Monday, May 9, 2011

Final Thoughts from Ms. Slingluff

What to say? So much space, so much time. First of all I would be remiss not to thank all that have helped this trip: Dan, David, Anne, Tony, Angie for the fabulous company and leadership, Dad for the scrumptious meals, Toni for lending a helping hand, Brian Propst for the donated shirts, and Thadine for the moral support!

But I think this entry should primarily reflect my hope for the boys. You all were a truly wonderful group to work with. I did not have to ask anyone to do anything twice, and most times you anticipated other people’s needs. I am not sure I have ever traveled with such a thoughtful group.

Most of all, I hope you reflect on our devotions and the charisms your senior leaders discussed. From your teamwork in Dan’s trust web, to the openness in sharing your stories of compassion with Ryan, to the humility you showed in washing each other’s feet, and the zeal of cheering your teammates in Luke’s “tourney.”

Perhaps most of all I send a wish for simplicity. You lived a SIMPLER life. And you had fun. And sometimes we have to pause to remember that we don’t need computers and phones and facebook. I truly enjoyed watching you form relationships and friendships—and I hope you carry these memories with you as you undoubtedly face an increasingly complicated world.

“You must be the change you wish to see in the world.”

-Ms. Slingluff

PS If you’re missing a black sleeping bag and blue pillow, come see me 

Thursday, April 28, 2011

All the Pictures!

Enjoy the slideshow! There are over 400 pictures, so please take your time enjoying them all. :) If you click on the slideshow, you should be able to view larger versions in Picasa. Please let me know if this doesn't work!

David

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Final Thoughts from Mrs. Resseguie

“West Virginia, mountain momma, take me home”

Hello all! Now that I have had a few days to rest up and process the events of the past week I cannot help but beam with pride over our success. You young men have once again shown me how determined, fun loving, humble, and capable you are. Over the past week I observed how you overcame individual uncertainties and fears in order to step out of your comfort zone and help those truly in need. This years’ trip took us to a new location where none of us knew what to expect. It's hard to imagine an area so impoverished that 40% of the population is without a job, when we live in relative luxury. Each of you showed great compassion as we began work on George and Angel's home, and GREAT determination as we stayed late on our last workday to finish what we started. This being my third mission trip with the Mount Saint Joseph men I am still blown away by the growth I see not only in the week I spend with the young men, but also in the growth I see from those returning for a second year. God willing I will be able to further my observations next year...

Now, for those of you young men who had the privilege of riding in the Armada, you will understand these quote’s… for the rest of you, your music education will continue next year. So I will say farewell and leave you with some words of wisdom from none other than Johnny Cash…

“I wear the black for those who never read,
Or listened to the words that Jesus said,
About the road to happiness through love and charity,
Why, you’d think He’s talking straight to you and me.”

Final Thoughts from Mr. Peddicord

From Mr. PeddicordDan Peddicord
MSJ Director of Facilities


To: Sarah, Anne, David, Angie, Tony, Dev, Tim, and Students……….

What a wonderful trip we had! I am so glad I was able to attend this mission trip. I am extremely proud of the students that took part in this adventure. Once again MSJ Students showed what they are made of. I think we were all overwhelmed and a little apprehensive when we arrived on the project site. On the first work day we were all concerned and worried about being capable of meeting our goals. But once we settled in and started working there was no time for worrying.

I drove separately from the group with a truck load of tools. I arrived at the Mission Church early on Sunday and met Tim Stewart, our Mission General Contractor. Tim was planning to show me the project site before everyone arrived. I followed Tim to the project house just 15 minutes from the church. While the house in need of repair was on the small side, it needed so much work all 15 students and 6 adults were needed on this one site. In past missions we separated into smaller groups and completed two or three projects. Tim pointed out all the different things this house needed: Walls knocked down before they fell, floors removed because they were caving in, windows replaced that were allowing the the elements to come in and installing a new ceiling in the small family room. While the first impression is overwhelming, I knew we all would make some improvements to the home.

In four days the students and adults completed more than we thought possible. On day four, our last day on the project, the students informed me they did not want to leave until they installed a new railing on the outside porch. So as the saying goes I said “get-er done”. And they worked a little late and completed the job. It’s amazing what was accomplished by this hard working group.

