Skip to main content

living the Kingdom in west virginia

i'm sitting here at my dining room table in the morning quiet of our house that always occurs before the boys wake up and start their daily storm. over the rhine is singing softly from the ipod across the room, and the sun is sewing a patchwork quilt in the woods that i can see through our big back window. its good to be home.

sorry for the lack of posts this last week, but i was on a mission trip with 45 other people to west virginia, and (despite what we were told) we had no internet access where we were staying. so i've been gathering my thoughts over the last week and now i'm a bit overwhelmed (as i wrote that two deer just went bouncing through the quilted woods, tails held high, scampering for safety).

west virginia was wild and wonderful. well, at least, that's what their license plates say. it certainly was wild. we stayed at a large church called central chapel in hedgesville, a "town" outside of martinsville. we worked at a residence, or i should say several residences, on a piece of property. there was a home and several trailers, and i'm not sure who all lived in all these places, but i think they were all related. there were many dogs and cats, as well as a few horses. and the place was broken. that's just the best word i can think of to describe it. broken. the roof had a huge hole in it. the trailer roof was caving in. the yard was absolutely covered in garbage and stuff. the animals seemed hungry. the people seemed cautious and careful. the place, at least in my evaluation, was broken.

and so all 47 of us had a chance to minister to these folks. we worked on roofs. we tore shingles off and started a new roof. we built a whole new roof structure on the trailer. we cleaned up garbage. we painted. we played with the children. we sang while we worked. we did our best to love on this family without making any kind of judgments about how they got this way or why they stay this way. we simply served them. as a leader, i was truly amazed at how the young people (it was a senior high trip) so graciously did this work. in the rain. in the smell of cat pee and dog poop. on top of precarious roofs. amidst questions of how they could afford to have cars and tvs but couldn't afford garbage removal. in all of this, they just hammered and cleaned and painted and sang and smiled without complaint. it was a blessing for me, and, i hope, for that family as well.

as always, though, the mission trip was not only about what we were able to do for others, but about how God was so clearly at work within our own lives in the midst of our serving. i have been on so many youth trips in my life, and i don't remember bonding together quite like this. we were almost always together, so we had so much time to get to know one another and grow in relationship (which was totally awesome, because in my understanding of ministry, building relationships is what it is all about). by the end of the week, we had really built some solidarity and unity, and we had an amazing closing worship service which evidenced some real change in some of the lives of the young people. as a leader, it was a joy to witness this and a blessing to be a part of it.

so, thanks for your prayers. we had an awesome trip. we didn't change the whole world or eradicate poverty in west virginia or even fix one family's problems. but we did love some people and show them that love in action. we did grow in relationship with one another and sow some seeds in these young lives that will continue to grow long into their adulthood. and we learned a little bit more about what it means to be a part of God's coming Kingdom, a kingdom where there is no distinction between rich and poor; a kingdom where all of our bad decisions are made right; a kingdom in which each one is loved and accepted for who they are in all of their beautiful uniqueness; a kingdom in which love is the currency; a kingdom in which we put down our pretenses and just live the way we are: broken and bent beings who are redeemed by an unspeakably extravagant love.

(ps. when i get some pictures, i'll add some to this post for you visual types)

Comments

Crafty P said…
lovely post.

what a blessing.

I always say, when God wants to teach us something... he takes us on a trip. Sounds like yours was full of awe, wonder, and growth.
NJ Grandma said…
Welcome Home! Glad you have a safe trip ther and back.
NJ Grandma said…
Welcome home! Glad you had a safe trip there and back!
Anonymous said…
that was a lot of words, i definitly need the pictures!!
Mary said…
I was so glad to read all those words. It's been way to long since we have talked so in a way...i enjoyed reading our long conversation. Hope you get a little bit of rest before you embark on your next trip. should i send you a picture of me?

Popular posts from this blog

bad haircuts (for a laugh)

everybody needs to laugh.  one good way i have found to make that happen is to do a simple google image search for 'bad haircut.'  when you do so, some of the following gems show up.  thankfully, my 9th grade school picture does NOT show up.  otherwise, it would certianly make this list!  please laugh freely and without inhibition.  thank you and have a nice day. 

happiness is dry underwear

we started potty training jack on thursday. we followed a program called POTTY TRAIN IN ONE DAY, which, by the way, i think is kind of crazy. i mean, if someone were to offer you a book called, "ACHIEVE WORLD PEACE IN ONE DAY" i don't think you would take it seriously. and yet here we are, trying to accomplish an equally daunting task in one 24-hour period. it is intense. the day is shrouded in a lie because as soon as your happily diapered child wakes up you tell him that it is a big party. we had balloons and streamers and noisemakers and silly string - all the trappings of a legitimate party. but it is most certainly not a party. it is a hellishly exhausting day. as soon as jack got out of bed, we gave him a present: an anatomically correct doll that wets himself. jack named him quincy. several times quincy successfully peed in the potty and even had an accident or two in his "big boy underwear." he also dropped a deuce that looked and smelled sus

the crucifixion of Robert Lewis

  "the crucifixion of Robert Lewis" mixed media collage with leaves, acrylic paint, and found objects by gregory a milinovich october 2023 this october i was invited to participate in a three day trip which was called a "pilgrimage of pain and hope."  while that may not sound super exciting to many of you, it actually really intrigued me.  i am the kind of person that wants to feel big feelings, and i am drawn to the deep places, so  i was interested in traveling to the scranton area, where the trip was planned, to see what it might look like to be a pilgrim that was wide-eyed and listening to the pain and the hope in the stories of others.   this trip included hearing the stories of immigrants to the northeastern pennsylvania area, and the work in the coal mines that many of them did.  it included hearing from folks who are working for housing justice and equity in downtown scranton.  it included hearing from those indigenous people who first inhabited that land.