A Feast by Kevin Farmwald

O am not quite sure what the "feast" the prophet Isaiah describes will look like, but I am betting that it will include "crawfish"! Friends from Jubilee Mennonite prepared a feast for us on Thursday night of crawfish and catfish. About 20 people from Jubilee joined 23 8th streeters to become "us" at a glorious feast .... and the Divine smiled.

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As I look back over the pictures in this blog (and the hundreds others that were taken), it was not just the Divine that smiled, but many of the pictures of people at work are pictures of people smiling. It was indeed joyfilled "work". Even with sore muscles and dirty clothes "work" is not really a word that can be used to describe our time in Meridian ... unless perhaps you say the "the work of the Kingdom of God".

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In so many ways, it was indeed a feast.... for which we are grateful.

Thursday pictures

Friends by Belle and Joan

Our (Belle, Walter and Joan) Monday morning assignment was to work at Love Kitchen-a brand new facility which just opened in December. Previous to that they were located at a Catholic Church on the other side of town. We were warmly greeted by Miss Lynn, Miss Cynthia, Miss Mary and Bert. When we asked what they wanted us to do, Miss Lynn promptly went to the walk in refrigerator and presented Belle with a 25 lb. sack of onions. Belle says she must have had “sucker” written on her shirt! She didn’t shed a tear! Walter and Joan cleaned and served around 75 persons for breakfast and lunch. We also met Miss Ruthy, the director and the force behind Love Kitchen. Miss Ruthy is and avid quilter and has won numerous accolades for her original design quilts around the country.

On Tuesday, we learned what kind of limited facility they had been working in for a long time. Myron, Walter, Len, Joan and Belle took on the challenge of cleaning the old building. Upon arrival, we noticed that the ovens in the back room were on with the doors open. Evidently someone had found a warm place for the night with entrance through the air conditioner. The electricity and water were turned off so water was hauled from a spigot from the outside of the Catholic church. In the afternoon we spent several hours sorting through and organizing hundreds of donated coats at Wesley House, a Methodist service organization.

Our Wednesday assignment was at the Salvation Army Thrift Store. Our job was to sort through and organize the clothes racks. Myron and Len were assigned to the household and misc. department-which turned out to be quite formidable. The building wasn’t heated (it was a cold, rainy day) and the lighting was less than desirable so working conditions were somewhat limited. BUT in spite of these conditions, Belle and Joan came upon two amazing finds—elegant bright red sequined gowns. Belle’s dress was truly a “Southern Belle” dress with frills, flowers and ruffles. Joan’s dress was slinky and sparkly with a nice long left slit. They decided to “dress for dinner” and made their grand entrance into the dining hall after everyone had gone through the food line. This entrance drew varied comments especially since we were known as the “shy” ones of the group!

Thursday morning we were happy to go back to Love’s Kitchen to see our newly found friends again. We organized the fenced in back storage area which stored cases and cases of sodas, Christmas decorations and outdated donated cans of food. We even found some cute loveable baby mice in one of the boxes-the mother mouse exited by running over Joan’s shoe. We had a good lunch in the sunny dining room, feasting on deer sloppy Joes. Ruthy showed us several of her unique quilted wall hangings which have won special recognition across America. The afternoon was spent cleaning one of the offices at Jubilee Church. The evening was highlighted with a special meal/party complete with crayfish, fried catfish, hushpuppies, coleslaw and peach cobbler—put on by several Jubilee families. It was truly a Mississippi feast!

We’ve made many wonderful friends and have had a great time in Mississippi.

You'alls visit by Sara VonGunten

This morning, Thursday, Elaine Maust saw me at Jubilee Church. She expressed how much the 8th Street visit means to the Jubilee Mennonites. “We so look forward to you-alls visit; it is such a blessing to us.”
Being affirmed like this meant a lot. Yesterday, Wednesday, had been cold, overcast, and rainy. Construction projects came to a dramatic halt. For many, the day felt wasted. This prompted a post-evening meal conversation about the worth of our visit to Mississippi.
“Did Jubilee really want us here?”
“Are they just being good hosts—while trying to keep us
Do-gooders busy?”
“Maybe 23 VSers is too many? Limit the number next year?”
The weather, fatigue, and mid-week slump probably contributed to the conversation mood! But today, the rain has stopped, the outdoor construction has resumed, and Elaine’s sincere affirmation has made our week together in Meridian seem worthwhile.