As someone who has worked in facilities and construction related projects for over 25 years, I was very impressed with how quickly the students learned to use the work tools on this Mission trip. I watched the students go from their first day asking questions about the proper way to use work tools, to confident hard working individuals by the end of the week. It was clear by signing up for this trip each of these young men took a chance in placing themselves in a different environment that called on them to remain flexible and supportive to the entire group. Each and every one of them showed an inner strength needed on a daily basis to deal with the daily challenges before them. Challenges such as working as a team player with others they may not have known that well, yet finding a way to work together quickly and efficiently to achieve their goal. They also taught me a few things and that we are never too old to learn.


Sarah, Anne, David, Angie, Tony– what a great week we had. So much was accomplished. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of the team! Sarah, you are so organized ! You were wonderful at keeping us focused and on track. That’s how we accomplished so much good work. Wonderful devotions too. Anne, as always, you were such a great partner on our team’s goal. Thank you for taking the lead so often. David, you can now change your primary profession to Ceiling Installer. What a great job! Tony, thank you for taking on replacing the old windows. They scared me just looking at them, but you took them on. The new ones look great. Angie, thank you for covering any first-aid required. We were blessed with no major injuries on the job. You had that covered all week. And you never told us what an artist you are. WOW ! what a great drawing of the MSJ Tower you painted on the church club room wall next to all the other past mission group drawings. We will be remembered by all that see it.
Dev – what an amazing cook you are! Thank you for prepping, toting and cooking soooooo much food. Everyone’s meal was wonderful. I enjoyed our conversations too. I’ll think of you each time I look at the market. (Not just the food market.)
Tim – thank you for all you do. God blessed you with many talents. Especially patience with the hundreds of questions we asked about how to accomplish our goals. Thank you for your spiritual leadership and asking the students if they saw God on the project. You and Joan have a wonderful Mission program. You are now in our thoughts and prayers. Keep up the wonderful work.

And the Guys, what can I say? You listened and followed every safety direction I could give you. You worked harder than some grown men I have managed over the years. I am so proud of each and every one of you ! I thank you from the bottom of my heart for a fun and successful mission. You guys truly have a great understanding of the Xaverian charisms, Trust, Zeal, Humility, Compassion and Simplicity. Thank you for the hard work and support you provided to this Mission.
To the parents, thank you for allowing your son to go on this trip. You can be very proud of their individual accomplishments. I actually watched them turn from “Boys to Men” (as the MSJ expression goes) before my very eyes.

Sincerely,
Mr. Dan Peddicord
MSJ Director of Facilities
MSJ Class of ‘72

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Final Product Pictures

 

 

 

 

 

 
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Day Four by Tyler

 


This whole week was long and full hard work and it was all worth it during this week my team cleaned up what was left of the old roof on the side of the house we cleaned that up in half a day. After that I went to do demo with Josh and we formed Team Destruction and demolished the walls of the house. After that we split and I helped put up the roof for the new porch which left me with a lot of sunburn, despite that seeing the finished porch made the whole week worth it.
-Tyler Rutledge
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Day Four by Nick

 


Today was very fun for me. The whole week was extremely fun because I got to help build a porch. The thing that was the most fun was doing demo to the old porch, which was there from the beginning. Today I helped build the porch, put rafters in place, and put a tin roof on top of the rafters. After we all finished the project we all said our goodbyes and we left.
-Nick Leuba
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Day Four by Mason

 


Today was a slow start, just as the whole week was, but we finally completed the demolition of the porch and deck, and reconstructed the front of Mr. George’s house. I really didn’t have a part in today’s reconstruction, due to a tragic accident during a soccer game where I rolled my ankle and couldn’t really walk. Though I didn’t move a muscle today, I was in the company of the house owners’ dog, Angel. Time flies when you’re just sitting around for 5-6 hours, but at last the finishing touches were added to the newly built deck and porch. After some time, we all told to put on our matching blue shirts and huddle close together on the deck , in order to get everyone in the picture. At last we said our good-byes to Mr. George, Angel, and his neighbor Samuel, hopped in our cars, and drove off into the sun.
-Mason Casanova
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Day Four by Parker

 


