Tomorrow at 8 a.m. we begin. 

More details to come tomorrow night.  

Please pray for us as we embark on this journey of learning and growing and serving.