Spice of life by Jim Bare

If it’s true that “variety is the spice of life” and “all work and no play makes ‘Jim” a dull boy”, I must be spicy and sharp! I’ve been here 4 days and have worked at 4 different projects; the days are short and the evening activities include great food and a variety of games.

Monday I worked with Ron B., Jonathon and Len painting what is known to 8th Streeters who were here 2 years ago as the “termite house”. We worked outside on a warm sunny day painting the eaves all around and the car port. It was especially nice knowing that it was snowing in Goshen!

Tuesday Ron and Jonathon and I hacked out trails through the 18 ½ acres of Mississippi bramble that the camp owns across the road. I think I enjoyed it more than the other guys. Camp Director Jeff was with us and kept us entertained with stories of camp.

Wednesday I planned to work at Hope Village but we woke up to rain, which lasted all day, so I worked at the Habitat warehouse. For 2 hours I pulled nails out of 2 by 4s so they could be re-used and carried them into another room. Then I helped Mark, another Habitat volunteer, carry stuff around from one temporary place to another temporary place, at Fonda’s direction. She is the Habitat Director. I told her she needs a file system, but she pointed to her head and said “It’s all in here”.

Today I did work at Hope Village, with Ron Y. we spent the day nailing on Rboard, an insulating material. See Stefan’s blog for description of Hope Village.

After great evening meals prepared by Ricky and Sara, we usually sit around talking, joking or playing games. Last night was an interesting get acquainted game where we wrote down 3 things about ourselves, only 2 were true, and drew them out of a hat and tried to guess who wrote them. Interesting.

So the work has been fun, actually, and the evening fellowship has been good. We spent 14 hours on the bus with these people coming down, and have another 14 hour ride home. It’s been a good experience. When I signed up for this trip, I figured if we are going to join this church, this would be a good way to get to know them. Now, I don’t know……!

Just kidding!

Hope Village by Stefan Miller

Located in the center or Meridian, Habitat for Humanity is in the middle of a building project of 2 homes which will be turned over to Hope Village upon completion.
Hope Village deals with orphaned and displaced youth from the community and surrounding areas. Currently children can be under foster care until the age 18. At that time foster care releases the youth and they are independent. The success rate of those youth is poor. Hope Village has undertaken an experimental program of taking some of those 18 year olds and have them participate in a half way house for up to 2 years. During those 2 years they live with house parents and work while at the same time learn life skills that will hopefully make them successful as they venture out on their own.
Our job during the week was to help Habitat with the building project. Probably 80% of the labor is donated. Our supervisor was Mike. He is hired by Habitat to oversee building projects taken on by Habitat. He is a supervisor not a laborer. He was very helpful in supplying us with all needed materials. Mike is a very interesting person and had an interesting story for all situations.
Four of the 5 days a group of 4-6 of us worked at the Habitat house. One day it rained and we spent the day in the Habitat warehouse doing many miscellaneous tasks. Our jobs throughout the week included: (1) finishing the framing of the interior walls, (2) putting on OSB board on the exterior, (3) then topping the OSB with an insulation board, (4) setting doors and windows, (5) building a porch dormer, and (6) the framing and flooring of an attic storage area. Mike stated many times that he couldn’t believe what we accomplished. We completed much more than he thought we would. He invited us back next week. At one point Mike asked me what route we were taking back to Goshen. Later that day he came to me and said that all routes headed north were blocked by snow. We would have to delay our return.
This was a very rewarding week. We felt greatly appreciated. The friendships we have made will be remembered forever. I would encourage anyone to take time out of your busy lives and participate in a similar endeavor.

Wednesday photos, con