We started off today in the cold. My group worked on an inside room tiling the ceiling. After the new ceiling was up, we had placed 118 tiles total, not to mention a few we messed up in the process and had to throw out. Then we put a molding around the new tiles to finish it off. This may sound easy, but it took most of our afternoon to do. When it was finished, it was fun to look at what we accomplished after 3 days of work. Then we lined up for a group picture, said good bye to George and Angle, the house owner and his dog, and headed out.
-Parker Bell
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Day Four by Corey

 


What a week this has been! Full of great adventure, we 15 ended this awesome experience with memories that will never be forgotten. Through tough injuries and many laughs, we endured to the end. I am grateful for this opportunity and having the chance to serve those in great need. This task was not easy, the road was tough, but with great leaders and an awesome group of guys, it was complete. I thank God for giving me the strength to do this, and giving us all safe travels up here. I am excited to see what next year will entail and I know I will leave assuring that I did the true service of God. Thanks Ms. Slingluff for having me again; it was wonderful and great times. “BFKAMS2”, you are awesome lol ! What a week this has been.

Mom, Grandmom, and Chris, I love you all soooooo much =)

-Corey J. Kennedy
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Day Four by Brian

 


Today we finished the house at the site and the owner was very happy that we fixed it up. Also if we got bored we played with his dog that he had. We finished all the ceiling tiles and we vacuumed it all up. At first it was cool and there were no flies, which was a good thing. Then it started to get hotter. So finally we finished the porch, the windows, and made a garden. Over all this was a very good experience to go on and I learned a lot. I probably go next year because you can make new friends and it’s fun.
-Brian Lawton
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Day Four by John

 


Today we finished up everything at the site and the owner of the house was there with his dog all day which made it funnier because when you were bored you could play with the dog. We finished up the porch and the deck today and it’s hard to believe when we got there it was just two gross and falling down rooms and now it is actually a pleasant place to sit down and enjoy the view of the mountains.
-John Meyer
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Day Three Collection

Sorry for the lack of posts yesterday. We've been having an issue with spotty internet access. Enjoy!

David

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
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Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Day Two Collection

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
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Day Two by Mike

 
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Today we went back to the house. It was starting to look a lot better but it still needs some work. My crew worked on the ceiling tiles in the living room. It was quite humid which didn’t make it much easier but we got half of the wood frames up. The outside crew made a lot of progress; they knocked down the whole porch walls and roof, and there was a a lot of debris and they took out a side room completely. So far this trip is awesome. I’m learning a lot and having fun.

Love you Mom and Maddie see you soon love you.

-Mike Cummings

Day Two by Josh

 
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Throughout the day some of us were busy destroying the porch while others were doing various other jobs in their groups on the house. I was one of the people in the group that did the destroying of the porch. It was very dangerous so we had to be careful taking the walls down for fear of them falling on us. In order to make sure that the wall didn’t fall on us, we had at least two people holding up the wall. There was also a roof and that took the longest and was the hardest thing to do on the porch. So the person in charge of the church that we are staying at and who is also in charge of the work site that we are working on went onto the roof of the porch to take off the debris so the that we could knock the roof off from the inside with crow bars and a big ground digger. As soon as we got the roof off we started on the walls using the same things used to knock the roof off. Taking the walls down took in record time thanks to the destruction team which was made up off me, Tyler, and sometimes Nick who went to help with other jobs where they needed the help. The thing that was the most boring was taking the pieces of the roof and walls (including the debris that used to be on the roof) up to the burn pile to be burned.

Love you mom, dad, Robbie, and Ketrina.

-Josh Clemons

Day Two by Dan

 
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Today, because we got most of the clean up and prep work done yesterday, we were able to address the demolition of the porch and outer addition rooms. Most of the roof and walls were rotten and the floor was caved in on one side. We took down the walls and roof, and cut up the rotten floor. Also, we continued to work on the windows in one of the other rooms. We finished installing them, and began to re-side the outer part of the house where the windows are. Overall, we made a lot of progress in the demolition of the house, as well as the cleanup of debris. Tomorrow, we should be able to build the porch, finish the windows, and begin to build the floor of the side addition to the house.
Hey Mom and Dad! I love you guys and hope you’re having fun in Sanibel!

-Dan Salmon